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Has there ever been a show designed around comedy?


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Many of us have sat through shows that attempted to be designed around comedy or have moments of comedy. It takes a special set of circumstances and a staff not trying too hard to be funny to make it work. There are few things less funny than a "comedic" show that is forced and ultimately not funny. Nuclear annihilation comes to mind.

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I'm not sure how well PDQ Bach would translate to a drum corps show, as much as I loved seeing him live, and reading his book.

Back in the mid-'70s, I was Asst. Band Director at a H.S. in NJ. Our concert band did the PDQ Bach "Grand Serenade for an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion". While the kids loved playing it in rehearsal, at the concert it went over like a lead balloon: it just was not really very funny to outsiders; you really had to be in the know to "get" what he was doing. "Grand Serenade" just sounded like a lousy band chart when you did not understand the context.

I am reminded of the musical tomfoolery of Gerard Hoffnung:

"In 1956 Hoffnung took part in one of the popular 'April Fool's' concerts in Liverpool, organised by Fritz Spiegl. He took up the idea, and presented a similar, but larger-scale, concert at the Festival Hall in November the same year, in which Spiegl joined him. The "Hoffnung Music Festival" played to a sell-out audience in the hall and to BBC viewers throughout Britain. The success of this concert led to two more Hoffnung Festivals, the third of them presented as a tribute after his death. They featured contributions from distinguished musicians. Donald Swann revised Haydn's Surprise Symphony to make it considerably more surprising. Malcolm Arnold wrote A Grand, Grand Overture, scored for orchestra and vacuum cleaners, and dedicated to U.S. President Hoover. Franz Reizenstein's Concerto Popolare featured a battle between the soloist, playing the Grieg Piano Concerto, and the orchestra, determinedly playing Tchaikovsky. Sir William Walton conducted a one-note excerpt from his cantata Belshazzar's Feast: the the word "Slain!" shouted by the chorus. After Hoffnung's death, similar concerts were promoted by his widow, Annetta, and collaborators."

If you listed to recordings of these concerts, it's clear that the audience is in stitches. (My favorite piece is Gordon Jacob's variations on "Annie Laurie" for subcontrabass tuba, two contrabass clarinets, two contrabassoons, serpent, contrabass serpent, harmonium, hurdy gurdy, heckelphone, and two piccolos. There's also a lively tuba quartet playing Chopin.) But would most modern audiences appreciate it? I suppose that the Reizenstein piece, which drags in several other famous themes besides the Grieg and Tchaikovsky, has an analogue in Carolina Crown's 2008 show, "Finis".

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In 2001, Blue Knights played Paul Hart's "Cartoon" for the entire show. When I was writing the DCI program book, I was told the designers programmed moments in the show for the audience to laugh. Later, though, they forgot to tell the audience.

Humor either happens or it doesn't, but it needs to happen on its own. VK understood that for a show to be funny, the audience has to be let in on the joke. However, being "let in" doesn't mean to be force fed the joke and instructed, "Now you will laugh."

Sort of like in 2005 when Cadets would have "plants" and or staff members throughout the crowd to "explain" to everyone what it was they were about to see so they could understand it??

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I think the end of VK 1992 got a big ovation not just because of the shark came out and ate the fat lady. VK had built up to that over several years before. They had been featuring the "Jaws" theme and the shark fin since at least as early as 1984 or 1985 (VK alums can correct me if I'm off). The "Jaws" motif built up to the "Bottle Dance" intro in 1990. So, for the entire shark to come out and eat somebody in 1992 was not exciting on it's own, but because the gag had been established over several years.

Would the shark gag in 1992 have been as well received if the corps had not referenced it in previous years? I don't think so.

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I believe you may have hit on a bigger point - for ANY entertainment format (tv sitcom, movie, standup, etc) endeavoring to have a successful comedic performance, the performers have to take it seriously. An awful lot of work has to be done for it to come together effectively. The really successful comics make it look easy, but it isn't easy.

100% correct.....many thought....or think its an easier way out in actuality it's a much harder avenue...especially when there is still criteria with any show of excellence but conveying humor is very hard....i watch many comics on tv and wonder , what the heck are they laughing at YET ( my own humor ) others do the same to me ( dry humor )....usually a comic will have a following to their type of humor, this becomes most of their audience but a drum corps doing comedy plays to a blind audience every time so to speak.

Edited by GUARDLING
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100% correct.....many thought....or think its an easier way out in actuality it's a much harder avenue...especially when there is still criteria with any show of excellence but conveying humor is very hard....i watch many comics on tv and wonder , what the heck are they laughing at YET ( my own humor ) others do the same to me ( dry humor )....usually a comic will have a following to their type of humor, this becomes most of their audience but a drum corps doing comedy plays to a blind audience every time so to speak.

Humor is also very personal....

When my wife and I were dating, I wanted to see "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" when it first came out. The film started with the King "riding" his "horse"...actually, of course, the guy clacking coconut shells...my now-wife groaned and whispered "I am going to HATE this movie"..and she did...every minute...as I was laughing throughout. When were just married, she had to go to bed early, as she had an early work shift...she could hear me laughing out loud at Benny Hill...she couldn't stand watching him for more than one minute.

That would be another problem with a comedic show. What one person might think is hilarious another might think is the lamest thing going.

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I'm not sure how well PDQ Bach would translate to a drum corps show, as much as I loved seeing him live, and reading his book.

Back in the mid 70's I was Asst Band Director at a HS in NJ. Our concert band did the PDQ Bach "Grand Serenade for an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion". While the kids loved playing it in rehearsal, at the concert it went over like a lead balloon...it just was not really very funny to outsiders...you really had to be in the know to "get" what he was doing. Grand Serenade just sounded like a lousy band chart when you did not understand the context.

Golly, you are older than I thought - PDQ Bach supposedly died sometime in the late 1600's.

That said - I Agree that it wouldn't go over well w/ a DC audience. I saw PDQ/Schickele on the 'Tonite' show (w/ Johnny Carson) in the late 80's and he totally bombed. Went over everyone's head. I think it may be too subtle, or maybe the audience needs to really be 'in' on the joke.

Edited by IllianaLancerContra
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Maybe a few moments of Li'l Geoffrey's antics were meant to amuse, but I think we were supposed to be moved by his journey. Instead it was cloying. But as I've said before, if you only watch the show on hi-cam, you can largely ignore him and the show is pretty entertaining straight-up drum corps.

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