Liz Fosslien

Liz Fosslien  

I finally got around to taking pictures of the Stardew Valley chickens I crocheted for my Marnie cosplay! I also added some pizzazz to the basket I carried them around in ;D

The shocking truth of what is going on in our public libraries! (My latest Guardian Books cartoon)

If you could recommend Dan any comedians (or media) to study who/what would you choose? Like things that might help him improve his craft? Not in a mean way just in a honing his skills type of way. A little homework as a treat.

you have no idea how much you're indulging me with this right now, but let's fucking gooooo

i honestly think dan is well-versed in comedy and having the experience he's currently having with touring his comedy material is only gonna help him (even if it's mainly to an audience that already likes him), so in general i think he's on the right track, so the things i say here are way more for people who are interested in comedy in general than about what i think dan should do, but i will mention some stuff related to him just to further contextualize his comedy.

what i would recommend anyone that is interested in comedy (not only as a career path but as a genre, a study subject, etc) would be getting into theory to understand some of the whys and hows of comedy.

i wrote my undergraduate thesis on comedy (and i got an 100% score 🤓) and as torturous as writing a thesis can be, reading and learning more about comedy through an academic lens was extremely exciting, which is why i recommend diving into the different theories and theorists and how comedy is perceived in different historical contexts.

under the cut i put some more thoughts and recommendations to learn more about comedy:

There are several theories that try to explain what is comedy, humor, why we laugh, etc. but I try to narrow it down to 3 main ones: Incongruity, Superiority and Relief.

Although I have not read ALL of them ENTIRELY (some of these I've only read the bits that helped my thesis), for pure theory I recommend some of the work I used for my own research:

• Poetics by Aristotle

• Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic by Henri Bergson

• Humour by Terry Eagleton

• Essays on Poetry and Music by James Beattie

• Humor by Sigmund Freud (Yup. That guy)

• Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious by Sigmund Freud

• Human Nature by Thomas Hobbes

• Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

• On Humor by Luigi Pirandello

• Histoire du rire et de la dérision by Georges Minois (I couldn't find an English version of this book online, but it's available in French and Portuguese)

Another way to be exposed to some theory without a lot of effort is by watching Nannette by Hannah Gadsby because she quite directly addresses Incongruity and Relief in that special. I also think it's a good experience overall, so even if you don't wanna learn about comedy, go ahead and watch Nannette.

When it comes to comedy as a tool for social change (which I see as an important aspect of comedy, and I believe that is also a goal for Dan's journey with comedy) I recommend the following (especially the first one):

• A funny matter: toward a framework for understanding the function of comedy in social change by Caty Borum Chattoo

• Storytelling for Social Change: leveraging documentary and comedy for public engagement in global poverty by Caty Borum Chattoo & Lauren Feldman

• Why stand-up matters by Sophie Quirk

When it comes to mental health, a big topic in Dan's comedy, needless to say Bo Burnham is a great source for that kind of material, but the truth is many comedians (big names and beginners) are talking mental health nowadays in their work, so there is a lot of work to explore out there. But I recommend watching Laughing Matters, a short documentary featuring several comedians talking about their mental health and their careers in comedy, and John Mulaney's part on Netflix's The Hall: Honoring the Greats of Stand-Up where he talks about Robin Williams. These works help demystify that terrible myth that in order to be a comedian or seek comedy you have to be some sort of tortured soul, that whole idea of "my trauma made me funny", etc. Still kinda on that line of mental health but a bit more, like, autobiographical, which is kind of the line where Dan is going, I feel like Nannette, as previously mentioned, is a good one and so is Rothaniel by Jerrod Carmichael (HBO Max). Although most comedians will do kind of autobiographical work, I think these two just kind of hit closer to where Dan is aiming.

To understand more comedy from the POV of comedians themselves I recommend any podcast on comedy like Comedy Bang Bang, You Made It Weird, Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend, etc. and listening to episodes featuring comedians you like. I think having a favorite comedian and watching anything by them where they talk about their journey with comedy can make this easier. Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee is also this great window into this world of comedy and the way these comedians see their craft and their journeys (fair warning about this show and, honestly, getting into comedians in general: many people here are talented but suck ass as people. Consume their work at your discretion).

For me, I love John Mulaney as a comedian, so I tend to favor his views on comedy and I find that his interview with Larry King in 2018 is quite a great way to see his understanding of performing comedy and his own role in it. I also like Robin Williams, Bill Hicks, Julio Torres, George Carlin, Patti Harrison, Maria Bamford, Jerrod Carmichael, Joel Kim Booster, and many more. But honestly, my main reference is John Mulaney, and most of my comedy knowledge comes from the US comedy, so I do think having a niche helps.

