 Comedy: May 28, 2014 Issue [#6339] |
  Comedy
This week: The Power of a good Squelch Edited by: THANKFUL SONALI RIP BIKERIDER  
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Squelch
When you squelch something, you're putting an end to it. You can squelch an idea or a rebellion.
This word has several meanings, but it's usually a verb for crushing things. A mean remark could squelch your self-confidence, and a powerful military could squelch an invading country. There's also a type of electric circuit that cuts off when the signal is weak: that's a squelch circuit, which squelches the connection. (Explanation courtesy: Vocabulary.com.) |
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Dear Reader,
I've looked up 'squelch' and have found it as a verb in various online dictionaries, but I'm going to say it works as a noun, too. For me, a good squelch is a good put-down.
So why is a good put-down often funny? How can a squelch be used as a weapon, buy the comedy-writer, to play the audience? For that, we need to look at two principles of comedy as proclaimed by the famed film-maker, Charles Chaplin.
The first principle that is at work here is: "Wealth and authority in trouble". Chaplin says that everyone is pleased when someone who is rich (richer than the reader/viewer, that is), or someone who is in a position of authority, gets overpowered in some way, it is funny. A squelch, I think, puts down someone who appears to be in authority. There's someone who is the top-dog and someone else who ups her/him with a cutting remark.
Here's an example from the master of the squelch, PG Wodehouse:
Summer Lightning by PG WODEHOUSE (1929) (From preface)
A certain critic — for such men, I regret to say, do exist — made the nasty remark about my last novel that it contained ‘all the old Wodehouse characters under different names’. He has probably now been eaten by bears, like the children who made mock of the prophet Elisha: but if he still survives he will not be able to make a similar charge against Summer Lightning. With my superior intelligence, I have outgeneralled this man by putting in all the old Wodehouse characters under the same names. Pretty silly it will make him feel, I rather fancy.
There you have it. The critic appeared to be on top dog, and Wodehouse squelched him with a masterstroke. Authority in trouble, if you ask me! I wonder if the poor man, if he hadn't been eaten by bears, did, in fact write another book review after this one!
And another critic was the playwright Sean O'Casey who wrote: "If England has any dignity left in the way of literature, she will forget for ever the pitiful antics of English Literature's performing flea". Wodehouse squelched him by by giving the title Performing Flea to a collection of his letters to a friend, Bill Townend.
The other principle at play, as advocated by Chaplin, is "surprise". It's well known that surprise is a great tool for the comedian. A squelch can be pretty surprising, with a train of thought appearing to go one way, and instead turning in another direction. Here's another example from Wodehouse.
The Heart of a Goof by PG WODEHOUSE (1926)
Dedication: To my daughter Leonora without whose never-failing sympathy and encouragement this book would have been finished in half the time.
Yup, yup. A squelch, and a surprise, too! I can't help feeling just a bit sorry for the aforementioned Leonora, here!  (An aside -- he says 'daughter', but technically, she was his step-daughter. He had no biological children.)
There's something else I think a squelch does. It substitutes for whining. I mean, Wodehouse could have whined about the critic, or about Leonora, and just got our backs up against him. Instead, he squelched them and got us effectively on his side in both cases. Wodehouse exploits this, too ... here's a squelch getting an agreement from another character!
‘Well, I don’t see what there is to do. If Bingo is such a chump ____’
‘One is fighting a losing battle, I fear sir, but I did venture to indicate to Mr Little a course of action which might prove of advantage. I recommended him to busy himself with good works.’
‘Good works?’
‘About the village, sir. Reading to the bedridden -- chatting with the sick – that sort of thing, sir. We can but trust that good results will ensue.’
‘Yes, I suppose so,’ I said doubtfully. ‘But, by gosh, if I was a sick man I’d hate to have a looney like young Bingo coming and gibbering at my bedside.’
‘There is that aspect of the matter, sir,’ said Jeeves.
THE METROPOLITAN TOUCH – The Inimitable Jeeves by PG WODEHOUSE
Hmmmmm. I'm not quite sure how well this squelch went, though! I hope there was a counter-squelch handy!
"What did he say?"
"I cannot recall his exact words, sir, but he drew a comparison between your mentality and that of a cuckoo."
"A cuckoo, eh?"
"Yes, sir. To the bird's advantage." -- Jeeves and the Song of Songs by PG WODEHOUSE
And here's a squelch-in-thought!
"All over the country our salesmen are reporting that the American dog is once more becoming biscuit-conscious. And so I am in a position, with your approval, to offer Frederick a steady and possibly a lucrative job. I propose, always with your consent, of course, to send him over to Long Island City to start learning the business. I have no doubt that he will in time prove a most valuable asset to the firm.'
Lord Emsworth could conceive of no way in which Freddie could be of value to a dog-biscuit firm, except possibly as a taster." -- Blandings Castle by PG WODEHOUSE
Turning something annoying or hurtful to comedy helps you (or your character) cope, gets the audience behind you, and pretty successfully silences the opponent. A good squelch, well used, can lead to hilarity. Have fun bringing top-dogs down, and surprising your readers, with a well formed put-down!
Happy writing!
- Sonali
Oh, and PS -- If it's possible to squelch a place, here's PG Wodehouse again!
“A depressing musty scent pervaded the place, as if a cheese had recently died there in painful circumstances.” ― Leave It to Psmith by PG Wodehouse
And (sorry, couldn't resist this) -- How to tell a man he's marrying the right girl (or not!) 
“And she's got brains enough for two, which is the exact quantity the girl who marries you will need.” -- Mostly Sally by PG Wodehouse
AND -- here's another one:
‘I forgot to mention, sir, that Sir Roderick called to see you this morning.’
‘What?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘He called to see me?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘After what has passed between us?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Well, I’m dashed!’
‘Yes, sir. I informed him that you had not yet risen, and he said that he would return later.’
‘He did, did he?’ I laughed. One of those sardonic ones. ‘Well, when he does, set the dog on him.’
‘We have no dog, sir.’
‘Then step down to the flat below and borrow Mrs Tinkler-Moulke’s Pomeranian’
Jeeves Gives Notice – Thank you, Jeeves by PG Wodehouse
But this one is the ultimate:
"The face is slab-like, the ears are large and fastened on at right angles. Above the eyebrows comes a stagnant sea of bald forehead, stretching away into the distance with nothing to relieve it but a few wisps of lonely hair. The nose is blobby, the eyes dull, like those of a fish not in the best of health. A face in short, taking it for all in all, which should be preserved for the gaze of my nearest and dearest, who through long habit, have got used to it and can see through to the pure white soul beneath..."- A description of himself by PGW in "A Wodehouse Miscellany-Photographers And Me"
A big thank you to the members of the group 'Fans of PG Wodehouse' on Facebook, for sourcing the quotes! There are too many individual members to name here, so many have helped. If you're a Wodehouse fan and on Facebook, it's a great group to be part of. |
Speaking of Wodehouse:
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Thanks for the responses to "Comedy Newsletter (October 16, 2013)" !
dwarf2012
I wish I could be like your Dad. You should write more about him!
LJPC - the tortoise 
Hi Sonali! It's great you got to see the show and even greater that your dad has such an awesome sense of humor. A sense of humor brightens life and doesn't cost a thing. Thanks for the cute story and pic!  ~ Laura
BIG BAD WOLF is Merry 
Try dealing with someone so serious, he's funny, like the Tremors series' Burt Gummer, as played by Michael Gross. That paranoid survivalist would make a diabetic want to have some soda-pop when he goes on a rant about the government, only for him to start spouting about the amount of fructose sugar in the soda-pop. |
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