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This week: Subtle or Brash? Tread With Care! Edited by: Kitti the Red-Nosed Feline  
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Some people like their comedy subtle. Some like it offered on a plate, there to be laughed at. It's tricky territory for a comedy writer. How subtle is too subtle, and how clear is too clear?
This week's Comedy Newsletter is about being subtle... and why it's not always a good thing.
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My mom likes witches. She has books about witches, has read up on the history of witches, owns artworks of witches, has painted several witch statues... when it comes to witches, she's into it, though she doesn't practice witchcraft. It's easy to see, then, why she thoroughly enjoyed her first trip here. I live in Lancashire, not that far away from Pendle Hill. This is witch country.
That first visit, some nine years ago now, was also the first time she met my partner, Mark. They got along famously until the day we visited Whitchurch, a tiny place that's home to the grave of Alice Nutter. Apart from the church and the grave there's not much to see and do there, but there is a shop with lots and lots of witchy stuff, so my mom was in her element. On the way out, she eyed up the sign above the shop, and looked thoughtful for a moment.
"That would look good in my home," she concluded and turned to Mark. "Think you could steal it for me?"
Mark looked bemused and told my mom that he didn't think he could get away with it without anyone noticing.
"It would only take a moment," my mom reckoned. "They'd never know. I'd get it myself, but you're taller than me."
Mark said he really didn't think it was a good idea and anyway, how would she get the sign back through customs?
"I'll find a way," mom reassured him. When Mark headed towards the car without responding, she pondered out loud about men who wouldn't even do such a small, simple thing for their future mother-in-law.
Later that day, when we were alone, Mark expressed his upset to me. My mom had kept a straight face throughout the conversation, and her tone had been serious. When she carried on after the original question, Mark had become convinced that she was serious. How could she think that he was the kind of person who would steal? Why had she asked such a thing of him? His impression of my mother had taken a negative turn.
My mom noticed a change in Mark's behavior towards her, so I had to explain his conclusions to her. That left me with an upset mother, because she couldn't believe he'd think she'd been serious. How could he think she'd genuinely ask him to steal for her? What kind of person did he take her for?
Dutch humour had met British humour, and decided that they didn't get along. It was strange, because British and Dutch humour aren't all that different. They can both be rather subtle, and rather dry, but Dutch humour of the kind employed by my mother relies on assumption. She'd assumed that he understood she was joking. She had also assumed that he knew her to be a person of honesty and integrity, and that therefore he knew she wasn't a thief, and that she would not ask another person to commit theft on her behalf.
In British humour, there tends to be some sort of sign that a person is joking. It can be in the tone of voice, or the facial expression of the person delivering the joke. It's often subtle, but it's there. Without a clue of any kind, and because the joke had carried on beyond a mere phrase, room was left for Mark to misinterpret my mom's joke.
They can laugh about it now. It's become one of those anecdotes that floats to the surface every now and then. Mind you, I just Googled the shop and the sign in question appears to be gone. Hmm... suspicious!
Personally, I love British comedy. From Blackadder and Monty Python to Mr. Bean and TV shows like "Have I Got News For You", I tend to giggle at least a few times. I like American comedy, too. It tends to be easy to "get", at least in the movies and shows that I've watched.
Sometimes comedy from any country can a bit too "in your face", though, and that makes me cringe. It's as though the audience is underestimated and the scriptwriters feel they have to take the viewer by the hand, point at the screen and shout, "Look! This is a joke! You should laugh now! Come on, laugh! See? There you go, that was fun, wasn't it?" Nah, not my cup of tea, I'm afraid.
Different people are amused by different things. I like the relatively subtle approach, and I enjoy it when I can make up my own mind about what I find entertaining.
And that's a good thing to keep in mind for those of us who like to write comedy. If you're too subtle, you take the risk that it will go over people's heads, but if you're so blatant that the reader almost expects to hear canned laughter in the background, they might be left distinctly unamused.
It's a fine line that's easy to cross in either direction. Once you get it right, however, you're likely to entertain.
kittiara
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Here are some of the latest additions to the comedy genre. I hope you'll enjoy them!
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Comedy: April 11, 2012 Issue [#4982]
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