Catching opening sentence with an theme-related undertone. Humorous comment to make the post theme clearer and transition into the main article.
I don't know if there's a name for it, but I've seen it more than once, and the name I have dubbed it is 'Formula Satire'. I'm sure others have noticed it around as well; those comedy skits or what have you, where everything everyone says is a short explanation of what kind of thing they would be saying. I know my definition isn't very clear, so I tried to use my blog post title and first paragraph as an example. There is a great Cracked.com video titled "Trailer for Every Oscar-Winning Movie Ever", as well as a few Failbook entries (I only linked to one, because after 15 minutes of search I could only find this one, though I know I've seen more) and a British News Report/Comedy sketch by Charlie Brooker. If you've never seen Formula Satire before, or are still a bit confused, I recommend checking these links out before reading on.
There are tons of other examples of Formula Satire out there, but it's almost impossible to find them. There's no widely used name for this type of comedy, like there are for puns or the various memes. 'Formula Satire' is just a name I invented so I would know what I was talking about when I told myself about how funny these were. If I were to use Formula Satire in a widely viewed medium, like a television episode or a movie, people would laugh and tell their friends how great I was, and then be unable to explain what exactly I did to be so funny.
"She, like, said everything she was supposed to say! It was hilarious! No, she was just saying... how she would be saying.... like, she was explaining what someone would say after someone said something... my goodness, it was too funny! You just have to see it for yourself!"
Someone might think to demonstrate what I had done ("Like, 'Threatening comment!' 'Angry, defensive reply with a halfhearted attempt at poking fun.' 'Enraged response obviously affected by your halfhearted attempt to poke fun and suggesting we make this disagreement more physical!' 'Timid third party interjection hoping to dissuade the fight' and so forth), but for the most part people aren't going to know how to accurately describe this type of humor. I can't even think of any good description.
I love Formula Satire when I see it, so I find the fact that there's no clear name for it disheartening (If, reading this, you know of a name used, please comment). I know it's only funny in bits and pieces - if everyone broke out into Formula Satire one day, it would get a bit old - but for those rare times when I'm trying to find something that fits the bill, it's frustrating that I can't. I end up watching those videos I linked to multiple times, and I wish I had something new.
As someone who's really into fiction, I've found myself able to predict all plot changes based on subtle or even unconscious shifts and hints left in the formula of the story. Humor poking fun at the formula is quite hilarious in my eyes, and always welcome. I encourage all of my readers to treasure Formula Satire when they find it, and if possible to comment with links to other sources I might like. These aren't just a few rogue jokes being made by comedians, it's an entire subgenre of humor that has thus far gone nameless and with little notice, as far as I can tell.
2 comments:
"catchy" opening sentence.
I like the term Formula Satire. I shall use it too. Let it catch on and you can take credit for coining a phrase. Like I coined the phrase "classic rock" when I said it on a radio talk Show in Palm Springs almost 20 years ago. They laughed at me, but now everyone says it. It's mine. Though someone else claims it. Problably heard it from me when they were visiting Palm Springs, then took it home to their own radio show.
If I remember correctly, you also gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting using Formula Satire to point out how rote talks can be. It was a great talk, and a great usage of Formula Satire :D
If the term takes off and becomes well known, at least I now have a recording that I said it first (As far as I know). I wont make people pay me a nickle though - I'll just be happy that people know what I'm talking about now.
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