First off, I love this movie, Jason Segel, and Paul Rudd.
Second off, I've noticed in the past couple of weeks (watching other people and having a few moments of my own) that when you try to be funny, it doesn't always work out like you planned.
That's why I think I'll appropriate this sage bit of advice from Forgetting Sarah Marshall:
"Don't try to be funny. Don't do it. The less you do, the more you DO."DO LESS.
With the exception of comedians and those blessed with charisma, I think the right amount of nonchalance can be important. There has to be a natural flow and confidence to the delivery of certain funny things. This may not be the absolute rule, but I think we have all more or less experienced (or been) the "try-hard," and it's usually one of those moments you try to pretend didn't happen. haha
I think it comes back down to the all-important cognitive shift. The problem with trying too hard is that the audience can already see the joke coming, and something about the situation is already predictable.
So, my solution to this issue is simple. In the words of Drake, "What am I doing? What am I doing? Oh yeah, that's right, I'm doin' me."
In case you forgot, and find yourself in a crisis, just remember to "do you." Authenticity serves well as a replacement for natural comedic genius.
The second option, also demonstrated in the clip I've provided, is practice. Keep trying, and perhaps one day you'll have it down. Now get out there, and shower the world with your jokes.
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great clip. The instructor is so ridiculous and you can just feel the poor guy's frustration in trying to do this fairly simple task. I love how you show that the instructor's crazy advice is actually quite applicable to the world of humor. It's hard to elicit genuine laughs with pre-prepared jokes. It seems that the funniest one-liners are the ones so freshly created their humor can surprise even the person who came up with them. Great post!
Rachel Z.
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteThis is hilarious. My favorite part is at the very beginning right after he tells him "the less you do the more you do" and he nods like "ok, that makes perfect sense". Then as soon as he tries he tells him that's not it at all. Even though this advice seems to make no sense in the surfing context it does make a lot of sense in humor. People trying too hard to be funny can be annoying at times.
I love this movie, and I am very glad I am getting to comment about this. I think your analysis on this clip is spot on. There is a lot of things that make this clip from Forgetting Sarah Marshall funny, but the non-chalance of the characters is certainly what gives this clip such a funny attitude. There is much to be said about those that try to hard to be funny. It definitely has the risk of backfiring. Great post Rachel, and also great cupcakes.
ReplyDeleteRachel,
ReplyDeleteYou hit the nail right on the head. I can't tell you how many times I have seen other people (ok, mostly myself) kill a joke because they (I) were trying to make it funnier than it actually was. I think you also made a good point about authenticity in the fact that when you're trying to be funny just for the sake of having a good time, it usually turns out better than when you're trying to be funny to make other people like you (just as an example). All in all, great post and great clip.
-Austin