LEH353 – INDEPENDENT PROJECT
GUIDELINES for a PRESENTATION
PURPOSE: There are 2
LEH353 – INDEPENDENT PROJECT
GUIDELINES for a PRESENTATION
PURPOSE: There are 2 objectives for this Presentation:
1) to share with class your own opinions, ideas and perspectives on humor and comedy
2) to demonstrate what you learned in this course by incorporating 2 concepts in an
insightful way.
HOW TO DO IT:
Suggestion: Think about an example from today’s culture (or from the past) that is of interest and
inspiration to you. Choosing your topic will require some creativity on your part.
**If you are at a loss for a topic, ask yourself: Who is my favorite comedian and why? What
kind of humor do I like? What are my favorite shows? Then think of a topic about them.
In the past students have presented on topics like: internet/meme humor; cancel culture; women
in standup; ethnic/cultural humor; comedy in today’s society; comedian’s creativity; self-
deprecating humor; wit; dark humor; political humor; comedy and freedom of speech. **NOTE
that physiology/chemistry of laughter will not be permitted as topics for this project.
Suggestion only: You can make this project a comparative study of 2 different comedians or
kinds of comedy. It can be a comparison of various humor forms (irony vs. sarcasm; absurd vs.
dark humor); or particular topics in comedy (male vs. female comedy; slapstick vs. wit). They
have to be discussed in an insightful way.
Your goal: With the help of your example(s) from the media, to come up with an argument or an
observation or an opinion that has not been expressed in class and you think should be discussed.
You want to discuss comedy in an intelligent and analytical way, rather than just state that
something is hilarious or not.
REQUIREMENTS:
1) State your ARGUMENT on the 1st slide (*what’s the difference between an opinion and
an argument?)
2) Find specific examples: at least 3-4 short videos to discuss and compare; they should be
chosen as to allow you to build your discussion and arguments on
3) Make 2 references to concepts or ideas from the articles by Critchley and Freud. For
example: the element of surprise in humor; incongruency; “true comedian’s” joke; sense
and non-sense in jokes; whatever appeals to you. Do NOT make references to the stories.
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