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.

Breaking Character

Bringing up SNL cast members breaking character made me think of how so many movies and television shows include bloopers with their special features on their Blu Ray or DVD editions.Whether it is watching someone stumble while running in an action movie or giggle during a serious scene, we seem to not be able to get enough of bloopers!  I think our attraction to these videos is due to the superiority theory. We watch these famous people who are put on a pedestal fail fail to do their jobs.

Parks and Rec often releases a long blooper reel to its fans. It includes alternative punch lines and a lot of clips of cast members like Amy Poehler and Aziz Ansari cracking up. These characters which we often see taking themselves very seriously suddenly fall apart and we suddenly see how ridiculous a situation these characters are in. The seriousness of a moment falls apart and and a moment of reality seeps through. I suppose this could be a good example to support the relief theory as these people accept the ridiculousness of the situation or line and laugh.

On the other hand, this could easily support the the incongruity theory. These characters are always portrayed as people who take their jobs seriously no matter how ridiculous the issue is. It is out of the ordinary to see them break character and giggle about all of the ridiculousness. We may find it odd to see the seriousness and then silliness all in a split second.

Regardless of the theory, it is clear that the public has a strange fascination with bloopers and watching celebrities we know and love break character.