{"id":876,"date":"2011-07-18T12:01:50","date_gmt":"2011-07-18T12:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/?p=876"},"modified":"2011-08-18T15:21:32","modified_gmt":"2011-08-18T15:21:32","slug":"the-why-of-funny-4-oh-i-see","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/2011\/07\/18\/the-why-of-funny-4-oh-i-see\/","title":{"rendered":"The Why of Funny #4: Oh-I-See"},"content":{"rendered":"

George Constanza finds and arranges to buy a Frogger machine which still records a high score he\u00a0attained years ago. If unplugged, the high score record will be lost, but a battery is rigged up to\u00a0enable him to transport it home. With only minutes of battery power remaining, he must negotiate\u00a0the heavy arcade machine across lanes of traffic. As he struggles, we cut to an aerial shot of the busy\u00a0street and realise that George has become the frog in his beloved game. When the machine is\u00a0crushed by a truck, Jerry comments \u201cGame Over\u201d. The insight we experience creates an extra comic\u00a0level to the story. (Seinfeld, season 9, episode 8<\/i>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The comedy we most admire<\/span> is often associated with a rush of insight. The art of developing a\u00a0moment like that described above consists in assembling the required elements, making each in turn\u00a0appear to have a real purpose either in advancing the story or being funny in their own right, until\u00a0you are ready to unleash the insight. Unlike the techniques described under Saw-It-Coming<\/a><\/strong>, a\u00a0successful Oh-I-See<\/strong> moment absolutely depends upon the audience not getting ahead of you.<\/p>\n

Another sophisticated example from a recent American sit-com and then we will look at some more\u00a0common and trivial (but no less useful) examples of this technique.\u00a0The 100th episode of Scrubs<\/em>, \u201cMy Way Home\u201d, as is usual for this show, presents four major plot\u00a0lines. JD, who was relaxing in the bath listening to Toto on his iPod is summoned into work and is\u00a0desperate to avoid anyone who might give him more to do, so he can get home. Turk is eager to\u00a0persuade the father of a terminally ill patient to donate the boy\u2019s heart in order that he, Turk, can\u00a0assist in the operation. Carla is wrestling with her feelings of parenthood and worries that she\u00a0doesn\u2019t have the courage to be a good mother. Elliot fears that she lacks the intelligence to lead the\u00a0Q&A session on endocrinology she is suddenly faced with. All four plot lines develop smoothly, until\u00a0as all four characters are marching down the yellow stripe the Janitor has painted on the hospital\u00a0floor, JD\u2019s voice-over sums up the situation. Elliot wants a brain, Carla wants courage, Turk wants a\u00a0heart and he wants to go home. In a sudden rush of insight, half-way through the episode<\/span>, we realise\u00a0this is an homage to The Wizard of Oz<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This technique is all about \u201cclever\u201d comedy, of which Seinfeld<\/em> is the apotheosis. The Scrubs<\/em> episode\u00a0is exceptional because it combines character development, feeling, and social issues with a brilliantly\u00a0constructed Oh-I-See<\/strong> moment without allowing any element to swamp the others.\u00a0However, Oh-I-See<\/strong> also drives what is often referred to as the lowest form of humour too \u2013 puns.\u00a0Here\u2019s college professor Groucho trying to guess the password required to gain admittance to a\u00a0speakeasy, with Chico on the door.<\/p>\n

