C.Hyperbole (Caricatures)
Standup comics often use Hyperbole or caricatures to make a simple joke, or something thats not even a joke, funnier. But as noted in the Lit review, its a fine line to take because you have to make sure the audience has a frame of reference for.
In the clip from Americas Got Talent and impressionist does impressions of many famous people with an air of over exaggeration. Though he gets laughs he is walking the fine line of alienating his audience by quoting lines from the movies of some of the actors he is impersonating which many in the audience could not be familiar with.
On TDS, Jon Stewart has a system in place where before he does a caricature or an imitation, he can show the audience not only the person he is imitating, but a particular clip in which he can really exaggerate the finer points of.
As you can see in the clip, after we cut back to Jon Stewart, he immediately elicits laughs from the crowd without saying a word. By mimicking the appearance of the Senator by playing off the clip he just presented to the crowd, it allows him to be more free and is able to elevate the imitation., and do it more safely then he would if he was on a stage with no context for the audience to relate to.
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