Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Humor, Vocal Qualities and Nonverbal Communication
Please post a link to a speaker presenting a humorous speech or using humor in their delivery of their speech. What kinds of vocal and/or nonverbal strategies are they incorporating in their speech delivery. Highlight them and discuss how they enhance the humor being delivered in the message. And, followup on three strategies that you plan to use in your upcoming speech. This post should be a minimum of 150 and is due by Friday, Sept. 24 at 5pm.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5aJQ3uIT4k
ReplyDeleteThis video is of Dane Cook talking about the whole cycle of crying. He went in to detail from when you first want to cry until you actually get home to cry. Dane Cook is funny because of his delivery. He uses his acting skills to his advantage because if someone just read the words he was saying it wouldn’t be funny. Dane Cook always talks about something that is relatable. He picks a topic where he knows the whole audience can be engaged such as relationships or work. People find something funny if they can think “Oh yeah I’ve done that”. He also has really good acting skills and can impersonate anyone. His fake crying and sniffling in this video made it seem so real. Also Dane Cook is really good at using the stage to his advantage. I’ve seen him perform in different stages and he always adapts to his environment. Even with 100,000 people around he still engages the audience. For the entertainment speech I am going to be relatable, use body language, and engage my audience.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sOgZGoyUYs
ReplyDeleteThe video that I have linked is presented by a very funny comedian named Dane Cook. His routine is about an Atheist man. Dane acts out his routine very well, and he walks around stage to include his audience. One thing Dane is really good at is his acting out what he is talking about. When the video starts, one can see right away his acting skills. He shows this with how he acted out how the Atheist man sneezed. Next, would be how good his facial expressions are. One can tell what he is feeling by just looking at his face. For example, when he says “God Bless You,” one could tell by his facial expression that he was mad and being sarcastic. Also he was not only acting out the Atheist man but himself in response to the man as well. If I were to try to do that, I would meet great difficulty. Towards the end of his routine, he started using sound effects for when the man was cutting down a tree and putting it in the wood chipper. He did this to give the audience a better picture of what he was talking about.
I plan to use information in my speech that my audience knows very well and can see clearly why it is funny. Next, I want my facial expressions to show my emotions to my audience so my speech is funnier. Lastly, I want to surprise my audience with something that they were not expecting at all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSTTJEY3pdU&feature=related
ReplyDeleteThe Video I have linked also presents the comedian Dane Cook. He happens to be my favorite comedian besides Chris Farley and Adam Sandler. In this act Dane is talking about how he used to work at Burger King and the experiences people have when they go to eat there. There is no live video of this act but trust me; Dane Cook is an amazing on-stage performer. I have even had the privilege to see him live in Atlantic City. He takes in his whole audience no matter how big of a crowd he is dealing with. He knows how to relate to his audience by talking about subjects that everyday people understand and go through. At one point in his act he imitates a person speaking at a drive through. He is talking in a low weird voice and the person working there cannot understand them at all and it’s funny because people can relate to a time when they themselves have gone through a drive through and could not understand the person working or that person couldn’t understand them. Dane uses the technique of using other people and making fun of them. He is also very organized and clear and there is rarely a moment when you have no idea what he is talking about. I want my speech to be like Dane’s in that; I want to use other people without being inappropriate, I want to take my whole audience in and use subjects that relate to them and I want to be clear and organized so people know what I am talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqaGJMm4R1k
ReplyDeleteThis is a clip of comedy ledged Johnny Carson and one of his many opening monologues from the “Tonight Show” in the 1980s. What I noticed about his speech, in relation to its delivery, was that he heavily used the ‘Element of Surprise’ and the ‘Using Others’ techniques to get his points across and connect with the audience. In this video he makes reference to political figures and famous people and he delivers many of his jokes by stating a seemingly docile comment and then following it with something unexpected to bring forth humorous reactions from the crowd. He also seems to use his hands while he speaks, much of the time, and after every joke he makes he doesn’t hesitate to chuckle along with the crowd. When I do my speech I want to follow his example of delivery to connect with my audience by keeping them engaged. I plan to use the same techniques that Carson used including ‘Pulling the Peg’. His eye contact with the crowd, confidence in his material, and the easy-going attitude in his delivery are all things that I want to emulate during my speech.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I9CwlPk8GE&NR=1&feature=fvwp
ReplyDeleteThis is a clip called “I’m a Grown Little Man” from Kevin Hart’s comedy series Seriously Funny. In this clip he talks about his life and the things he experienced. He is funny and even though there were millions of people he still engaged his audience with everything he spoke about. He also laughs with the audience and feeds off of their laughter. If they laugh at something he said then he will say another joke of the same kind to keep them laughing. He is not afraid to use himself as a technique for people to laugh. He uses use great gestures and face expressions to make things clearer so that we know what he is speaking on. No matter how many times I watch this video I always seem to laugh and enjoy it just as I was watching it for the first time. With my speech I plan to surprise people with my topic and do something they would not expect from me. I want to be organized and clear about my delivery so that it will be easy to understand what I am talking about. I want to use hand gestures and objects to make my audience laugh. I also want to use my sarcastic voice and face expressions to bring out the humor of the speech!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd91POWiDcM&NR=1