GROUCHO: Let me see: Is it \u201csturgeon\u201d?
\nCHICO: Hey, you crazy. Sturgeon, he\u2019s a doctor cuts you open when-a you sick. Now I\u00a0give you one more chance.
\nGROUCHO: I got it. \u201cHaddock.\u201d
\nCHICO: That\u2019s-a funny. I gotta haddock, too.
\nGROUCHO: What do you take for a haddock?
\nCHICO: Well-a, sometimes I take-a aspirin, sometimes I take-a Calamel.
\nGROUCHO: Say, I\u2019d walk a mile for a Calamel.1<\/a><\/sup>
\nCHICO: You mean chocolate calamel. I like-a that too, but you no guess it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In a good pun (if such a thing exists), we experience a rush of insight into the two different meanings\u00a0that the same or very similar-sounding words can have. Sometimes, we see the connection instantly,\u00a0other times it\u2019s a slow burn. \u201cSturgeon\u201d above, generally elicits groans since sturgeon-surgeon is at\u00a0once too clumsy and too obvious to be a really good pun. \u201cHaddock\u201d typically takes two or three\u00a0repetitions before the audience re-analyses it as \u201cheadache\u201d. Some people don\u2019t get it until\u00a0\u201caspirin\u201d. Part of the Marxes\u2019 appeal, of course, was in the sheer rate of punning. They get you\u00a0laughing at the good jokes, so you still giggle madly through the duff ones, until they hit you with\u00a0another belter. The good jokes are funnier because they are surrounded by weaker jokes. Compare\u00a0this with the effect discussed under All-Laugh-Together<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Not all verbal comedy is, strictly speaking, punning. When Groucho, at the end of a bizarre ramble\u00a0tells Margaret Dumont \u201cYou know, you haven\u2019t stopped talking since I got here. You must have been\u00a0vaccinated with a phonograph needle,\u201d we appreciate the status juxtaposition and the surrealism of\u00a0a record needle used for vaccination to create verbosity, as well as the double-meaning of the word\u00a0\u201cneedle\u201d. And for The Goon Show<\/em> by way of James Joyce, here are Vivian Stanshall\u2019s astonishing\u00a0opening lines from Sir Henry at Rawlinson End<\/em>.<\/p>\n

English as tuppence, changing yet changeless as canal water, nestling in green nowhere,\u00a0armoured and effete, bold flag-bearer, lotus-fed Miss Havishambling opsimath and eremite,\u00a0feudal still reactionary Rawlinson End. The story so far…<\/p>\n

The body of Doris Hazard\u2019s Pekinese, unwittingly asphyxiated beneath her husband\u2019s bottom\u00a0during a wine and middle-aged spread do at the great house, after the ritual fortnight in the\u00a0Rawlinson fridge, has been given over to Old Scrotum, the wrinkled retainer, for indecent\u00a0burial under Sir Henry\u2019s giant marrow. This monstrous jade zebra veg is the master\u2019s puffed\u00a0pride, and by his stern instruction, the greedy gourd is daily drip-fed with a powerful\u00a0laxative. Thus \u201cshould some rascal half-inch the blessed thing and eat it, it\u2019ll give him the\u00a0liquorice for weeks!\u201d<\/p>\n

Now think on\u2019t. Dot dot dot\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But these kind of linguistic pyrotechnics are not needed for a verbal insight. What about a simple\u00a0joke?<\/p>\n

Q: According to Freud, what comes between fear and sex?
\nA: F\u00fcnf!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The mention of Freud here is brilliant misdirection, surreptitiously setting up the idea of German-speaking\u00a0in order to unleash the insight that fear (vier) and sex (sechs) are also numbers in the\u00a0German language.<\/p>\n

Sketch comedy \u201cquickies\u201d often exploit this principle. A situation is set up, often sustained for some\u00a0time and then, for the punchline, is revealed as something rather different than we were led to\u00a0believe. Whether this makes us groan, gasp in admiration or laugh out loud depends on how\u00a0\u201ccheated\u201d we feel (does the false set-up really match the revealed situation?), and whether the joke\u00a0is also a vehicle for another kind of humour: satire for example.<\/p>\n

In a Smith and Jones<\/em> sketch, Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones are seen parked outside a house,\u00a0watching through binoculars and sipping coffee from a thermos. Tension rises, they complain about\u00a0the waiting. Griff wants to make a break for it, but Mel restrains him. They have to wait it out. Finally\u00a0the moment comes, their target leaves the house and they slip outside the car. We cut to inside the\u00a0house and see a card fall through the letter box. It reads \u201cWe called to read your meter, but\u00a0unfortunately you were out\u201d.<\/p>\n

