Humour

Unit 20

Ma Ji is a well-known artist of crosstalk shows in China .His numerous crosstalk shows always make his audience roar with laughter .

Ma Ji

Feng Gong

Jiang kun

Chen Peisi

Huang Hong

Zhao Benshan

Pan Changjiang

Dustin Hoffman

Dustin Hoffman in the film Tootsie .In this film Hoffman acts the role of a woman ,and many people agree that his performance was so good that you often can’t tell the difference.But in the film of course there are all kinds of funny moments.

Charlie Chaplin

Jim Carrey

Mr Bean ,he is funny because he makes funny faces,he acts silly,he seems to be quite stupid ,and the things he does are strange.

Mr Bean

Clowns

Post-Reading

The writers of comedies often use different techniques to make their audiences laugh.

1).Cross-dressing 2).stereotypes 3).word play

1.Give three examples of techniques that writers of comedies often use to make people laugh.

2.Why are some of Shakespeare’s comedies not so funny for us?

Some of Shakespeare’s plays are not so funny for us because we don’t understand the language and word play that Shakespeare used.

Paragraph 1:General idea:

Paragraph 2:General idea: Clowns often don’t use any words at all, but

they can make people laugh and help people forget their problems.

1.Do you think clowns are only funny for people?why?No. Actually they can help people forget their problems, at least for a short moment.

2.How do clowns make people laugh?

Post-Reading

It is their clothes, make-up and the way they walk that make people laugh.

Paragraph 3:General idea:

Post-Reading

Comedians not only make people laugh, but also make people think about life.

True or False, and why

1.Like clowns, comedians’ clothes are usually very strange.F. Unlike clowns, comedians’ clothes are usually not very strange.

T

2.What comedians have in common with the players in a comedy is their way of playing with words.

Post-Reading

Paragraph 4:General idea: Chinese crosstalk show, is a type of comedy,

often makes the audience laugh with word play.T or F, and why

1.Comedians of all times, only China has a long tradition of this type of comedy.

F. Many counties have a long tradition of this type of comedy.

2.A crosstalk show often has two speakers making many jokes and funny conversations.   T

Post-ReadingParagraph 5:General idea:The crosstalk shows have a long history and have

made people all over China laugh for centuries.

1.How long has the tradition of crosstalk existed in China?More than 2000 years.

2.Why do few foreigners know about Chinese crosstalk show?

To appreciate the jokes of crosstalk artists, listeners have to know very well what the comedians are talking about. If foreigners aren’t fluent in Chinese, they will not catch all of it.

Group-work

1. According to the general idea of each paragraph , in your own words ,summarize the whole text.

2. Do you think humor is very important for us in our life?Why or why not?

Homework

2. Look at this picture,create a funny story.

(about 80 words)

1. Discuss :

Compare Western and Chinese comedy shows.What do they have in common?How are they different?

Thank you!!!