Verbal Comedy - This was classically typified by the cruel verbal wit of W. C. Fields, the sexual innuendo of Mae West or the verbal absurdity of dialogues in the Marx Brothers films, or later by the self-effacing, thoughtful humour of Woody Allen.
Screwball - Screwball comedies are light-hearted and romantic stories, commonly focusing on a battle of the sexes. They usually include visual gags, wacky characters, a fast-paced plot, and rapid-fire wisecracking dialogue reflecting sexual tensions and conflicts in the blossoming of a relationship (or the patching up of a marriage) for an attractive couple with on-going differences.
Parody or Spoofs – These types comedy are usually humorous take-offs of more serious films. These types completely over exaggerate the plot, the action and especially the characters in order to have its mocking type of effect. The most recent of these types of films is Scary Movie 1 & 2, both a take off of successful horror films.
Cinematic comedy can be considered as the oldest film genre, it was ideal for the early silent films as it was dependent on visual action. The earliest comedy made was produced by the Lumiere Brothers in 1895 and was titled ‘Watering the Gardener’
There have been many comedies released over the last century the most recent releases have been: -
American pie 1 & 2
Road Trip
Scary Movie 1 & 2
Other films that fit in with this genre include: -
Shriek if you know what I did last Friday 13th
Ace Ventura
Dude, where’s my car?
Dogma
The 2 film covers above are American Pie 2 and Scary Movie. American Pie 2 and Scary Movie have many differences, the most obvious of which is that American Pie 2 has some relation to Screwball comedies and Scary Movie has relation to Parody or Spoof comedies. Whilst American Pie 2 exaggerates aspects of the film, Scary Movie overly exaggerates the film mocking most slasher movies, i.e. Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer etc.
The Films both rely on visual gags, but Scary Movie uses much more of them to add to its mocking tone. Soundtracks, American Pie 2 uses a romantic sort of soundtrack whilst Scary Movie uses a more haunting soundtrack in order to stay as a parody of slasher films.
In similarities, both American Pie 2 and Scary Movie have the stereotypical characters of the comedy drama; there is the Cheerleader Buffy in Scary Movie and Captain of the team Oz in American Pie, there are the sexually frustrated geeks, Jim and Bobby.