This combines a second kind of insight, that beloved of many stand-up comedians, the insight of\u00a0recognition. And provides a surreal explanation to account for the observed behaviour. Hence in its\u00a0construction, the sketch uses one version of Oh-I-See<\/strong> in order to deliver a second kind of Oh-I-See<\/strong>. It\u00a0is also a bathetic ending, using Just-A-Flesh-Wound<\/a><\/strong> to substitute the high-stakes stake-out with the\u00a0low-stakes meter-reading, which in turn is a surreal juxtaposition. Less successful \u201cquickies\u201d\u00a0generally just depend on the cheap surprise of the Oh-I-See<\/strong> moment for their effect. Some radio\u00a0comedy is particularly prone to this: \u201cBut Captain, why have you given the briefing entirely naked?\u201d\u00a0That kind of thing.<\/p>\n

The dialogue in farces is often designed to sustain two different beliefs simultaneously. Done\u00a0clumsily, this can strain credulity, but done elegantly, and combined with appropriate juxtapositions\u00a0and status transactions, the results can be spellbinding \u2013 as in the classic Frasier<\/em> episode \u201cThe\u00a0Matchmaker\u201d, wherein Frasier tries to set Daphne up with a date, Tom, who is actually interested in\u00a0Frasier himself. All of the dialogue between the two of them enables Tom to believe that Frasier is\u00a0gay and trying to seduce him, while Frasier believes that Tom is straight and interested in Daphne, with a moment of insight for the audience each time. Finally, the penny drops and each character\u00a0experiences a rush of insight which deeply affects them.<\/p>\n

Also under the umbrella of Oh-I-See<\/strong> is the mechanism of the spoof. Sometimes, the intent will be\u00a0clear from the outset, as in films like Scary Movie<\/em> or Robin Hood: Men in Tights<\/em>. Other times, the\u00a0spoof will creep up as in the Scrubs<\/em> example above. The laugh of recognition is useful and important,\u00a0but once again works best with an element of satire included. It is not enough to include an element\u00a0borrowed from another work, it is also necessary to comment on it in some way.\u00a0It is also interesting to note that allowing the audience to reach their own conclusions is funnier than\u00a0spelling it out for them. This \u201cprotects\u201d the moment of insight. <\/a>This joke, attributed to Spike Milligan,\u00a0topped an Internet poll to find the world\u2019s funniest joke.<\/p>\n

A couple of New Jersey hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to the ground.\u00a0He doesn\u2019t seem to be breathing; his eyes are rolled back in his head. The other guy whips\u00a0out his cell phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps to the operator: \u201cMy friend is\u00a0dead! What can I do?\u201d The operator, in a calm soothing voice says: \u201cJust take it easy. I can\u00a0help. First, let\u2019s make sure he\u2019s dead.\u201d There is a silence, and then a shot is heard. The guy\u2019s\u00a0voice comes back on the line. He says: \u201cOK, now what?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Two further variations on this theme need to be addressed. The first has as much to do with\u00a0storytelling as comedy: reincorporation. Elements from earlier in the story reappear towards the end\u00a0to provide structure.2<\/a><\/sup> However, the reappearance of an earlier element creates a similar moment of\u00a0insight and can provide a comic highpoint. This is not quite the same as catchphrases and repeated\u00a0patterns, which are dealt with under Saw-It-Coming<\/a><\/strong>. John Cleese stresses the importance of not\u00a0letting the audience catch you setting up the elements you are going to depend on later, and\u00a0explains that he and Connie Booth would cover their tracks by putting all their best jokes into the set-up scene.<\/p>\n

