I actually did not find this video funny until close to the very end. I noticed what you said about the actors and actresses trying to keep it together when they wanted to laugh but had to keep a serious face. I thought this was really funny, especially since it is super relatable for almost everybody. Everyone has to have been in a serious situation before where something funny happened, and they wanted to laugh, but they could not because of the atmosphere around them. In this instance, the fact that they were performing is what made it inappropriate for them to laugh in this serious situation, which made it all the funnier.
Additionally, I think the clip was a lot funnier since the laugh track was included in the background. I think without the laugh track, I would have felt super uncomfortable watching the video, and I would not have known when I was supposed to laugh or when something was supposed to be funny or not since the funny part of the clip was the sincerity of it in the comedic situation. The laugh track helped to break the awkward silences and make the awkward instances comedic rather than uncomfortable for the audience.
Overall, I think the incongruity theory is a great theory to describe this clip, as Mckenna mentioned. It does a great job explaining why the situation is funny. Incongruity theory posits that this clip is funny due to a violation of our normal mental patterns. This is due to the fact that the audience expected this situation to not be funny, and furthermore, the audience continually expected another sentence to come out of Debbie's mouth instead of the one that always did. Also, the things she said and the way she kept bringing the group down was pretty unexpected at first.
I agree with your response, especially toward the end when you pointed out how incongruity theory is able to explain Debbie's comments. I have been wondering lately about the relation between incongruity and unexpectedness. Do you think that every incongruity has to be unexpected? I have not been able to discern exactly how they relate to each other.
ReplyDeleteJohn has a good question: is it that what she was saying was unexpected, or was it incongruous? I think the laughter is definitely unexpected of course, so perhaps that is an interesting contrast.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this clip wasn't as funny as it should of been. I also agree that without the laugh track this video would of been super uncomfortable to watch.
ReplyDeleteHonestly I think this is one of those clips that even without the laugh track, it still might have been funny. It would really make the audience feel the awkwardness of the situation, which I think is what makes it funny. Relating to the article we just read about satire, the deadpan delivery gives this clip a unique comedic feeling of uncertainty.
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