Everyday Arts Challenge: Comic Genius
Knock knock. Who’s there? Make up the rest of the joke.
Comedy

Everyday Arts Challenge: Laughing Matters
Laugh out loud. Can you make your laugh sound goofy? How many different goofy laughs can you create?
Comedy

Arts Days: August 03, 1929: A Bunch of Mixed Nuts
The first surviving Marx Brothers film showcases the quartet’s zany acts and brand of comedy. Audiences loved the rapid-fire patter and slapstick antics of these hilarious brothers—Harpo, Zeppo, Chico, and Groucho, who with his greasepaint mustache is probably the best known of the bunch.

Each brother had his own “schtick:” Groucho is famous for his one-liners and wiggling cigar; Harpo for his never speaking, blond wig, and harp playing; Chico for his girl chasing; and Zeppo for his straight man routine.

In this musical comedy, the four run a Florida hotel, where they scheme against and con their guests, filling the screen with comedic chaos. The Cocoanuts and numerous other Marx Brothers’ movies kept audiences laughing through the Great Depression and continue to crack us up even today.
Comedy, Movies & Movie Stars

Arts Days: August 12, 1952: It’s a MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD World
Funny, the debut issue of MAD magazine—which was really a comic book back then—came out in August with a cover date of October/November. A man named Harvey Kurtzman wrote almost the entire issue himself, also providing some of the drawings. When MAD later flipped to its magazine format, that’s when its brand of irreverent humor started making fun of all aspects of our culture: movies, politicians, advertising, and celebrity itself.

It spoofed Sports Illustrated as Sports Ill-Stated. It turned Star Wars into Star Roars. It was said you knew a book, movie, or TV show was a success if MAD parodied it. The scathing wit of its illustrators and writers would later influence everybody from the Monty Python gang to today’s satirical news source, The Onion.
Comedy, Popular Culture

Arts Days: June 15, 1560 : A Motley Fool
When you’re the guy charged with making the King of England laugh, you’d better bring your A-game to work every day (the king was known for ordering jail time or even execution for pals, servants, and wives who displeased him).

Jester William Sommers evidently knew how to tickle the king’s funny bone by entertaining him with jokes, stunts, and gossip. The court jester’s role was part stand-up comedian, part confidante; a good “fool” could also share bad news with the monarch that no one dared to for fear of being punished. It’s believed that Sommers had, by royal decree, a lot of leeway with Henry VIII. You see, he might be performing a skit for the king, but would tuck in a useful tidbit, sometimes in the form of a riddle, about something going on behind the king’s back.
Comedy, History

Arts Days: May 29, 1903: You Gotta Have Hope
The man with the famous ski-jump nose knew how to make them laugh. British-born Leslie Townes Hope—whose stage name was Bob—was one of the first stand-up comedians, mastering the art of writing and delivering jokes with impeccable timing. Nobody had more one-liners at the ready; nobody was better at poking fun at himself to get a laugh.

Over the course of his career, Hope, a 1985 Kennedy Center Honoree, would find fame on the vaudeville circuit, the radio waves, the stage, the silver screen, and on TV. He made more than 50 films, many with close friend Bing Crosby. Bob Hope died at the ripe old age of 100.
Comedy, Movies & Movie Stars

Cuesheet: Teatret Gruppe 38's A Sonatina
See how everyday items transform through the magic of live performance to help tell the tale of the little girl and the big bad wolf.
World Cultures, Theater, Folklore, Comedy

Cuesheet: Matt Wilson's Arts & Crafts
Jazz artist Matt Wilson performs with his band Arts & Crafts. In a high-energy performance/demonstration, the band explores the process of improvisation, and shows students how much fun jazz music can be.
Composers, Music, Musical Instruments, Comedy

Article: For the Love of Comedy
Kids love to joke around, but if your kid is especially hilarious, a career in comedy could be in her future. These four tips will make sure she gets plenty of laughs along the way
Young Artists, Comedy, Family

Arts Quotes: Lily Tomlin
"The road to success is always under construction."
America, Comedy, Movies & Movie Stars, Television

Arts Quotes: Mark Twain
"You can't depend on your eyes if your imagination is out of focus."
America, Comedy, Literature

Everyday Arts Challenge: Brow Beat
Look in a mirror. Move your eyebrows around. Using only your brows, can you move them so you look surprised? Angry? What about curious?
Physical Activity, Comedy, Tragedy

Arts Days: October 05, 1969: Big Top Laughs
Sprung from the delightfully demented minds of British comedy troupe Monty Python, this TV show pushed the boundaries of humor every which way. The men at the heart of the program—including John Cleese and Eric Idle—used a mixture of bizarre animation, silly skits, innuendo, and deadpan British humor to bring a new form of absurdist comedy to the small screen.

