Birth of TV Comedy, Monday First Period

[chosehumanity]

"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! ]]

Comments

Re: Introduce Yourselves!

[therewaslife]

"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.

Re: Introduce Yourselves!

[chosehumanity]

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

Re: Introduce Yourselves!

[therewaslife]

"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."

Re: Introduce Yourselves!

[chosehumanity]

...

Well, now.

"How old were they, then?"

Re: Introduce Yourselves!

[therewaslife]

"I think Nehemiah Trot was well over a century. He was a poet. His tombstone read Swans Sing Before They Die." Bod said, nodding. "Caius Pompeius died during the Roman occupation. He wasn't an author but he did tell interesting stories when he was a in a good enough mood."

Re: Introduce Yourselves!

[chosehumanity]

"So the authors you knew were ghosts," Mitchell established.

Mitchell, hun, you'd have to do a better job of pretending that surprised you. At least, if you were having this conversation outside the island. "Ones that old'll give you a run for your money."

Re: Introduce Yourselves!

[therewaslife]

"I was raised in a graveyard so yes, they were ghosts," Bod confirmed with a nod. "And the older ones weren't always too keen on me being there but I think they adjusted. Being the only human there was more interesting than not. I enjoyed learning about historical events from those that were there instead of right from books."

Re: Introduce Yourselves!

[chosehumanity]

Mitchell snorted. "The old ones," he said, with a slightly amused shake of his head. "But not a jokester among the bunch, then? Looks like we've got some catch-up for you."