ReplyDeleteIn this video Dane Cook elaborates on death, Monopoly, and The Price is Right. He first talks about death. He took details from what people believe and turns them into jokes. He uses many of key things we learned to make things funnier then what they actually are if you say them like a story. He does not just say the jokes; he uses actions and uses the stage. The delivery for all of his jokes makes it funny, by showing how he uses his emotions. He is a very good actor. He often makes sound affects which makes things funny. He then spoke about Monopoly; he knows how aggravating and long the game can last so he took it into his skit. After he brought up Monopoly, he starts to joke about how someone knocks over the game and quits. Many people give up on the game. He then starts to say that his grandma wins. He is really funny. The best part of all was when he was joking about The Price is Right game shoe. Everyone has seen it before, and they know how the games go. He was really funny when he jokes about the game plinko and a grandma spinning the wheel. Overall Dane Cook uses stories, emotions, actions, and sounds to make this video funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z13CVD0idrM&NR=1
ReplyDeleteThis link is George Lopez’s stand up about Spanglish. George Lopez shows a lot of humor techniques throughout almost his entire stand up shows. He always includes himself in his comedy for example in this one clip he uses an example of him and his aunt talking about what he bought. He also uses example of how him and his grandfather would argue. On top of that he also uses other people. He mainly uses Mexicans in his humor because it is what he relates to better since he is Mexican. He also uses current events in his speeches. For example in another one of his stand ups he used the pending new immigration laws in his speech but made it humorous. He also uses the e-coli situation in his speech and incorporates other people in it. The way he transitions is very interesting too. It is almost unnoticeable how he jumps from one topic to another. The element of surprise I think that separates him from other comedians is the way he uses voice quality. He knows when to change his tone, pitch, and dialect throughout his speech. He will deepen it, or sometimes add a ridiculous ‘Mexican’ accent to it to make it funny. Also his body language is very important to his stand ups. He knows when to make ridiculous faces that go along with his speech. The one thing I can take from his speeches and try to incorporate it in my delivery of speech is his facial expression, and his voice quality. In previous speeches these are some of the things I really struggled with. In my entertainment speech I hope to add these different techniques to attract more attention from my audience and also add more humor to what I am saying. Because it is not what you say it’s HOW you say it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APdSHPBPLLY
ReplyDeleteThis video is of a High School Valedictorian who is presenting his graduation speech. He is presenting this speech in front of hundreds of students and family members. I believe this speaker used humor very well. The speaker had no dull or boring moments during his speech. He kept his audience laughing and connected with him throughout his speech. The speaker used himself as humor. He talked about how he went to 5th grade naked, and made a few more jokes about himself. The speaker also used others as humor. He spoke about how they would pee their beds and soil themselves when they were younger. The speaker also used his body language a lot. The speaker would have humorous facial expressions which I believe would make the audience stay focused on his speech. These 3 humor skills that I saw caused the speaker to have a great speech. In the future I would like to use my facial expressions to keep my audience focused on me rather than having them daydream. I will also use myself and others as humor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSD4t4PndJI&feature=related
ReplyDeleteWhile watching one of Steve Harvey stand up shows at Megafest Celebration 2006. He starts his show by one using himself and at the same time he is also using his audience by talking about something they can relate to which is the church. During his show he also changes the quality of his voice when it is something that he wants his audience to understand where he is coming from. Such as the part where he is talking about “testimony’s” he changes his voice to fit the character he is trying to portray which brings in the audience. Steve Harvey also knows how to tie everything that he discusses topics were the audience can relate to allowing his joke to be successful. He uses a least three out of the five techniques of humor which gave him the ability to be funny. He did not go of topic he was able to connect to thing to another and he uses his body language to entertain his audience more. Steve Harvey is someone who is just naturally funny he does not have to try it was more of an effortless attempt and he was able to be appropriate knowing that his audience was church affiliated. Now if I had to deiced which techniques I would plan to use in my upcoming speech they would be one using myself in an appropriate manner, two using others this will allow me to connect with my audience by keeping them involved and three the element of surprise using either a pictures or saying something that they would not have expected by combining these techniques I know for a fact I that my speech will be as effective as Steve Harvey.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASFmLuGIr78
