{"id":836,"date":"2011-06-30T12:48:55","date_gmt":"2011-06-30T12:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/?p=836"},"modified":"2011-07-22T16:21:14","modified_gmt":"2011-07-22T16:21:14","slug":"the-why-of-funny-1-king-fall-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/2011\/06\/30\/the-why-of-funny-1-king-fall-over\/","title":{"rendered":"The Why of Funny #1: King-Fall-Over"},"content":{"rendered":"

If a meek old lady falls over, we rush to her aid, but if a boorish and arrogant king falls over, we laugh uproariously. The old lady has no status to lose, but the sight of the king suddenly stripped of his status is the oldest joke in the world (probably).<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Although status is related to wealth, class, beauty etc it is independent of all of these. There exists high and low status\u00a0behaviour<\/span> and people who are naturally high or low status, but these things are not fixed. Although status may be illuminated by dialogue, it is principally something that\u00a0people do<\/span>,\u00a0so it is easy to see even in a foreign language. Great stories, whether their tone is dramatic or comic, will almost always involve status transactions and \u2013 if well-acted \u2013 these will be apparent whether one can hear the dialogue or not.<\/p>\n

Nervously preparing for a boxing match, Charlie Chaplin helps himself to the previous boxer\u2019s lucky charms and visibly grows in confidence. When the previous boxer is brought back into the dressing room on a stretcher, Charlie\u2019s confidence evaporates instantly, and he furiously tries to rid himself of the trinkets he has stolen (City Lights<\/em>).<\/p>\n

The opposite is also (sometimes) true. When, in Steamboat Bill Jr<\/em>, the side of a house falls on Buster Keaton, a perfectly-placed window saving him from extinction, his failure to lose status as expected is also funny (adding both Saw-It-Coming<\/a><\/strong> and Oh-I-See<\/a><\/strong> to the mix).<\/p>\n

As a rough rule of thumb,\u00a0sudden <\/span>changes of status will be funny (especially drops in status), whereas\u00a0sustained<\/span> changes of status will be dramatic (Macbeth\u2019s gradual descent from noble warrior to suicidal lunatic).\u00a0Big status gaps <\/span>will be funny (Blackadder and Baldrick) whereas\u00a0small status gaps <\/span>will be dramatic (Josh and Toby on The West Wing<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Having characters shift status in reaction to events is a part of the general principle of storytelling that\u00a0characters are affected by the events of the story<\/span>. Balancing this principle of storytelling with comedy needs of Just-A-Flesh-Wound<\/a><\/strong> is one of the hardest things to get right. Too much emphasis on Just-A-Flesh-Wound<\/a><\/strong> generates superficial comedy that will likely not travel well. Too much emphasis on King-Fall-Over<\/strong> and the general principle of characters being affected can tip a comedy into drama or leave an audience unduly disturbed at the implications of what is being depicted. The romance between Tim and Dawn in The Office<\/em> has a character depth that the superficial zingers of (especially early episodes of) Will and Grace<\/em> can\u2019t match; but some later episodes of Friends<\/em> were criticised for being amusing soap opera rather than laugh-out-loud sit com.<\/p>\n

Status can be employed for comic effect in (at least) the following ways\u2026<\/p>\n