Editing Entertainment (section)

=== Comedy ===
{{Main|Comedy}}
[[File:Dictator charlie3.jpg|thumb|Comedian [[Charlie Chaplin]] impersonating [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] for comic effect in the [[satire|satirical]] film ''[[The Great Dictator]]'' (1940)]]
Comedy is both a genre of entertainment and a component of it, providing laughter and amusement, whether the comedy is the sole purpose or used as a form of contrast in an otherwise serious piece. It is a valued contributor to many forms of entertainment, including in literature, theatre, opera, film and games.<ref>{{cite book|last=[[Murray Roston|Roston]]|first=Murray|title=The comic mode in English literature: from the Middle Ages to today|year=2011|publisher=Continuum|location=London|isbn=978-1-4411-9588-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Grindon|first=Leger|title=The Hollywood romantic comedy: conventions, history, controversies|year=2011|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|location=Malden, M|isbn=978-1-4051-8266-9}}</ref> In royal courts, such as in the Byzantine court, and presumably, also in its wealthy households, "[[Mime artist|mimes]] were the focus of orchestrated humour, expected or obliged to make fun of all at court, not even excepting the emperor and members of the imperial family. This highly structured role of [[jester]] consisted of verbal humour, including [[teasing]], jests, [[insult]], ridicule, and [[obscenity]] and [[Nonverbal communication|non-verbal]] humour such as [[slapstick]] and horseplay in the presence of an audience."<ref name=Garland /> In medieval times, all comic types{{snd}} the [[buffoon]], jester, [[hunchback]], [[Dwarfism|dwarf]], jokester, were all "considered to be essentially of one comic type: the fool", who while not necessarily funny, represented "the shortcomings of the individual".<ref>{{cite book|last=Hokenson|first=Jan Walsh|title=The Idea of Comedy: History, Theory, Critique|year=2006|publisher=Rosemont Publishing and Printing Corp|location=Cranbury, NJ|isbn=978-0-8386-4096-8|pages=150–151}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Hornback|first=Robert|title=The English clown tradition from the middle ages to Shakespeare|year=2009|publisher=D.S. Brewer|location=Woodbridge Suffolk, Rochester, New York|isbn=978-1-84384-200-2}}</ref>

Shakespeare wrote seventeen [[Shakespearean comedy|comedies]] that incorporate many techniques still used by performers and writers of comedy{{snd}}such as [[joke]]s, [[pun]]s, parody, [[wit]], [[observational humour]], or the unexpected effect of [[irony]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Gay|first=Penny|title=The Cambridge introduction to Shakespeare's comedies|year=2008|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge; New York|isbn=978-0-521-85668-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Ellis|first=David|title=Shakespeare's practical jokes: an introduction to the comic in his work|year=2007|publisher=Bucknell University Press|location=Lewisburg, PA|isbn=978-0-8387-5680-5}}</ref> [[One-liner joke]]s and satire are also used to comedic effect in literature. In [[farce]], the comedy is a primary purpose.

The meaning of the word "comedy" and the audience's expectations of it have changed over time and vary according to culture.<ref>{{cite book|last=Thorpe|first=Ashley|title=The role of the chou ("clown") in traditional Chinese drama: comedy, criticism, and cosmology on the Chinese stage|year=2007|publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]]|location=[[Lewiston, New York]]|isbn=978-0-7734-5303-6}}</ref> Simple physical comedy such as [[slapstick]] is entertaining to a broad range of people of all ages. However, as cultures become more sophisticated, national nuances appear in the style and references so that what is amusing in one culture may be unintelligible in another.<ref>{{cite book|title=Comedy: A Geographic and Historical Guide|year=2005|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=0-313-32706-8<!-- (set)-->|editor=Charney, Maurice}}</ref>