Phillip Response

The mockumentary style that is now very popular in films and television shows has always been something I have found so entertaining over the past years. I think that this style allows characters to be more honest with the audience and break the fourth wall.

One of my favorite parts in the Office is when characters like Jim or Pam look directly at the camera as if asking the audience, “Are you kidding me?” I think this is the perfect example of how the mockumentary style can be beneficial to comedy. Characters are not completely invested in the situations. There are slight moments where these people are taken out of their position and are able to comment in hilarious ways about what is going on.

The characters’ brutal honesty is often the funniest part of a mockumentary. They believe that no one is seeing these tapes so they completely open up about how they feel about someone or something. The best and worst comes out of characters when they are being interviewed. These interview breaks can also be useful to clarify the actions or intentions  of a character.

The only time I have ever found the mockumentary style to be a problem was in The Office when it was discovered that the sound guy from behind the scenes and Pam had some sort of friendly relationship. I found it uninteresting and inappropriate. The crew should stay out of the storyline.

Response to Arnav

I find Family Guy’s cut-aways very funny. The abrupt seconds long scenes are very cleverly written and executed. I appreciate how many comedies would usually just say  “remember that time when…” and then continue on leaving the viewers with a mental image but never the real thing. Family Guy goes one step further providing the audience with a very humorous depiction of “that time when”.

Some may find these cut-aways very superfluous and a part of lazy writing, leaving the viewers with little imagination and food for thought. Critics of the cut-away may also say that these clips stray too far from the plot line and make the TV episode feel hap-hazard.

I think the creators of Family Guy are taking advantage of the freedom that comes with using animation in comedy. Most comedies filmed in real life are not able to make such ridiculous cut-aways. With animation, the sky's the limit. Episodes of Family Guy can include celebrities like Taylor Swift and Julia Roberts and can take place anywhere in the world. The logic of Family Guy is “If you can make it, put it in the show.” Some may call this frivolous but I think it is the important difference between comedy cartoons and comedy with real people. The ability to do anything with animation is something Family Guy takes advantage of especially with its cut-aways.

Laugh Attack

I am ashamed to admit that when I was in elementary and middle school, I watched many hours of Disney channel and Nickelodeon. After watching many an episode of shows like Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Wizards of Waverly place, I noticed that the fake laugh track is filled with the laughter of children. After thinking about those shows, I looked at shows like Full House and The Cosby Show that used to appeal both younger and older audiences. The laughter from the live audiences in these shows is a blend of children and adults, exactly the types of people who watched these shows on TV. Finally, I looked at more adult sitcoms like Friends and The Big Bang Theory. These laugh tracks were all adult.

I find it very interesting and appropriate that the laugh tracks in sitcoms match the ages of the overall viewers of these TV. It could be seen as subliminal messaging telling television audiences at home that certain shows are made for certain age groups. An adult is less likely to watch a show that has only children laughing in the background. And a parent may unconsciously notice that a show only has adults laughing and choose to not watch it with their child.

Response to Thomas

The Whitest Kids You Know uses a formula that often includes a straight man that calls out what is clearly wrong in a situation. It is ironic that the least funny character is the most humorous part of a skit.

A very famous straight man in modern pop culture is Jim Halpert from The Office. He is the straight man to Dwight Schrute who is so entertainingly serious. Jim loves to play pranks on Dwight and get him worked up and angry. Jim’s classic reaction to Dwight’s antics is a glance at the camera hoping someone else is seeing what he is seeing.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4sNxg1Yv0E

This is a perfect example of how Jim, remaining serious, is able to bring out a funny reaction from Dwight. Jim has appeared to have wrapped all of Dwight’s belongings including his desk and chair. Dwight, quite frustrated and clearly done with Jim’s shenanigans, angrily sits down to and empty wrapping paper shaped like a desk and chair. Jim remaining calm and rather serious, is able to bring about something very funny through others.

Another very popular straight man in television is Leonard in Big Bang Theory. He too has a partner, Sheldon,  is very high strung and odd like Dwight in The Office. Leonard will often point out how ridiculous or nerdy his friends are acting but then will get called out by his love interest and fellow straight man Penny for also being quite ridiculous.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guJ71nHlWCk

This is a perfect example of Leonard mocking Sheldon’s odd qualities and making the audience laugh and the both of them. Sheldon’s actions alone are funny, but Leonard’s willingness to mimic him takes the audience right over the edge with laughter.

