Rodney Dangerfield's brilliant trick
His "I get no respect" catchphrase is the setup to every joke.
I think the brilliance of Rodney is his persona IS the set up to every joke. He doesn’t ever need to explain what’s happening in a joke because we already know: his wife hates him, his doctor is crazy, his parents sucked, and he gets no respect. This allows him to just fire punchline after punchline.
Maximum efficiency, minimal means.
🔌 Sign up for the paid plan ya goddamn freeloader. You know this stuff is good. Prove it. Look at me…grr! 🦁
So many of the best standups are like this: Brian Regan is a dumb goof. Bill Burr is unreasonably angry. Steve Martin is a high status moron. Richard Lewis is a neurotic mess. (Of course they’re all pretending but that’s why they call it the act.) They don’t have to explain it because, if you’ve been paying attention, you get it.
Hammer away at a theme long enough and then you don’t even have to bother setting it up anymore. And that means more laughs and less talkie talkie.
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