On Comedy - Surprise! (Post 3/3)

[Originally posted on June 28, 2011]

If you're looking for note 1, it's here (On Comedy - Upset (Post 1/3)). It's on Upset. If you're looking for note 2, it's here (On Comedy - Reversal (Post 2/3)) It's on Reversal. If you're looking for the note on Surprise, you have either come to the right place or completely failed. But then, you always knew it would come to this.



Wow, when I think of Surprise, there are just so many comics who...completely fail to fit the bill. It's hard to find comics who do that sort of comedy consistently, since it's usually woven in to an act without being its actual fabric. And yes, I just made a weaver joke. Deal with it. If you made cloth for a living, you'd be in stitches right now.

Surprise is similar to Reversal. Except that they're not always the same. With Reversal, the punchline is the opposite of what you'd expect from the setup. With Surprise, they might not even be slightly related. For example, "Why is 6 afraid of 7?" "Because fuck numbers, that's why."

Granted it's not funny, but that's just the example. Surprise, rather than punchline. You set the audience up for something that they *think* is coming, then you go another way entirely.

For (second) example, "So my roommate walked in on me while I was masturbating...no wait, I said that wrong. So I walked in on my roommate while he was masturbating...nope, still wrong...so *I* walked in on my roommate while *I* was masturbating...and I was all, 'Do you have any clean socks?'" (Chris Hardwick).

The point of the surprise comic isn't that the joke is going to win you over. It's not a guaranteed-giggle scenario. What it does is set up the comic as an outsider. And to be fair, that's what all comics are. You can't be a part of something while making fun of it properly. You can't wear "guyliner" and a swoopy haircut and tell jokes about how lame emos are, because while your audience doesn't need to respect you, they at least need to see you as someone separate from the people you're telling jokes about. You can't tell racist jokes in blackface, you can't tell sexist jokes in drag, and you can't tell funny jokes being Carrot Top. Or Joe Rogan. Or Robin Williams. Unless you're taking absolutely *legendary* amounts of cocaine (apparently).

But the point is, there is a measured advantage to surprising your audience. Sometimes oil tycoons will laugh at jokes about the poor. It's why Lewis Black was asked to do the Senate Correspondents' Dinner. He did all his jokes, trimmed of controversy and bother, scared to death that the President of the United States of America would be sitting right next to him. If he'd reached out, he could have petted him. But Bush Jr. didn't show. Instead, he had the surprise. It turned out that the surprise was even more terrifying than the potential—he had to perform in front of Dick Cheney.

Let's be fair. Whether you're a comedian or not, the idea of *that* audience is terrifying. It'd be like performing for Emperor Palpatine, then finding out he was secretly Dick Cheney. Or doing improv in Hussein's spider-hole. Stand-up in Bin Laden's mansion. But then they turned out to be Dick Cheney.

Surprise is useful in comedy because it shows itself in the oddest of places. It's the surprise of a random comedic moment between previously unrelated people that can create the funny moments that forge lasting relationships. It's the surprise of a joke in a generally unfunny situation that can "break the ice" and create lasting friendships.

Upset. Reversal. Surprise. There's always a reason for comedy. Which is your favourite? Chime off in the comments. Or go lick a street pole. It's not like anyone is reading this anyway.