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The Rules of Comedy: Stating the Obvious

I've received lots of thoughtful emails about the rules of comedy so far posted. Many of you have asked about corallary rules and further clarification, but here's the deal: first we nail the basics. Remember, this is geared towards a great number of people who have no idea what's funny and what's not, and stumble through life with the comic equivalent of a sawed-off shotgun for a mouth, sometimes hitting the mark, sometimes causing irrevocable collateral damage. First, we need to bring them up to speed and THEN we can start working on more advanced tactics in hilarity, like the 1-2 punch, the setup, and the rules of 3.

So, today, here's another building block for you. Stating the obvious can be very funny. Paul Reiser made untold millions off this single rule in the series Mad About You.

Example:

At a cocktail party, a guest asks "how are you doing?!"

Not funny: I'm ok.
Funny: I'm wearing pants.

Note, however, that stating the obvious about more than one thing in sequence is not funny. After stating the obvious, you must then comment on it for extra titters.

Example:

Not Funny: "I'm wearing pants. I'm wearing a shirt. I don't have a hat on"

Funny: "I'm wearing pants" "you think in 2000 years there will still be pants?"

One last point. the astute observer will say "you could've made 2000 a prime number and made that last sentence funnier". WRONG. Context is everything. In the above situation, you are looking to make a quick comment on what you've just said. Using 2423 years draws attention to THAT instead of to the ridiculous overall comment and takes away the speed of the line. Don't try to mix and match rules until you know what the hell you're doing.

Posted by Dick at November 15, 2003 12:21 PM | TrackBack