Too Funny For Words

I got Too Funny for Words by Frank and Ollie today because libraries kick ass. Here's the thoughts that struck me so far.

Obviously in Walt's mind, the first priority in any film was the laughter, and too much story quickly became tedious. He never forgot that point throughout his whole life, constantly shying away from projects that had more continuity than entertainment.

While some gags are funny in themselves, regardless of who is involved, most situations are funnier with one type of individual than with another. Peg leg pete is immortal, he's a big bully so you can torture him all you want and it will be entertaining, Mickey who is "good" you can't physically torture with buzz saws and such.

Grab the audience's interest first, the best way to do that is with laughter.

Entertainment grows from knowing who a character is and looking forwards to how this character will deal with this predicament. Choose the right problem for the right character.

The best laughs come from funny situations that the audience recognized as being close to their own experiences. The humor always comes from the same source: entertaining personalities in believable situations.

Frank and Ollie categorized the different gags:
Originally there was personality gags, gags that are funny because of the involved personality, but that eventually became every gag as the art form evolved. There was also surprise gags, which also eventually diffused and merged with all gags, basically surprising the audience with something they didn't expect.

spot gag a quick funny visual joke, doesn't advance the story, doesn't need an intro or climax, the weiner dog becoming a stair case for mickey.

running gag re-occuring joke, gaining more funny with repetition (repetition reduces resistance)

gag that builds series of connected gags increasing in intensity

action gag a regular thing performed amusingly (basically anything normal goofy attempts to do)

tableau gag held picture that's supposed to be funny, like anytime someone gets smacked with a frying pan and has fried eggs for eyes

inanimate character gag giving an inanimate object a matching personality like a nervous teapot shouting all the time

funny drawing a drawing that's fun to look at

A fresh new method of performing any action has to be a surprise to the audience by definition, and the gag that is presented with this elebent startles them into an impulsive laugh by introducing the unexpected .In fact, preparing the audience for a more traditional occurrence is the best way of surprising them with the unforeseen gag.

While it is most important that the audience know what the characters are doing on the screen, nothing will add as much spirit and zest to the activities as constant surprises.