Jeanne Robertson - Lead Blog Post
This week is an exciting one for me because I get to introduce you to my all-time favorite comedian, Jeanne Robertson.
She is a renowned speaker from North Carolina, is 6'2", played basketball at Duke University, won the Miss North Carolina pageant in 1963, and was awarded Miss Congeniality at the Miss America pageant that same year.
I want you to watch one of my favorite Jeanne Robertson videos. An important note that will help you to better understand the video is that when she refers to "Left Brain" she is referring to her husband. You will soon come to realize why that is.
Now, I know that the video is longer than we usually watch, but PLEASE actually watch it. I promise it will be worth your time.
Of course, I wanted you to watch this video because it's one of my favorites, but I also wanted you to watch it because it's very different from everything that we have watched thus far for this class.
Most of the comedy that we have watched thus far has either been from a TV show (like The Office) or a skit (like Key and Peele's content). This video and all of Jeanne Robertson's content is different because it's not made up.
Jeanne Robertson tells TRUE LIFE STORIES of things that actually happened to her.
True stories have a lot of power. I mean, just think about! What is the simplest example of superiority theory you can think of? Here's mine:
You're in the cafeteria and someone drops their tray. You laugh! You are superior to them in that situation. And the person who dropped his tray is probably not laughing with you.
This is a very real situation that a lot of us have probably witnessed at some point in our lives. It's funny because it's true! It's not just some skit that people sat around, came up with, and then reenacted.
And, of course, humor is all around us in our lives - we just have to look for it! Try it tomorrow. Look for the humor of life as you go throughout your day. I'll bet you'll find it somewhere.
And, of course, humor is all around us in our lives - we just have to look for it! Try it tomorrow. Look for the humor of life as you go throughout your day. I'll bet you'll find it somewhere.
But don't let me lose you just yet! I want to go back to the point that I made in my last post.
What was that point, you might ask? Good question! I could tell you just to go read it, but I've already made you watch a very long video, so I'll spare you.
Basically, in my last post, I argued that there is a key difference and distinction that needs to be made between something that is funny and something that is comedy.
Here's where the distinction comes into play.
If you are paying attention in your everyday life and find humor in it that's something funny.
But, when you take that funny experience and retell it in story format like Jeanne Robertson does, THAT'S COMEDY.
Of course, comedy is still funny (most of the time), but not everything that is funny qualifies as comedy. I feel like this fits really well with the "squares and rectangles" analogy. Know the one I'm talking about?
Basically, all squares are rectangles. They all have two sets of parallel sides and four ninety-degree angles. They meet all of the qualifications! But, not all rectangles are squares because they don't all have four sides that are equal lengths. (See the image above.)
Don't you see how this applies to things that are funny and things that are comedy!
Isn't it nice when real-world examples can make things so much easier to understand?
I sincerely hope that you enjoyed Jeanne Robertson's comedy and this post! And I also hope that you were able to find something to take away from this distinction between something that is funny and something that is comedy that will be useful to you as we continue our discussions of comedy in the coming weeks!
Here's where the distinction comes into play.
If you are paying attention in your everyday life and find humor in it that's something funny.
But, when you take that funny experience and retell it in story format like Jeanne Robertson does, THAT'S COMEDY.
Of course, comedy is still funny (most of the time), but not everything that is funny qualifies as comedy. I feel like this fits really well with the "squares and rectangles" analogy. Know the one I'm talking about?
Don't you see how this applies to things that are funny and things that are comedy!
Isn't it nice when real-world examples can make things so much easier to understand?
I sincerely hope that you enjoyed Jeanne Robertson's comedy and this post! And I also hope that you were able to find something to take away from this distinction between something that is funny and something that is comedy that will be useful to you as we continue our discussions of comedy in the coming weeks!
Until next time,
Always Laugh Lots!!!
And remember...
- Anna Kathleen Spitler <3
Sources:
https://tvaraj.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/jeanne-robertson-source-httpfloridatheatre-com.jpg
https://img.pngio.com/-true-story-png-504_504.png
https://static.vecteezy.com/system/resources/previews/000/377/120/non_2x/girl-dropping-food-on-the-floor-vector.jpg
http://img.clipartlook.com/with-binoculars-clip-art-detective-in-bushes-with-binoculars-image-binoculars-clip-art-550_447.png
https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-1f39071cbc4946c131d8f61a41e584b6.webp
http://img.picturequotes.com/3/1026/1025080/dont-send-a-man-to-the-grocery-store-quote-1.jpg
https://img.pngio.com/-true-story-png-504_504.png
https://static.vecteezy.com/system/resources/previews/000/377/120/non_2x/girl-dropping-food-on-the-floor-vector.jpg
http://img.clipartlook.com/with-binoculars-clip-art-detective-in-bushes-with-binoculars-image-binoculars-clip-art-550_447.png
https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-1f39071cbc4946c131d8f61a41e584b6.webp
http://img.picturequotes.com/3/1026/1025080/dont-send-a-man-to-the-grocery-store-quote-1.jpg
This is a great because as you say, it's so different from what we have looked at in the past. As you say, it takes the humor we find in life and turns it into comedy. Freud almost puts it differently: he argues that comedy is found, a joke is made. But I think that's just describing the aims of these two kinds of art--one captures life, the other makes a funny statement.
ReplyDeleteThis also points out some other genres of comedy we haven't considered: regional humor, for example. Not just southern humor, but all the other traditions of regional comedy that do not really get as much attention (for example, the Jewish comedians of the Catskills).
It's also very earnest humor, which is another thing we have not talked about. Or maybe it's not earnest per se, so much as it is good natured or benign. Not a trace of superiority. That's not to say that she doesn't find humor in the exploits of "left brain," but it's in a way that couldn't really be mistaken for superiority.