ReplyDeleteThe link of the video I posted is of Jerry Seinfeld’s stand-up on the David Letterman. In the video Seinfeld catches the attention of the audience by the element of surprise; he says “why are your friends annoying?” No one would expect him to say that and he caught them off guard. He talked about things the audience could relate to. He talked about friends because everyone has friends, he talked about restaurants, he talked about pop tarts and how they are related to the baby boom, and he also talked about cell phones. He used topics that we discuss in our everyday lives and made little twists on them to make them funny. For example when he talked about the pop tarts coming in two in a pack, he talked about how one is h not enough and three is too many so two is a perfect amounts and how two pop tarts relate to the two slots in the toaster. That was funny because no one had ever thought of it that way. And when he talk about the people who use black berries and how they don’t pay attention to anything but their blackberries that was funny because we observe that in our everyday lives and it can relate to how we feel. Seinfeld used had gestures, and changed his voice when he talked about some things. He used himself, others and the element of surprise to make this funny. I am going to use myself, others and the element of surprise to make my speech funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I9CwlPk8GE
ReplyDeleteThe clip above contains clips from comedian, Kevin Hart’s I’m a Grown Little Man. Everything he says is funny. One of the main reasons he is so funny is because of his delivery. His delivery is very effective. His delivery is so effective because he successfully uses the five techniques to humor. He shows all of them in his act. He uses himself when he brings up personal stories. He uses other people when he portrays other characters. He pulls the peg/changes the switch when he when he uses different voices for different characters. He builds bridges when he tells stories. He uses the element of surprise when he tells unexpected jokes. When I present, I plan on using all of the techniques. The main techniques I plan on using are using me, using others, and the element of surprise. All of the techniques will make my speech a better, funnier speech.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkUbqmS9TWI
ReplyDeleteThe comedian who presents is Jim Gaffigan. I had chosen him because of the way he utilizes the humor strategies. I feel that his most noticeable strategy is Pulling The Peg. As a college student I am very accustomed to the craze of Hot Pockets, and the aftermath Jim talks about. He finds that many people look for an easy way out of cooking or making a mess in the kitchen, people will often settle for a hot pocket. Rather than insulting the audience, he insults himself. This is another strategy he incorporates while pulling the Peg. Instead of taking the chance of insulting his audience, he insults himself in a way that’s humorous to everyone. Keeping the audience in mind, his nonverbal attraction to them also helps with his act. Gaffigan finds himself always engaging them. His facial expressions and hand gestures of everyday activities give the audience a mental image of what he’s talking about. Gaffigan also finds himself using bridges throughout his comic standup. He finds a way to relate the laziness of a typical college student to the owners of Hot Pockets. He incorporates humor within the song that the audience is familiar with while showing the laziness within the creation of the advertisement. When Gaffigan makes the comment of not being sure whether he just ate it or feeling like he rubbed the oil on his face, I could not stop laughing. Because this is the exact feeling I get after I eat one of them. When giving my speech, I feel that my main focuses will be my bridges. Often when writing stories, I tend to mix information and go all over the place while trying to get a point across. I feel that majority of comedians keep their jokes very organized which is where the humor comes from. I feel that if my audience can follow my act smoothly as apposed to tracking down all different stories it will be easier to receive a laugh from them. In addition to my bridges, I feel that I am going to take a risk and try and wow the audience with my Element of Surprise. I strive to catch the audience off guard with my speech, I can’t say much now cause I might give it away. But in addition to the element of surprise, the main strategy within my speech will be pulling the peg. I hope to show the ironies within majority of the things people do. I feel that by exposing the clumsiness of everyday life will ensure laughter among all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bAkrGYkV10&feature=channel
ReplyDeleteThis video is of comedian Katt Williams talking about prescription drugs in America. He talks about how legal drugs are prescribed to people, and later on in life you will see a commercial on TV. advocating the negative side effects of those drugs. One element Katt Williams uses is his body language. Every now and then he may take a pause to breathe, but in that moment you’re still laughing because as he is silent, his body language and facial expressions are still telling the joke. When I present my speech, I’m definitely going to make sure I use my body language to along with my verbal skills to help me make my speech entertaining. Another strategy I’m going to incorporate in my speech is the element of surprise. One thing that always makes me laugh is when I’m watching someone present and they say or doing something out of the blue, it catches me off guard usually which is why it makes me laugh. The last strategy I am going to incorporate in my speech is using others. I think that when you make a joke out of someone and it isn’t insulting or hurtful then it will really capture the audience’s attention, and everyone will laugh. I know I’m not as funny as Katt Williams, but when I present my speech I will definitely keep his stage presence in mind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjOcze2bEKk
ReplyDeleteThis video is a speech about the president and his bloopers on all of the speeches he has made. He uses the element of surprise while he doesn’t even know it. President Bush unknowingly amuses people because the way he performs. Three strategies that I plan to use in my next upcoming speech are building bridges off of my subject, have the right topic so my audience can connect with me, and have the right punch lines so I can keep the audience laughing. Overall I want to feel good while I am up in front of everyone performing. I will also try to make myself laugh so I can have a better time and not catch stage fright because as long as I am comfortable then the less I will have to worry.
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