The men dressed as women, broke the fourth wall, bopped each other over the head with fish, and stopped at nothing to wring new laughs out of their rabid fans. This “Circus” ran for 45 episodes, going off the air in 1974. But among those who like to imagine a “Ministry of Silly Walks,” as one popular skit did, its popularity has never waned.
Comedy, Television, Popular Culture

Arts Days: October 04, 1895: The Great Stone Face
A star of the silent film era, Buster Keaton delighted audiences with his trademark deadpan expression or “stone face”—which he maintained even as slapstick mayhem filled the screen. At age three, he began working with his parents in vaudeville and honing his talent for being a fearless, agile performer on stage.

He learned techniques to help him endure the pain of the amazing, and sometimes dangerous, athletic comedy stunts for which he also became well-known. Over the course of his career, Keaton made the transition to “talkies,” had his own TV show for a while, and also performed in live theater. His films, including The General, routinely land spots on best-film lists even today.
Comedy, Stunts & Special Effects, Movies & Movie Stars

Arts Days: October 15, 1951: Everybody Loves Lucy!
This classic sitcom made household names out of comedienne Lucille Ball, with her flaming red hair and incredibly funny facial expressions, and real-life husband, singer/bandleader Desi Arnaz. I Love Lucy broke television ground in several ways, including its use of multiple cameras to film in front of a live studio audience and its feature of a then uncommon interracial marriage between lead actors (Arnaz being of Cuban descent, Ball being Scottish).

But in the end, it’s Lucy's crazy schemes, from stomping grapes, to selling vitamins, to working on a candy assembly line, that fans embraced and remember best. And, not only did Lucy and Desi star in the most popular TV show of its day, they were shrewd business people, too. Together they launched Desilu Productions and later Desilu Studios, producing and syndicating their various shows.
Comedy, Television, Popular Culture

Arts Days: August 14, 1945: A Wild and Crazy Guy
Perhaps “zany” is the perfect word to describe this funny Renaissance man who juggles like a pro, dances with happy feet, and plays a mean banjo like no ordinary country star. Steve Martin’s goofy comedy stunts—from wearing a fake arrow through his head to twisting together balloon animals during his show—have endeared him to countless fans.

Even with a white-hot standup career propelled to new heights by his work on “Saturday Night Live,” Martin tried acting, with lead roles in hilarious films like The Jerk, Roxanne, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, among others. In recent years, he’s branched out: writing short stories and plays and appearing regularly with the bluegrass band, Steep Canyon Rangers.
Comedy, America, Musical Instruments, Movies & Movie Stars

Arts Days: November 07, 1906: Play Acting
As an actress, director, and drama teacher, Viola Spolin used simple skits and other exercises to train actors to perform in believable ways. Her methodology formed the core of what we call “improv” today. Improv wasn’t originally focused on comedy, but evolved over time and today is generally defined as comic skits made up on the spur of the moment.

Watch a performance by acclaimed Chicago-based theater group, Second City, and see improv in rapid-fire action. Spolin, the “Grandmother of Improv,” helped devise ways for actors to warm up, focus, play, and make the connections needed to be spontaneous and hilarious.
Comedy, Innovators & Pioneers, Theater, America

Arts Days: July 22, 1996: Breaking News
Comedy Central’s The Daily Show unites host Jon Stewart’s sardonic brand of comedy with the topical news of the day. Every night, Stewart and his merry band of “reporters” relate the news, freely mixing in factual information with hilarious asides. All the while, these comedians mock common news conventions, like the suit-clad “talking head” behind a desk.

But wouldn’t you know, the “infotainment” program is viewed by many devoted fans as their main source of actual news. They even rely on The Daily Show for their news more than a newspaper or traditional news show. Yet as the lines blur between comedy and news, Stewart and company say they only want to be funny—not to replace traditional news.
Television, Innovators & Pioneers, Comedy

Arts Days: July 17, 1913: Banana or Coconut Cream?
The practice of “pieing” in film got its start in the 1913 movie A Noise from the Deep. Actress Mabel Normand hit co-star Fatty Arbuckle in the face with a pie—no word on what flavor it was.

