Observing Observational Humor
February 28th, 2010 by ComputerBob
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld has gotten very rich from his brand of observational humor.
Observational humor is when someone finds humor in the mundane things that they observe around them.
Stereotypical Seinfeld jokes often start with the phrases, “Have you ever noticed that…” or “What’s the deal with…”
In a very similar vein, I think that the very best actors are always extremely keen observers of human behavior. They observe and note others’ tiny nuances of body language and facial expression, and then use them to add believability to their own performances.
Ironically, Jerry Seinfeld is not a good actor. I think that’s because his strength lies in observing “the big picture” of circumstances, rather than the details and nuances of body language and facial expression.
I kind of doubt that I could ever really be close friends with a really good actor — in the back of my mind, I would always wonder how much of their friendship is sincere and how much of it is a very believable performance of some other close relationships that they’ve observed at some point in the past.
Yesterday, I stumbled onto a comic that made me laugh. It’s one cartoonist’s observation of observational comics.
It depicts a scene from the Seinfeld sitcom — a scene that never actually happened in that TV show.
The comic artist has created a scene that, by itself, isn’t very funny. And the facial caricatures of Jerry, George and Kramer aren’t nearly as good as the one of Elaine, which made me laugh.
But what I find really funny about it is that the artist completely captured the essence of those characters’ personalities, body language and behavior.
Just like a really good actor would do.
If you’re a Seinfeld fan, I think you’ll really enjoy this comic.
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