From wikipedia, A parody (pronounced /ˈpærədi/; also called send-up, spoof or lampoon), in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or make fun at an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation.
There are parodies too in music. It’s easy. Pick a song you like, change the lyrics and the music a bit. Make it sound super funny and cheesy for whatever that you’re accomplishing. How artistic is that? For the sake of entertainment? For the advancement of your musical career? Okay, it’s time to sit down and grasp the whole ideology for a second.
People do parodies for a variety of reasons and mostly for entertainment. You know, all the fun stuff, make you yourself laugh, make other people laugh and make fun of the original work and authors. Sorry if you find sarcasm in that, to me parodies can’t never be aesthetically challenging or intellectual as the original especially in the comedic approach. One would really really have to try hard to impress or make me laugh with a parody for most of the time. I think it’s primarily the idea of using an existing work as a parody that bothers me somehow. Why can’t it be original and funny? Why must it originate or based from something else?
When I was first introduced to parodies, I kept thinking on why the person did not do something original in the first place. I began to ponder if parody stems from the combination of parrot and comedy. That would’ve been so unfortunate for a person to go down the level of an animal being, for the sake of comedy. It really sound that degrading you know. It’s degrading for real musician with potential, in the sense that it would make me believe at some point that these performers have limited abilities. They can only mock people but not be original. Sad. It forces me to believe that musical parodies are for people with very limited or possibly no music appreciation at all.
To enjoy a parody, I would have to try not to think of anything and just laugh or pretend laughing to go with the flow. Yes it can be insane, but the thought of doing it is funny by itself, that I am particularly laughing at myself but not the parody.
In a different point of view, I strongly agree that it bogs down to the chemistry of the performer and the audience. If you can relate yourself, everything in the world is and would be funny given any possible circumstances. Other than that, it’s a hack and slash effort for the parody performer to foster this chemistry.
