It’s the first rule of comedy. One of the other things comedians learn mostly through experience is to suffer through the soul-destroying chasm created by the silence of a bit not landing. That is to say; telling a joke that isn’t funny.
I’ve been there although not on stage performing. And never with a written or rehearsed gag. Usually with a smart ass comment in a meeting. Almost as bad as that time I forgot all my lines as the narrator of the Ryde East Primary School Year 6 Christmas Play. Walked out to stage centre, the spotlight came on, the audience started to applaud and I couldn’t even remember any of my names.
In those situations, a desire to fill the silent void immediately rises up. The skill (I’m aware of but yet to master) is to ride the silence. There’s always a chance the joke was so funny people are still processing the comedic genius they’ve just encountered. Wait for it, wait for it… until someone laughs or more often says, “So, on the next agenda should be…” making sure Craig isn’t invited?
I hold comedians and scientists in the same high esteem in that they both get to the unknown by going down unexpected paths. Is Jerry Seinfeld going to cure cancer? No. But Einstein wasn’t kept around at Princeton for his yuks either. Same same, but different.
Adam Spencer may be the exception to the rule. Brilliant mathematician and genius stand up comedian. I was shooting the red carpet at Tropfest 2009 and Spence was hosting. I stopped him and said ‘I wake up with you every morning’ (he was hosting mornings on 702ABC) Tumbleweeds. So I doubled down with, ‘I’m your biggest fan’. Ever had a death stare from a guy with a wonky eye? It’s like being lasered by a Darlek.
I’ve worked with some very funny people in my life; some seriously funny Australian comedians in advertising agencies and writing rooms. There’s a lot more science to the process than just sitting around telling gags. The business of comedy is as hard as any other.
What’s really going on here is ‘forcing’. It’s the idea of pushing something beyond its natural limitations. A contortionist is amazing, until they break a bone. A comedian ranting about school children becoming political advocates is
Bending and breaking require nuance, subtlety, context. Three hot nuns walk into a bar is hilarious, in a bar. Not so much in a convent. Three pedophile priests walk into anything isn’t funny anywhere anymore. Unless it’s a prison.
My mother used to say, “Tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool than open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.”
I never understood why she would say ‘Tis’.