What's funny? - A look at joke patterns/setups.

[Spaztique]

As most of you know, I'm not very good at comedic improv (mainly due to bad timing and my tendancy to corpse), but I do know a thing or two about comedy and the patterns within comedy.

So I whipped up a few comedic patterns I've noticed and employ in a few of my short stories/video projects/comics. Feel free to make additions to the list.

1. Stating the complete obvious - When somebody states a ridiculously obvious fact, whether it be about the current situation or an event, it can get a laugh or two out of somebody. For example, there's a tense situation, complex information is put out there, and a simple answer is conveyed when anybody with half a brain could've noticed it in the first place. Example of stating the obvious in a CSI spoof

2. Running jokes - Running jokes carry a heavy nostolgia factor, and when used in moderation, they can get funnier and funnier with each repitition. Variations on running jokes also add to the nostolgia and comedy of the said joke, too.

3. Repeating stuff - Repition can be funny, and reptitious, and it involves repeating things! Whether it be in one sentance (like the previous one), two characters (repeating the same sound effect or sentance, or variations of each), combined with good timing, repitition is almost like a miniature running joke.

4. Non-sequiturs - Better than a goat! Non-sequiturs are statements that just don't make sense, and the right mental overload could possibly make it funny. They can include odd sayings, warped morals, or over-the-audience's-head comebacks to other characters. Although these can be accidental, a well-done one on purpose could be extremely funny.

5. Blurting jargon - Very useful for playing characters of fields you're not familiar with, blurting the job-related jargon can be funny, especially if it's misused. For example, one actor, while playing a soldier, once said "I'm the ranking officer here! Napalm! Foxhole! Reinforcements!" The audience rolled on the floors.

6. Outrageous jobs - Doctors and generic business men?! Not funny. The guy who sells Pez dispensers in an amish town with an overlly squeaky wheel on the cart he sells them on? Hilarious! Not only can the concept alone be funny, but the results can be even funnier, especially when there's competition within the same field! Competiting businessmen? More generic than corn flakes. The guy who makes those car commercials with the car driving through the woods competiting against the guy who makes those car commercials with the car driving up a mountain? A battle for the ages!

7. Strange values - In real life, if you were to go to a friends' house and tell them you were a doctor, they'd normally react positively, or if you told your parents your date was blonde, they'd dismiss that as mundane. In the theatrical world, some people are opposed to doctors or blonde people militantly, and usually have a long history against them. When pulled off properly and with enough reason, it can be funny. This goes hand in hand with overreaction. And on that note...

8. Overreaction - They say you shouldn't cry over spilled milk. And you can easily bet your ass you shouldn't murder a whole family and then yourself over spilled milk. Or how about when somebody sneezes and the family has to quarentine them? Overreaction is both highly unexpected, and quite absurd in most cases, so a lot of people consider that funny. And on that other note...

9. Beyond control - The lead character has encountered a crisis, and everybody else is making decisions for him, and they're all the wrong ones, and if that character attempts to have things his way, the others quickly stop him and tell him that they've got everything under control. This is almost like a roller coaster as things spiral out of control for the lead, and the faster the other characters can make the decisions, the funnier.

10. Non-linear logic - A character does something that does not follow a logical pattern. For example, a character sits down and the other character, who can see the other in clear view, asks that person to take a seat. Or a pizza man walks up to a door with a pizza, gets paid, and leaves while still holding the pizza. The same laws for non-sequiturs apply here, only these actions are meant to make sense at first, but, in the end, don't.

11. Simplicity/Complexity in a Complex/Simple situation - When something is a lot more complicated than it really is, or when something is much more simple than it really is. Like when a bomb squad moves in wearing full gear and carrying a box of equipment to flip to the off switch on a bomb, or when somebody has to open a safe and disable security for sourkraut.

12. Misinterpretating the situation - A dramatic event is going down, and one of the characters can only notices an arbitrary detail, or the complete opposite happens, when somebody thinks a crisis is going on when it really isn't. For example, two people enter a room and the whole thing is a mess and several objects might have been stolen, and one of the characters says, "My God!... I left my keys in the car," or, "My God... I forgot to throw away that bag of chips before I left," and subsequently does so. In the reverse, the same two guys enter the room and there's a small mess, and one guy asks the other guy, "You know what this mess means?" The other guy responds, "I sure do... It means there's a world-wide epidemic turning everybody into zombies, and the zombies must've ran into the house looking for brains! Oh no! This could mean we're both infected! Quickly: shoot me in the head! I don't want to be a zombie! I DON'T WANT TO BE A ZOMBIE!!!"

13. Overacting - If we've learned anything from Battlefield Earth, we've learned that overacting that can be pretty hilarious. The best overacting can be considering a combination of over-the-top unnatural facial expressions, over-done accents, overuse of dramatic pauses, invasion of personal space, and whip-pan movements. Combined with equally dramatic music, it can be the funniest thing ever.

I'll list more when I think of them. Please add your own if you want.