fandomhigh | Birth of TV Comedy, Monday First Period

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Birth of TV Comedy, Monday First Period

"Hey, good morning," Mitchell said to the students as they piled in. "We've got a small group this time, but I like that. After all, television comedy isn't for the faint of heart." He grinned a little. "In the next few classes, I'll be putting you all through a vigorous sitting of all sorts of comedies. The good and the bad. Don't let Television Without Pity close up your hearts to the power of the sitcom."

There was a little amused irony in his voice, yes. "But this is introduction week. First, let me introduce your teaching assistants for this period. The talented Kate Gregson, and the dashing Jack Priest." A little more of that irony, but he meant it fondly.

"To start things off, I get the pleasure of catching you during your very first round of introductions of the session, so... name, favorite style of humor, and tell me a joke."

He pointed. "We'll start with you, then."

[[ ~~wait for the~~ ocd up! ]]

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Name, favorite style of humor, joke! Feel free to ping off each other if the urge strikes.

"Hey," Bobby gave a little wave. "I'm Bobby Drake, and I'm a fan of, well. Banter, I guess? And pranks. I'm pretty good at those. And, um, a joke? Okay, sure:

A man runs to the doctor and says, 'Doctor, you've got to help me. My wife thinks she's a chicken!'

The doctor asks, 'How long has she had this condition?'

'Two years,' says the man.

'Then why did it take you so long to come and see me?' asked the shrink.

The man shrugs his shoulders and replies, 'We needed the eggs.'"

Yeah, it wasn't the best joke ever, but he really was more about playing jokes than telling them, honestly.

At least Mitchell snorted a little? "Ah, chicken jokes," he said, dryly. "The source of all humor."

"I wonder," Bobby mused. "Which came first: the chicken joke, or the egg joke?"

"I'm Kate Gregson, and ignore Mitchell's tone, because I really am talented." She sent a smirk his way. "And I guess my favorite type of humor is... witty oneliners, maybe? And like, snarky humor."

As about half the people in this class knew from personal experience.

"And I... don't really do jokes. I'm more of a sarcastic commentator."

Ditto.

"I think the better answer is," Mitchell said, ever so seriously, "That you're the joke."

"Well, we'll see who's laughing next week when I bring muffins and don't let you have any."

"Still me," Mitchell proposed, "As I'm old enough and I have a steady income, so I can buy my own muffins."

Re: Introduce Yourselves!

vanillajello - 2010-05-10 17:36 (UTC) - Expand

"Robin Goodfellow. I guess my favourite jokes are pranks and pratfalls, but I appreciate most forms of humour, especially wordplay.". He tapped his chin thoughtfully for a moment.

"How bad is the economy? It's so bad, the Mafia are laying off judges. It's so bad that CEOs are downsizing... To miniature golf.". He grinned, "Ya ya, I'll be here all week, try the veal."

"That's headed more in the thigh-slapping area," Mitchell said. Paused. Thought it over, and added, "...Don't tell me you're into puns."

"Puns are the lowest form of humour.", Robin replied, "Which makes them fantastic for punishing your audience.". He grinned broadly at that, "Do it right and they'll keep coming back for more."

"I'm Nobody Owens," he said, "though I go by Bod to avoid confusion. It's my real name and my parents didn't hate me."

That had become one of the more common ways of introducing himself since arriving here. Better to explain up front, he'd decided.

"And...I don't know if I have a favorite style. I haven't really been exposed to comedy save for in the last year. Before that, there was nothing to really base a judgment off of. Though, I did know some authors who thought they were particularly amusing. I mostly thought they were boring but we were from different times. They were very old and I was very young. And I haven't gotten around to learning any jokes."

Bod shook his head at his lack of real introduction and made a note to, at least, learn one joke soon.

Mitchell raised an eyebrow. "You knew some authors?" he asked, "Eighty-year-old ones?"

"Some of them," Bod said, nodding and thinking back to the dates he'd read on various tombstones. Name, epitaph and dates. He'd memorized those backwards and forwards, in English and Latin and still remembered most of them. "Some of them were a lot older than that. Most of them didn't write comedy, though. That didn't stop them from thinking they could, though."

...

Well, now.

"How old were they, then?"

Re: Introduce Yourselves!

therewaslife - 2010-05-10 17:15 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Introduce Yourselves!

chosehumanity - 2010-05-10 17:20 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Introduce Yourselves!

therewaslife - 2010-05-10 17:24 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Introduce Yourselves!

chosehumanity - 2010-05-11 08:08 (UTC) - Expand

"I'm, um Delirium." Siiiiiiiilence. What was she supposed to say no-- Ah! right. "Not really sure about a, um, style; some things are, well, funny. Kinda. Sometimes?" And now....right, the joke.

"The Teacher asked George: how can you prove the earth is round? And George replied: I can't. Besides, I never said it was."

Hippie kid?

What did Mitchell know. "I'm not sure that's a joke. Sounds more like semantics." Beat. "Although if you hear my friend George go on about those, you'll be laughing."

...Anything to keep him sane, huh? Hey look, a pun! Of sorts.

"Um, um....um." Del seriously considered making Mitchell laugh just about anything -what, it was a comedy class!-, but she wasn't sure about it; apparently she hadn't answered the question. "But those, um, aren't "

Comedy was starting to get complicated.

Being a vampire, Mitchell's sanity was situated somewhere on a questionable level. Especially considering that meant he'd seen the Men With Sticks and Rope.

"Semantics can be hilarious," Mitchell said, ignorant of the narrative. "If spouted by a nineteen-year-old on speed who's completely ignoring the fact he's complaining about the grammar of an insult directed at him."

Re: Introduce Yourselves!

mania-endless.livejournal.com - 2010-05-10 17:18 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Introduce Yourselves!

chosehumanity - 2010-05-10 17:21 (UTC) - Expand

"My name is Layla Miller-"

And because she can't say it without saying her name:

"-I know stuff. My favorite type of humor is slapstick and... um. Joke. Right. Why did the Silver Surfer have to leave his job as a herald? He was Ga-lactose-intolerant."

...

"It's funnier in context."

Hi, eyebrows going up. "And what is the context?"

"Um. The Silver surfer was a herald for Galactus. He comes from outer space and eats planets. So. Galactus. Ga-a-lactose-intolerant? Play on words? Okay, it was a stretch."

"There should be, um, Ga-lactose-free, um, . But, well, eating a planet, that's not, um, yummy."

She wasn't even sure to have gotten the joke right.

"Thank you," she mouthed at Bobby.

It paid to have someone from a reality not unlike your own to provide context.

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