The Difference Between Comedy and Humor

I read a statement once that stuck with me:

All comedy has humor, but not all humor is comedy.

I liked that. Partly because, ironically, it made me laugh. But also because I had never stopped to think about the differences.

Let’s do that now.

Comedy vs. Humor

Humor is whatever makes us laugh in any situation.

Comedy is planned entertainment. Every word and action is chosen for its ability to produce a laugh.

If comedy doesn’t get a laugh, it’s not really comedy. It’s just painful.

Humor pops up out of nowhere. It’s born the moment we laugh. Before that, it was just life.

If you’re walking along a riverbank with your sweetheart, that’s life. It’s a wonderful life, but it’s still just life—until one of you trips and falls into the river. Suddenly it’s humor.

Comedy is attempted. Humor happens.

In the following Carol Burnett Show sketch featuring Tim Conway and Harvey Korman, we see both comedy and humor.

The writers of the comedy sketch carefully planned each line and action to draw the most laughter from the audience. Because of Tim Conway’s brilliant acting, they succeeded. Their attempt at comedy worked.

The humor comes in when actor Harvey Korman is incapable of staying in character and starts chuckling at Tim Conway.

Now the audience is laughing at both the comedy sketch and the humor of Harvey Korman uncontrollably cracking up during the sketch.

Comedy and Humor in Writing

Comedy writers write for the sole purpose of getting a laugh—for the reader’s sheer entertainment. Laughter is their objective.

Writers who use humor will include funny anecdotes, stories, or phrases, but their true goal is to deliver a message. Laughter is merely one of their tools.

Both the comedy writer and the writer who uses humor may write about war — not typically a funny topic — but their goals will be different.

The comedy writer writes about war to get a laugh, as with this military joke:

 The sergeant-major growled at the young soldier, “I didn’t see you at camouflage training this morning.”

“Thank you very much, sir.”

A writer who uses humor is more likely to write about war to reinforce a point. Suppose he’s writing about the world’s increasing dependence on GPS over paper maps. He might choose to share the humorous, but true, story of when Nicaragua claimed it invaded Costa Rica by accident because of a Google Maps mistake.

For the comedy writer, laughter is the point. For the writer who uses humor, laughter reinforces the point.

Which Should You Write? Comedy or Humor?

If you choose to become a comedy writer, be funny. Always be funny. There’s little room for anything less than hilarious from a comedy writer.

And don’t trust your mama or your sweetheart to tell you if you’re funny enough for comedy. Instead, perform at a comedy club or before an objective audience. If they don’t laugh, pick a different profession. Or go to comedy school. They actually exist.

If you choose to be a writer who uses humor, your humor can fall flat and you may get away with it, depending on how flat it fell. The reader may not even realize you were trying to be funny. Whew.

Whether you choose to write humor or comedy, getting your readers to laugh is a sure way to keep them reading—at least for another line or two.