Comments on: Ugly Betty, Tina Fey, and the cultural mechanics of comedy last night

By: Andrea

Andrea — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 06:17:55 +0000

I wouldn’t take it too seriously as Fey has admitted to disliking her silhouette from a while ago (in Vanity Fair she joked about it and said she was like ‘a behemoth’) so I’m guessing after Leibowitz took pictures of her and she gained a new shape this is her way of having a bit of fun – because she can now!

But you’re spot on with the part about humour… and I don’t want to generalise but I don’t really want to know when I’ll be entertained when watching or doing something, it’s funnier when you least expect it.

By: srp

srp — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 21:49:32 +0000

Colin Martindale, author of The Clockwork Muse, has a Theory of Novelty that he uses to mathematically predict oscillations in the content of high art. His basic idea is that in high art, only novel expressions receive cultural credit. Thus language becomes more allusive, cryptic, and emotional/associational over time in poetry, paintings move away from realism toward various forms of psychological projection and abstraction, etc. He uses the thought experiment of a culture where anyone who repeats something that has already been said or done is ignored; eventually, even trying to communicate “please pass the peas” would become an exercise in indirection and the use of elaborate metaphors and vague allusions. Grant’s idea about comedy is congruent with this.

By: Stephen Denny

Stephen Denny — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:53:28 +0000

Grant: I once heard that “comedy is the imposition of the mechanical on the non-mechanical, and vice versa.” No idea where the quote came from, but it’s pretty accurate. We laugh when things that aren’t supposed to be, are – and vice versa.

I’m sure that 30 Rock is at a crossroads – without the devil, they lack a cause to be. I’m wondering what next season will bring when ‘the other side’ has its turn!

By: Colleen Wainwright

Colleen Wainwright — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:42:23 +0000

Early warning is the death of comedy.

Amen.

And that messing with expectations is a delicate thing. Even the pros blow it, as you’ve so beautifully pointed out.

Love this post.