Responding to Debbie Downer
Hello again! I'm so excited to have you all back, yet again, for yet another response post!
This week I will be responding to McKenna's lead blog post on the 2004 "Debbie Downer: Disney World" Saturday Night Live, or SNL, sketch. If you are not familiar with this clip already, please take a look!
Pretty funny, right??
Now, I will admit, I am not a big Saturday Night Live watcher.
I've watched some clips in the past, and I even have a few I'd consider favorites, but I certainly don't frequent the show or watch on any sort of regular basis. A lot of the clips just aren't really my kind of humor. But this clip - this clip I thoroughly enjoyed.
In her post, McKenna does a great job of analyzing what it was that made this clip funny. She addresses my next paragraph's topic toward the end (Don't look ahead! It's coming, it's coming!!), but the beginning and bulk of her post focus on irony and exaggeration. Are these useful tools for humor? Absolutely! Are these the elements that the show writers intended to make the clip funny? Without a doubt! But are irony and exaggeration what actually made the clip funny? Not at all. And I know that you know exactly what I'm talking about!
This SNL sketch is HILARIOUS because the cast cannot pull themselves together!!!
I did a lot of theatre growing up, and I know exactly what it's like to be in a live performance situation in which the entire cast LOSES IT on stage! I have been there!! It's a great moment to look back on, but in the moment it's humiliating! Everyone is watching you have a breakdown. So, having been in this situation, it is especially funny to me to watch others have a similar breakdown whilst trying to do a live performance.
I find it hilarious and I feel bad for them, all at the same time!
This week I will be responding to McKenna's lead blog post on the 2004 "Debbie Downer: Disney World" Saturday Night Live, or SNL, sketch. If you are not familiar with this clip already, please take a look!
Pretty funny, right??
Now, I will admit, I am not a big Saturday Night Live watcher.
I've watched some clips in the past, and I even have a few I'd consider favorites, but I certainly don't frequent the show or watch on any sort of regular basis. A lot of the clips just aren't really my kind of humor. But this clip - this clip I thoroughly enjoyed.
This SNL sketch is HILARIOUS because the cast cannot pull themselves together!!!
I did a lot of theatre growing up, and I know exactly what it's like to be in a live performance situation in which the entire cast LOSES IT on stage! I have been there!! It's a great moment to look back on, but in the moment it's humiliating! Everyone is watching you have a breakdown. So, having been in this situation, it is especially funny to me to watch others have a similar breakdown whilst trying to do a live performance.
I find it hilarious and I feel bad for them, all at the same time!
What about you guys? I'm curious. Did you find this clip funny for the same reasons I did or was it more in line with what the writers originally intended? Also, have you ever been in a situation where, during a performance or presentation, everyone lost it? Let me know in the comments below!!
Until next time,
Always Laugh Lots!!!
- Anna Kathleen Spitler <3
It's interesting that you say that you feel bad for them in part, and that that makes it funnier. How do we account for sympathy in laughter? It certainly is ironic in a sense to have the cast laugh when they are supposed to be making us laugh. But I think you are right that that is not what is doing it.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how you find the breaking of their characters funny, but you also feel bad for them. I feel like that fits right into superiority theory. You are laughing at their misfortune of breaking character and you feel superior, in a way, that you are not in their situation, especially because you have experienced the same humiliation before.
ReplyDelete