Unit 20 HumourQuestions:1. What do you think this short film is about?2. What kind of film is it?3. Can it be called a comedy?4. Is the hero a famous comedian?**Although Mr. Rowan Atkinson (black-haired, bug-eyed, and weak-chinned comedian) acts different comic characters he is most famous around the world as Mr. Bean. Mr. Bean is funny because he makes funny faces, he acts silly, he seems to be quite stupid, and the things he does are strange. The comic duo of the 1930s “Laurel and Hardy”. The thin one is called Stan Laurel, the stout one Oliver Hardy. They are funny because they are each other’s opposites: one fat and one thin; one is clever and one is silly etc.Dustin Hoffman in the film Tootsie (1982). In this film Hoffman acts the role of a woman, and manyagree that his performance was so good that you often can’t tell the difference. And in the film of course there are all kinds of funny moments. Ma Ji is a well-known artist of crosstalk shows in China. His crosstalk shows always make his audience shout with laughter.Charlie Chaplin Some other famous comedians in ChinaListening Question: What forms of humor are introduced in the text?comediesclownscrosstalk showscomedians1.Why are some of Shakespeare’s comedies not so funny for us?Because the meaning of words in English has changed.We don’t understand the language and word play that Shakespeare used.Questions2 Give three examples of techniques that writers of comedies often use to make people laugh.1 crossdressing2 stereotypes3 word play3.How long has the tradition of crosstalk existed in China? more than 2,000 years. Skimming True or False1.Cross-dressing means men dressed up as women and women as men.2.Word play creates fun ...
