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Papers by Ben Hudson
Funny Games: Understanding Videogames as Slapstick and the Experience of Game-Worlds as Shared Cultural References
Engaging With Videogames , 2014
Videogames can be comedies that are amusing as a result of artistic choice, but they can also b... more Videogames can be comedies that are amusing as a result of artistic choice, but they can also be seen as artifacts: objects (or virtual objects) that have their own intrinsic man-made qualities that are often unintentionally funny or can be exploited for comic value. Players experience videogames by interacting with an imperfect simulation – virtual worlds pre-defined by rules and boundaries that govern the player’s ability to express their ideas and individuality. The virtual environment is therefore immersive, yet incongruous with the experience of reality. This chapter will examine this incongruity as a potential source of humour. By embodying avatars and inhabiting virtual realities, it will be suggested that individuals must confront what Bergson terms a ‘mechanical inelasticity... where one would expect to find the wide-awake adaptability and the living pliableness of a human being.’1 This chapter will look at examples of online gaming culture, from shooters such as Valve’s Counter-Strike (2000) to experimental modifications such as Dean Hall’s Arma 2 ‘mod’ DayZ (2012), where communities of players have found comic ways to utilise artificially limited ranges of expression and draw on the game world as a shared reference-point for humour. Fan-made internet memes and ‘Machinima’ proliferate videogame-based humour, lampooning videogame tropes and logic for an audience familiar with their subjects, but discussion will also include the impact of videogame slapstick in popular culture, looking at the work of comedians such as Dara O’Briain and Seann Walsh who have recently parodied videogame content in their acts. Lastly, with reference to the practice as research presentation Ben Hudson, Live in Virtual Reality (2009), a Stand-up Comedy performance hosted in Sony’s online social network PlayStation Home, this chapter will examine the potential for virtual spaces to act as venues for comedy performance.
Time is precious to stand-up comedians. Jokes are told by the comedian and laughter is required a... more Time is precious to stand-up comedians. Jokes are told by the comedian and laughter is required as an immediate response. Failure to stay 'in the moment' will often result in a comedian losing their ability to read and manipulate their audience (Jaeger 2006: 123). They will be said to have 'died' on stage. This language of life and death is also central to the notion of time in performance. Live performance, traditionally, has been thought of as the physically co-present unfolding of a piece of artistic expression. Once mediatized, it becomes something else (Phelan 1993: 146), something 'dead'. This article discusses the ways in which comedians use technology to extend their act beyond the physically co-present moment of the performance and collaborate with media to create a timeless performance experience. Using examples of practice as research undertaken by the author and work by well-known comedians, the article argues that time can be flexible in video-fed performance, achieving both presence and directness in communication, that recorded media can shift the site of live performance to an indefinite future by relating itself to the present-tense situation of the viewer and that the framing and interactivity of online media present a live method of interacting with recorded media.
Talks by Ben Hudson
Videogames can be comedies that are amusing as a result of artistic choice,
Conference Presentations by Ben Hudson
Funny Games: Understanding Videogames as Slapstick and the Experience of Game-Worlds as Shared Cultural References
Engaging With Videogames , 2014
Videogames can be comedies that are amusing as a result of artistic choice, but they can also b... more Videogames can be comedies that are amusing as a result of artistic choice, but they can also be seen as artifacts: objects (or virtual objects) that have their own intrinsic man-made qualities that are often unintentionally funny or can be exploited for comic value. Players experience videogames by interacting with an imperfect simulation – virtual worlds pre-defined by rules and boundaries that govern the player’s ability to express their ideas and individuality. The virtual environment is therefore immersive, yet incongruous with the experience of reality. This chapter will examine this incongruity as a potential source of humour. By embodying avatars and inhabiting virtual realities, it will be suggested that individuals must confront what Bergson terms a ‘mechanical inelasticity... where one would expect to find the wide-awake adaptability and the living pliableness of a human being.’1 This chapter will look at examples of online gaming culture, from shooters such as Valve’s Counter-Strike (2000) to experimental modifications such as Dean Hall’s Arma 2 ‘mod’ DayZ (2012), where communities of players have found comic ways to utilise artificially limited ranges of expression and draw on the game world as a shared reference-point for humour. Fan-made internet memes and ‘Machinima’ proliferate videogame-based humour, lampooning videogame tropes and logic for an audience familiar with their subjects, but discussion will also include the impact of videogame slapstick in popular culture, looking at the work of comedians such as Dara O’Briain and Seann Walsh who have recently parodied videogame content in their acts. Lastly, with reference to the practice as research presentation Ben Hudson, Live in Virtual Reality (2009), a Stand-up Comedy performance hosted in Sony’s online social network PlayStation Home, this chapter will examine the potential for virtual spaces to act as venues for comedy performance.
Time is precious to stand-up comedians. Jokes are told by the comedian and laughter is required a... more Time is precious to stand-up comedians. Jokes are told by the comedian and laughter is required as an immediate response. Failure to stay 'in the moment' will often result in a comedian losing their ability to read and manipulate their audience (Jaeger 2006: 123). They will be said to have 'died' on stage. This language of life and death is also central to the notion of time in performance. Live performance, traditionally, has been thought of as the physically co-present unfolding of a piece of artistic expression. Once mediatized, it becomes something else (Phelan 1993: 146), something 'dead'. This article discusses the ways in which comedians use technology to extend their act beyond the physically co-present moment of the performance and collaborate with media to create a timeless performance experience. Using examples of practice as research undertaken by the author and work by well-known comedians, the article argues that time can be flexible in video-fed performance, achieving both presence and directness in communication, that recorded media can shift the site of live performance to an indefinite future by relating itself to the present-tense situation of the viewer and that the framing and interactivity of online media present a live method of interacting with recorded media.
Videogames can be comedies that are amusing as a result of artistic choice,