Comedy music: History and Key Facts

Comedy music or musical comedy is a genre of music that is comedic in nature. Its history can be traced back to the first century in ancient Greece and Rome, moving forward in time to the Medieval Period, Classical and Romantic eras, and the 20th century. Various forms of comedic musical theatre, including "musical play", "musical comedy", "operetta" and "light opera", evolved from the comic operas first developed in late 17th-century Italy. Popular music artists in the 20th century interested in comedy include Allan Sherman, Frank Zappa, Tiny Tim, Barenaked Ladies, Randy Newman, and "Weird Al" Yankovic. Artists in the 21st century include Tenacious D, Flight of the Conchords, The Lonely Island, Bo Burnham, Ninja Sex Party and The Axis of Awesome.

Comedy music is often associated with counterculture, due to the subversive messages it displays. This informative nature of comedy music also contributes to the improvement of learning inside and outside the classroom. Forms of entertainment like musical theatre often incorporate comedy music as well.

To create comic effects in music, composers have developed several principal compositional techniques, including the use of comic text, musical parody, and unexpected juxtapositions of syntactical elements among others. Comedy music can be further categorized into several types, such as parody music, novelty song, comedy rock, and comedy hip hop. Awards dedicated to comedy music include the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album, the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and the Musical Comedy Awards.

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