In the Fawlty Towers<\/em> episode \u201cA Communications Problem\u201d, an entirely superfluous scene sees Basil\u00a0reminding Manuel that his visit to the betting shop on Basil\u2019s behalf is a secret. The scene contains\u00a0not a scrap of new plot information but is stuffed with brilliant one-liners to ensure not just that we\u00a0remember it, but that we also don\u2019t realise why we have to remember it.<\/p>\n

BASIL: You know nothing about the horse.
\nMANUEL: Which horse? Which horse I know nothing?
\nBASIL: My horse, nitwit.
\nMANUEL: Your horse \u201cnitwit\u201d.
\nBASIL: No, no, \u201cDragonfly\u201d.
\nMANUEL: It won!
\nBASIL: Yes, I know.
\nMANUEL: I know it won too. I go to betting shop for you\u2026
\nBASIL: Yes, I know, I know, I know.
\nMANUEL: Then why you say I know nothing?
\nBASIL: Oh\u2026 Look, you know the horse?
\nMANUEL: Er, Nitwit or Dragonfly?
\nBASIL: Dragonfly! There isn\u2019t a horse called Nitw… You\u2019re the nitwit.
\nMANUEL: What is \u201cwitnit\u201d?
\nBASIL: It doesn\u2019t matter. Oh, I could spend the rest of my life having this conversation.\u00a0Please, please try to understand before one of us dies\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And so on, for another minute or so. At the end of the programme, Basil needs to prove to vile Mrs\u00a0Richards that the money is his, and so summons Manuel to explain where it came from. Manuel\u00a0clears his throat, and to Basil\u2019s horror, proclaims \u201cI know nothing!\u201d<\/p>\n

A similar mechanism is at work when one situation is treated like another. In \u201cThe Initiative\u201d, an\u00a0episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer<\/em>, vampire Spike has just escaped from a research lab and is lying\u00a0in wait for Willow. When she lies down on her bed, he pounces and we cut away. When we cut back,\u00a0Spike is sitting on the bed next to Willow, his head in his hands. \u201cThis has never happened to me\u00a0before,\u201d he complains. \u201cMaybe we could try again in half an hour?\u201d suggests Willow. In fact, Spike\u00a0has been \u201cchipped\u201d to prevent him from biting people, but the scene plays out like a couple dealing\u00a0with erectile dysfunction.<\/p>\n

Finally, let us also mention practical jokes. Watching a show like Candid Camera<\/em> we appreciate the\u00a0additional insight we have which is denied the victim of the prank. When the truth is revealed, we\u00a0experience the victim\u2019s rush of insight vicariously and so we laugh.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
    \n
  1. \u201cI\u2019d walk a mile for a Camel\u201d was a popular advertising slogan. ↩<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n
  2. This is another way of describing \u201cChekhov\u2019s gun\u201d \u2013 the observation attributed to playwright Anton Chekhov that \u201cIf in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don’t put it there.\u201d See Uncle Vanya<\/em> for a literal use of this device. ↩<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    George Constanza finds and arranges to buy a Frogger machine which still records a high score he\u00a0attained years ago. If unplugged, the high score record will be lost, but a battery is rigged up to\u00a0enable him to transport it home. With only minutes of battery power remaining, he must negotiate\u00a0the heavy arcade machine across lanes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[216,217,218,211,46,214,210,57,62,192,209,213,215,198,180,212],"class_list":["post-876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","tag-anton-chekhov","tag-buffy-the-vampire-slayer","tag-candid-camera","tag-duck-soup","tag-fawlty-towers","tag-frasier","tag-horse-feathers","tag-john-cleese","tag-marx-brothers","tag-scrubs","tag-seinfeld","tag-sir-henry-at-rawlinson-end","tag-spike-milligan","tag-the-goon-show","tag-the-why-of-funny","tag-vivian-stanshall"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5JY5l-e8","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=876"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":962,"href":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876\/revisions\/962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}