  Comedy
This week: Philosophy of Comedy Edited by: Robert Waltz  
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This world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel.
-Horace Walpole
To me, comedy is just twisting reality. It's commenting or observing or twisting life.
-Steven Wright
Comedy may be big business but it isn't pretty.
-Steve Martin |
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Ever try to talk about comedy?
I don't mean discussing funny things. We do that all the time: "Oh, that movie was funny." "Joe had some funny lines in the script." And so on. No, I mean really trying to pick apart what exactly it is that causes us to laugh, smile, or facepalm.
As writers, we should be able to describe anything in writing, right? But we end up like Dug the dog in the movie Up, telling a squirrel joke and then having to explain it:
I know a joke! A squirrel walks up to a tree and says, “I forgot to store acorns for the winter and now I am dead.”
Cue exactly 0 humans laughing. Then,
It’s funny because the squirrel gets dead!
Of course, that part is funny, because it a) fits into the established relationship between dogs and squirrels and b) comes unexpectedly.
And see, now I've explained it and it's not funny anymore.
(C what I did there?)
A person who crafts comedy, then, can't rely on sober reflections on what makes funny stuff funny. Also, as comedy loses its edge over time, we can't rely on examples, either. A while back, there was an effort to crowdsource the Best Joke Ever (result still available at this link: http://www.richardwiseman.com/LaughLab/winner.html). If you don't want to click the link, here's the joke:
Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps, "My friend is dead! What can I do?". The operator says "Calm down. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says "OK, now what?"
Funny? Sure. Are there funnier jokes? Absolutely. Sadly, I can't tell them here.
That's kind of what I like about comedy, though. You can read volumes on how to craft a story, and if you follow their guidelines, you've got a good chance of a decent story. You know, the bits about introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, conclusion, and so on. There are formulas for it. No, you're not going to win any prizes with that sort of writing, but you'll get readers.
With comedy, though, it's different. There's no real formula, not one that can be expressed. I mean, there are tricks: absurdity, repetition, surprise - but they're useful in other situations, too. Just watch a Shyamalan movie - he uses all of these, and yet I haven't laughed during one yet.
No, comedy is an art. I don't claim to be an artist in any sense of the word, but it takes more feeling than thought, I believe.
And to end this, I'm going to bestow upon you a link (hosted by my old alma mater) to three of the best jokes I've ever known:
http://people.virginia.edu/~pm9k/Writings/morals.steve |
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Last time, in "Packing" , I talked about getting ready to see a total eclipse.
Quick-Quill  : Life on the road. My husband travels and his goal is to visit all the professional stadiums. After having misplaced his car once, he takes a picture of the area where he parked so he can find it again. A week ago I traveled to Dallas, TX to meet him for a TX Ranger game. (Pudge R bobblehead night) It rained and I didn't bring an umbrella. Finding a paid parking lot close we pulled in and ran in the rain the three blocks to the stadium. After the game hubby told me we were just 30 min from the hotel. I wanted to get a shirt for my son (ORDOR, Rugnard) to "match" his HORDOR cap. We left the store and went out the nearest gate. Old people's brains just weren't working that night. On vacation I guess. We found the parking lot I thought we'd parked in and walked all over it pushing the remote. Nope, A nice woman told us we were in the employee parking lot and our car wasn't here. I stood on the corner (holding an anchor spot) and Hubby walked all over the area looking for the lot we parked in. In the rain, he wouldn't take the poncho I wisely bought at the park. Another employee felt sorry for me and offered to drive me around to find where we parked. I described the driveway line with trees where we entered. He said there wasn't any public lots with that description. When we turned onto a street he mentioned the name. BALL PARK WAY! That was it, we came in on that street. I told him to turn to check one time, there was a driveway that looked like the one we turned on to. Yep there was the opening to the left and two isles down was our rental car. I looked back as we turned to go pick up Hubby. We were in a small lot next to a Sheridan HOTEL. How could I not see it? We never turned our head to look were we parked. We ran to the stadium. We didn't look at the street we were on when we left it. Nolan Parkway runs parallel to Ball Parkway. Looks similar. Gps said we had 20 min to our hotel. We walked around 2 and a half hours to save ten minutes drive time. Old people, you just have to laugh.
One great advantage of being single is that when something like that happens to you, you can either deny it to save face, or you can exaggerate it for comedic effect. Like, "Two days later, starving and blistered, I rounded a corner and behold, there was my car! With a boot on it."
Legerdemain  : Didja see the eclipse???? It was a bit cloudy here in NJ, which ended up being cool filters for some photos.
And who needs to pack earlier for a couple days away? Throw a couple changes of underwear and a clean Tshirt (for bbq incidents!) in a paper sack and roll. Most places you go have stores, restaurants and free little soaps in the bathroom.
Fun newsletter and happy trails.
Yes, but I forgot where I parked. I had to go looking for my car. Two days later, starving and blistered... okay, no, I don't have any funny eclipse stories. But in all seriousness, there is no sight like a total solar eclipse. Photos don't do it justice The best writers in the world can't capture the awe and wonder of the moment of totality. And I do like my road trips. I feel another one coming on, just as soon as these spots clear from my vision.
And that's a wrap for me - see you next month! Until then,
LAUGH ON!!! |
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Comedy: September 20, 2017 Issue [#8509]
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