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Lead Blog Post: Hey Abbott

               I have always been a fan of sketch comedy, with its simplistic approach to making everything confusing.  My favorite artists of sketch comedy are Abbott and Costello.  They have a large repertoire of sketches with different types of jokes in each but they all follow a formula.  First, Abbot and Costello are put in a situation that they must get out of or explain something.  They start by confusing the target whether this is the audience or a in sketch person.  Then they give a small sense of relief by making something clear.  They follow that up by confusing everyone once again.  Finally, they sum the whole joke up and deliver a punch line.

               The famous who’s on first sketch uses strange names and simple misunderstanding to make the joke.  This follows incongruity theory because the people have names that are usually used as question.  The people are baseball players that are supposed to have names that people will cheer.  This makes their question name seem even more out of place.   The strange names have a very formulaic sound throughout the sketch.  The set-up Costello is a new player who wants to know the players’ names on the team.  Who is generally the first question that would be asked about someone by a stranger.  The naming of the first baseman Who would make for maximum confusion and set up What as the second baseman to further the confusion.  What is a common way to start a question and it eliminates easy ways to clear up the name confusion.  The third baseman is just a way to provide sanity in the sketch because Costello figures that one out quickly giving some relief.  The sketch goes back into confusion with the introduction of Tomorrow and Today as the pitcher and catcher.  This is furthered by Why and Because as left field and center field.  The joke is then summed up by Costello saying a play with the players’ names.  The punchline is Costello saying, “I don’t give a damn” and then getting told that that is the shortstop name. 

               The 7 times 13 equal 28 sketch uses deception to make a simple math seem complex. The incongruity comes from the basic math that is being manipulated in way that seems to work but does not actually.  It follows the formula perfectly, the difference between this sketch and Who’s on First sketch is that confusion stimulates from math rather than names.  The sketch starts with Costello having to prove that he only owes $28 to the landlord.  The confusion starts with Costello saying that 7 multiplied by 13 equals 28.  He uses division to completely confuse the landlord and make him doubt what he knows is true.  He then uses multiplication to further confuse the landlord.  When the landlord seems to have figured out how to fix his predicament it gives a sense of relief.  The landlord then tries to use addition to get out of the predicament.  Costello turns this around on the landlord to confuse and trick him.  The punchline in this case is Costello taking the money and walking away with it. 

               This formulaic tendency is present in all comedy.  It isn’t always the same formula but there is an always a formula.  The formula is usually much more evident in sketch comedy than other comedy because they have one main joke that it is focused on and working towards the punchline.  While other types of comedy may have a multitube of jokes that act as red herrings to the formula.  Does this mean that comedy is just a different form of science, where everything can be quantified?  Is the only thing we are missing to completely understand and perfectly execute comedy the units?  This may sound ridiculous but remember we are currently taking a class all about examining comedy by deconstructing it, similarly to what most people do in science or math classes.