You may like British comedy better, or maybe you enjoy comedy from your country better, or maybe you just don't get physical comedy at all, or you can only feel alive when you consume cringe comedy, etc. I like comedy a lot but I'm not into every kind of comedy in the same way. But I would say that being exposed to as many different kinds of comedy, formats and comedians as possible can be very positive because there's so much to learn from any well-done joke, y'know?

For me, one type of comedy that feels indispensable to any performer is improv comedy. The "yes, and..." mentality is essential to anyone going on stage and facing an audience. And to anyone writing comedy, being given a random situation and not escaping from it but learning to expand it is essential. And, honestly? Just regular living can be improved with some improv. So, obviously: Whose Lines Is It Anyway? is a good way to start there (I favor the older ones but that's because I ferociously consumed every 90s-2000s episode of the US WLIIA when I was a teenager). If you're Brazilian, Improvável by Barbixas is a great way to start as well with almost endless content to explore.

And, honestly? Any video essay on comedy, comedians or comedy media you enjoy. We all love a good video essay. I like:

• How Nathan Fielder Undresses People by Nerdwriter1

• The Power of Storytelling: John Mulaney by PhilosoFun

• The Hidden Formula Behind Almost Every Joke on Late Night by Slate

• Efficiency in Comedy: The Office vs. Friends by Drew Gooden

• The Death of Laugh Tracks by Drew Gooden

• Is SNL Even Funny? by Drew Gooden

• I watched one SNL episode from every season by Drew Gooden

(What I mean here is that Drew Gooden needs to make more video essays on comedy, please.)

Oh, another thing that is really important is delivery. I will, once again, bring up John Mulaney because I think his delivery is phenomenal. The Salt and Pepper Diner is a masterclass on comic delivery, I believe. I mentally quote "Hey, November Rain is over! ... No, it's not. There's more." all the time. Which brings me to another point, listen to stand-up albums. I love watching a good stand-up special but audio makes you really appreciate the delivery of the joke. The comedian has to convince you they're worth of your time with their ability to get a joke out of their brain into the world with no help of visuals. It helps you understand that comedian's comic voice. And I think John Mulaney does that really well.

Of course there is a variety of different comics with different deliveries to also be impressed by: Dan Mintz and Nathan Fielder have kind of similar styles of voices but their humor is kind of different. Leslie Jones, Pete Davidson, Conan O'Brien, Katt Williams, Bo Burnham, Julio Torres, Daniel Sloss, Ali Wong, Katherine Ryan, Hannah Gadsby, Wanda Sykes, Tig Notaro, Chris Rock, etc, they all have different ways to speak, but they know how to work their rhythm well enough to land their jokes the right way. You gotta find your own rhythm.

And I think a final thought is: authenticity. Not that you have to give 100% of yourself all of the time. You can tweak stories, enhance certain situations, hide things, not tell the full truth, you can even straight up LIE, and all that. but you gotta make it believable. An audience that senses a lack of authenticity, won't be entertained for long. If you're not explicitly coming in with a fictional character, your audience will be seeking your essence. Your comedy is a reflection of you. So whatever you say, whatever part of your life you decide to expose, whatever vision you share, your audience is associating that to you. You're not just a medium from where the jokes come from, you are it. Which is why you can't just tell a joke because you think it will be funny, you gotta tell it because it's honest to you, to your beliefs, it resonates with you. You have to understand that the audience will see that joke as an expression of yourself.

See why Dan's joke about not washing his feet back-fired? He either picked something unauthentic to him - according to him he just chose a random example - or he did pick something authentic to him but, like many comedians do, backed out once he got called out. He had the choice of running with it, owning the joke but he backed out. And if he's honest when he says he just chose a random example, then he made the mistake of not being authentic to his own beliefs when telling a joke.

In the endddd, my favorite way to learn about comedy is by watching comedians talk about comedy. And comedy is too rich of a field to be explored only through the academic angle, or one theorist's point of view so having people who live and breathe comedy talk about it is a great source of knowledge. That's one of the reasons why in my thesis, when I explained the theories of comedy, I didn't just quote theorists, I also quoted comedians.

Final thoughts: just, y'know, be yourself. Have fun. Don't joke about not washing your feet if you don't want people to think you don't wash your feet, etc. And most importantly, punching up will always be the best way to use your craft for the better.

If you read until here, why the fuck would you do that? But thankssss. <3

so peaceful :)

Source: @arinniedalison