Response to Henry

I find it interesting how you have been able to find a formula for this pair’s comedy. Like Abbott and Costello, many sketch groups have a pattern that can be discovered and mastered. Monty Python’s comedy often had a consistent pattern. This pattern includes a lot of repetition and confusion, similarly to Abbott and Costello’s acts. A perfect example of this is When Prince Herbert’s father, King of Swamp Castle, has to repeat to his humorously stupid guards how to keep his son locked in the room. This pattern of a character constantly repeating himself and confusing other characters is very common in Monty Python humor.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail Guards Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdKa9bXVinE&list=TLu8tw-mNOTfw

SNL also has a pattern with many of its sketches. Usually the sketch begins normally and the audience is unsuspecting of anything very funny. Suddenly, a ridiculous character is introduced into the situation and causes a ruckus. Kristen Wiig often played characters on SNL that were ridiculously over the top. For example, four sisters perform on the Lawrence Welk show. As they sing about their sisterhood, it’s clear something may be wrong with Dooneese. She has a massive forehead and tiny baby doll hands. She clearly stands out from the crowd and at least makes me laugh uncontrollably. This pattern for SNL has worked very well as they have introduced iconic characters like Stefon, Target Lady, and Debbie Downer.

The Lawrence Welk Show: Introducing The Maharelle Sisters:

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/the-lawrence-welk-show/n12318

Although some would say that these formulas used for sketch shows are basic and uncreative, I disagree. These patterns allow fans to know what to expect and enjoy something they have always appreciated. Shows like Monty Python and SNL may repeat a formula, but they always provide a creative twist with each sketch.

Lead Blog Post

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP9l4LP0WPI

“It’s coming out like lava!” A shriek that will go down in cinematic history.

I have never found poop humor funny. I usually disregard it as immature and far too over the top. For example, when I saw Mr. Hankey The Christmas Poop in South Park, I thought it was tiresome and out of place. For some strange reason, the food poisoning scene in Bridesmaids, one of my favorite movies, makes me laugh every time. Although I find the vomit disgusting and the women’s pale faces sickening and very unfortunate, as the characters scramble to find a toilet or honestly anything with a drain, their commentary and situation make it so ridiculous and humorous.

The incongruity of this situation is fairly obvious. These women in beautiful gowns are forced to do one of the most natural things in all the world, something animals do. The bridal shop, a place that stands for purity and cleanliness, is now stained with bodily fluids. The attendant is disgusted by the actions of her customers as she tries to stop them from doing the unstoppable. An event that was planned to be elegant filled with champagne and expensive gowns is turned upside down into a literal shit show.  Even the bride cannot escape the food poisoning as Lillian (played by Maya Rudolph)  sits in the street and defecates in her wedding gown.

The commentary also adds a great amount of humor to the scene. As Megan begins to do the unthinkable in the sink, she tells her fellow bridesmaid to “Look away!”. The desperation and seriousness in her voice as she sits on a sink in an expensive dress is strangely entertaining. Annie’s comment as we watch her friend suffer in the road is also quite funny: “Boy, you really doing it, aren’t ya? You’re just shittin’ in the street.” These types of comments make a situation that could be seen as disgusting humorous and very entertaining.

I appreciate how compared to the talking Christmas turd of South Park, Bridesmaids makes poop humor realistic. Even with these funny details and the incongruity of the situation, many of my friends find this scene simply disgusting. The fake vomit and simplicity of the humor do not amuse them. I suppose pooping in a sink is not everyone’s taste in comedy. I am curious to know why some find this scene hilarious and others just find it gross. Is there a line that can crossed in fecal humor and has it been crossed in this scene?

Lindsay Response

I believe that humor about tragic events like the Holocaust and the 9/11 attacks begins to become socially acceptable when the generation that does not remember these events become influential in pop culture.

The majority of our generation does not vividly remember 9/11. We may have blurry memories of watching the news coverage or being taken home from school after the crashes, but we do not remember as well as our parents or grandparents do. Because of this, it feels so long ago, as if it was just another part of American history that we can joke about. Take notice that it is not our parents or grandparents who are making jokes like “Bush did 9/11”. Our generation has put a cynical eye on this event because we feel so distant from it and want to in a sense rebell from the expected reverence.

Almost all of the 9/11 jokes that are popular began on social media, a platform dominated by our generation. We are a generation that expresses many of our emotions online whether it’s on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Because of this, it makes sense that cyberspace would be where certain tragic events begin to become socially acceptable to talk about. In the past, books and films like Catch 22 and The Dictator normalized and joked about the atrocities that occurred in World War Two. Social media has become another platform to express comedy like movies and books.

As our generation, so numb to the atrocities of 9/11, has become more influential in the media, we have normalized and even made humorous an event that that was tragic for others.