A clown at a birthday party, a Broadway show or stadium rock concert, your friends fighting over the last potato chip—all are forms of entertainment. Originally, the word meant “to entertain or keep in good condition,” but now it is mostly used as amusement. We think of theatrical entertainment as shows, visual entertainment as things to look at and audio entertainment as music, though other kinds of entertainment exist too.
Oliver and Barstsch (2010) define entertainment as an objective activity that involves communication between text and audience, includes external stimulus, offers pleasure and occurs in a passive form. It also stimulates the brain to realease seratonin and other feel-good chemicals.