Throwing a pie in someone’s face was just a physical stunt done to get audience laughs. Actually, it became something of a cliché in the days before talkies because it was done so often. But over the years, the act has sometimes taken on political overtones, with pies being tossed in the face of some politicians, corporate executives, and others perceived by the pie-thrower as being wrong about an issue and in need of a public humiliation.
Comedy, Movies & Movie Stars, Stunts & Special Effects, Innovators & Pioneers

Arts Days: July 04, 1927: Simon Says, “Laugh”
Playwright Neil Simon is perhaps the person most responsible for celebrating the comic craziness of New York City with his entertaining stories of human trials, tribulations, and, of course, neuroses. In plays such as Brighton Beach Memoirs, The Odd Couple, Biloxi Blues, and more, Simon invented characters you simply can’t forget—whether they’re caught in hilarious situations or heartbreaking ones.

His valentine to New York aside, Simon is also the writer who has done the most to capture on the page and on the stage what it’s like to be a 20th century Jewish American, like himself. A nominee for 17 Tony Awards® and the recipient of three, Simon was also a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1995.

Oh, and one more thing. In 1966, Simon is the only playwright to have four productions on Broadway running simultaneously.
Theater, Playwrights & Plays, Broadway, Comedy

Arts Days: July 12, 1937: Just Be Cos
Most standup comedians wish they could be just like Cos. That’s because Bill Cosby entertains millions of fans with his unique brand of family-style humor.

Cosby’s standup comedy career kicked off in the 1960s, leading him to guest host The Tonight Show and star in his own situation comedies. Cosby made television history when he was cast as the first African American actor in a dramatic lead role.

Later, The Cosby Show proved to be the most successful sitcom ever. It ran for eight years and cemented his image as Cliff Huxtable, a loving husband and father to five charismatic children. According to Coretta Scott King, the show was “the most positive portrayal of black family life… ever broadcast.”

Cosby received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1998 and was named the 2009 recipient of the Mark Twain Prize, an award that recognizes humorists (like Twain) who serve as social commentators and satirists.
Comedy, Television, Movies & Movie Stars

Arts Days: January 06, 1936: Be-Be-Be-Before the Bunny
Moviegoers were introduced to an adorable pink, pudgy, stuttering, Porky Pig in the Warner Brothers cartoon Gold Diggers of '49. Porky was the first animated character created by the studio and was featured in numerous cartoons and shorts, including regular roles in both the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series. He is best known for his signature line that closes all of his cartoons, "Th-th-th-that’s all folks!"
Cartoons, Comics, & Animation, Comedy, Movies & Movie Stars, Popular Culture

Arts Days: January 15, 1622: The Prince of French Farce
French playwright and actor Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, better known by his stage name Molière, is considered one of the greatest masters of Western comedy.

He studied acting and writing at the Collège de Clermont, a prestigious school in the heart of Paris. After graduating, he worked as an actor and playwright, dedicated to exploring new comedic ideas.

Molière wrote farces that exposed the hypocrisies and follies of French society. His fresh comedic style caught attention and praise from the French aristocracy, including King Louis XIV, who dubbed Molière's acting troupe "Troupe du Roi" (The King’s Troupe) and commissioned him to be the official author of court entertainments.
Comedy, Innovators & Pioneers, Playwrights & Plays, Europe

Arts Days: June 28, 1926: Blazing Laughter
He acts. He directs. He writes movies and songs. And he makes us laugh!

Mel Brooks is one of the funniest, most versatile fellows ever to grace a movie screen or write a tune. The shows he’s created, like The Producers and TV’s Get Smart series parodies everything from Adolf Hitler—yes, Hitler—to TV detective shows to scary movies. Brooks’s longtime creative partnership with actor Gene Wilder paved the way for some of his most popular comedies including Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein.

Most importantly, Brooks used satire to push comedy a little bit further than anybody had before, sometimes leaving audiences a little bit shocked—but always laughing.
Broadway, Comedy, Musicals, Movies & Movie Stars

Arts Days: April 16, 1889: The Little Tramp
Charles Spencer Chaplin was only 14 when he got his first role in a play, and he liked it so much that he soon hit the vaudeville circuit as a comedian. In 1913, he started making silent movies, developing instantly recognizable characters like “the Little Tramp.” He starred in early cinematic masterpieces like City Lights, Modern Times, and The Great Dictator, in which Chaplin combined humor with pointed commentary against the politics of Adolf Hitler, who was rising to power as the film was made.

Chaplin formed United Artists with other stars of the day to secure more control over their work. He wrote scripts and soundtracks, directed himself and others, and generally worked in most every aspect during those early days of film. Charlie Chaplin was one of the world’s first real movie stars and is considered one of the greatest creative talents of 20th century film.
Comedy, Innovators & Pioneers, Movies & Movie Stars