Seinfeld on finding fun for the ear
How musical words can be ear entertainment. "I wish I could say dune buggy every night.”
Jerry Seinfeld gave an interview recently where he talks about how standup is like songwriting.
Interviewer: You liken joke crafting to songwriting — that you have to be on a certain beat or rhythm and that sometimes it comes down to shaving off syllables to get the laugh. So to you, comedy is a science. It’s mathematically earning a laugh.
Seinfeld: Some parts are mathematical, other parts are just — it’s a sound. I was talking to this comedian the other day, actually it was today. He has a bit about a dune buggy. And I just thought, “Wow. I wish I could say dune buggy every night.” Just a fun sound.
So sometimes that’s the musical part — sounds that are just fun to say. You always try. I have this whole long bit about personal storage areas and there’s a part of it where I go, “You gotta bust off the lock.” I don’t say “break into it.” I don’t say “struggle to get into it.” But the words “bust into a lock.” It’s fun for the ear.
I used to do this bit about bathroom stalls where I would say “the underdisplay viewing window.” There’s no word “underdisplay.” No phrase, it doesn’t exist. I made it up and everybody instantly understands it. But that’s the musical part — where it’s an entertainment for your ear. Purely for your ear.
The interviewer also references this NY Times profile: Jerry Seinfeld Intends to Die Standing Up. In that one, Seinfeld talks about the importance of getting up regularly.
When he can’t tinker, he grows anxious. “If I don’t do a set in two weeks, I feel it,” he said. “I read an article a few years ago that said when you practice a sport a lot, you literally become a broadband: the nerve pathway in your brain contains a lot more information. As soon as you stop practicing, the pathway begins shrinking back down. Reading that changed my life. I used to wonder, Why am I doing these sets, getting on a stage? Don’t I know how to do this already? The answer is no. You must keep doing it. The broadband starts to narrow the moment you stop.”
Related: Words Seinfeld loves: Chimps. Dirt. Playing. Sticks.
Thank you for alerting me to the possibilities in something I do in a slapdash way in writing and conversation. Now when I'm inviting people to play, like standing in a checkout line with strangers, I'll know I'm exercising my broadband. Indeed, let's make up words willy nilly if they feed a rhythm, prompt a surprising visual in those nearby, or -- yes, please -- make possible an alliteration!