Finding surprise in adjusting speeds
On Bob Newhart, Patton Oswalt, and the Luka Doncic approach to standup.
Most comedians are in a hurry, filling the room with quips. There’s a wonderful tension to this brand of comedy, but Newhart showed us there is another way. You can find surprise in adjusting speeds just as basketball players like Luka Doncic can get past defenders by moving between slow and slightly less slow.
Love the Luka analogy.
There’s more than one way to skin a punchline. Keeping ‘em off balance is key. High energy is usually the easiest way to win ‘em over. But slow and/or deadpan can work too. Think Stephen Wright or Joe Pera.
Also makes me think of the way Patton Oswalt got serious and lowkey on a bit years ago…
He also told a story of a one-night stand with a woman he was sure he got pregnant, prompting a trip to the pharmacy for a morning-after pill. Oswalt tells the bit with a lot of comic anxiety, but he allows for this quiet moment in which he and the woman begin to express regret about what they’re about to do. It’s unexpectedly tender and sweet — and then the quiet is punctured by some jerk in the audience yelling “Wooooo!!!” really loudly…
“I love the guy who’s terrified at any kind of silence,” Oswalt said, irritated, later telling the guy, “Fuck me for building a moment. I’d hate to see you at a funeral.” Finally, when the drunk asshole keeps whooping it up, Oswalt caustically informs him, “You are going to miss everything cool and die angry.”
Related:
The best question to ask when writing
Here’s a great question to ask in conversation with others, as a crowdwork question, or (to yourself) when writing bits: So what was surprising about that? In the real world, it’s a great way to trick someone into being interesting. Surprise is at the heart of comedy and interestingness; it’s showing us an outlier, something weird, and/or a break in a p…
Be extraordinarily prepared but completely open to happy accidents
“He's extraordinarily prepared but completely open to happy accidents.” That’s how Paul Sorvino described Scorcese in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas: A Complete Oral History (GQ). It’s a great attitude to have in standup too. Go in with a plan but remember: There’s a reason people came to see a live human being. So don’t be afraid to be human.
Love this. Something I'm really working on. My highest and lowest energy settings feel vastly different to me but when I listen back they spund identical