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''Funny Business'' (also known as ''Laughing Matters'') is a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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television
documentary series about the craft of
comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
. Originally airing in the UK on 22 November 1992 the series consisted of six 50-minute episodes, with each one focusing on a different aspect of humour and show business entertainment. The Series Producer was
Sarah Williams and was produced by
Tiger Aspect Productions
Tiger Aspect Productions (formerly known as Tiger Television from 1988 until 1993 and also known as Tiger Aspect Films for theatrical films) is a British television and film production company, particularly noted for its situation comedies. Fo ...
(formerly Tiger Television Productions) for the BBC. The series was also broadcast in Germany and New Zealand and later released on video.
Episodes
Series 1 (1992)
Visual Comedy: A Lecture by Rowan Atkinson M.Sc. (Oxon.)
This episode was directed by David Hinton. The writers were
Rowan Atkinson,
Robin Driscoll
Robin Driscoll (born 28 June 1957) is a British actor and writer. He is best known as a writer of ''Mr. Bean'' episodes with Rowan Atkinson.
He and Atkinson are close friends; they appeared in '' Funny Business'' (1992). As an actor, Driscoll a ...
, and David Hinton. The show featured appearances by many comedians, including
Rowan Atkinson who made an appearance both as the presenter/narrator and as an aspiring comedy actor named Kevin Bartholomew. Atkinson demonstrated many of the principles of comedy (
slapstick,
mime
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...
, etc.) in a manner which was instantly identifiable to anyone familiar with his
Mr. Bean
''Mr. Bean'' is a British sitcom created by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis, produced by Tiger Aspect and starring Atkinson as the title character. The sitcom consists of 15 episodes that were co-written by Atkinson alongside Curtis and R ...
character.
In this episode,
Atkinson claims that the three principal mechanics behind visual comedy are for an object or person to
# behave in an unexpected way
# be in an unexpected place
# be of the wrong size
In a central part of the documentary, Atkinson emphasizes the need to deliver the comedy with a carefully crafted attitude or persona. The character behind the comedy is at least as important as the techniques used. He claims that even though
Charlie Chaplin is considered to be one of the greatest comedians of all time, Chaplin does not make us laugh anymore today, because we can not identify with Chaplin's "attitude."
The Subsections of the Episode
This 50-minute episode shows the mechanics at work in chapters that define visual comedy. Each section illustrates examples of mostly early visual comedy and references to the comedians, actors, and directors that defined these movements. The post-era visual comedy that is referenced is that of slapstick comedian
Leslie Nielsen
Leslie William Nielsen (11 February 192628 November 2010) was a Canadian actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television programs, portraying more than 220 characters.
Nielsen was bo ...
.
Slapstick and Violence
* Laughing at others' pain and humiliation
* Early American violence and
Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American film actor, director, and producer, and studio head, known as the 'King of Comedy'.
Born in Danville, Quebec, in 1880, he started in films in the ...
's contribution of the
Keystone Cops
The Keystone Cops (often spelled "Keystone Kops") are fictional, humorously incompetent policemen featured in silent film slapstick comedies produced by Mack Sennett for his Keystone Film Company between 1912 and 1917.
History
The idea for th ...
* "The more real it is, the funnier it is"
* Pain in comedy is conveyed by
** Over-exaggeration
** Under-exaggeration
Magic and Surrealism
* The similarities between comedians and magicians
** Sudden appearances or disappearances
*
Georges Méliès: "the first person to make surreal jokes using film magic"
* Exaggerated movement speeds (speeding things up)
* Comedy is rooted in fear
* Haunted house movies use the principles of appearances/disappearances
Imitation and Parody
* Parody is exaggerated imitation (imitation that implies ridicule)
* Satire: parodying a person who represents "power" or "authority"
* Parodies of
pop culture use three kinds of comedy
# Imitating the mannerisms of a well-known character
# Jokes about the physical mechanics of the parody
# Imitation of the visual style of the original
Mime and Body Language
* The comedy of personality (as opposed to comedy about gags) is about doing something normal in a funny way (expressed through body language)
*
Jacques Tati
Jacques Tati (; born Jacques Tatischeff, ; 9 October 1907 – 5 November 1982) was a French mime, film-maker, actor and screenwriter. In an ''Entertainment Weekly'' poll of the Greatest Movie Directors, he was voted the 46th greatest of all time ...
: made post-silent era films without dialogue
Jokes and Attitude
# ''The Dim Attitude'': stupidity and a lack of awareness (that's less than the audience)
# ''The Aggressive Attitude'': Apathy toward others
# ''The Crude Attitude'': vulgarity
#
Charlie Chaplin: he was the master of visual comedy
The Character of the Physical Comedian
* The comedian must be an "alien" to familiarities, customs, and traditions
* The comedian must have "innocence" as though they were "born yesterday"
*
Harry Langdon
Harry Philmore Langdon (June 15, 1884 – December 22, 1944) was an American comedian who appeared in vaudeville, silent films (where he had his greatest fame), and talkies.Obituary ''Variety'', December 27, 1944, page 39.
Life and career
Bor ...
: "an adult with the emotional and intellectual equivalent of an infant"
* Childishness comes out in the comedian's "battle" with objects (giving the objects a "life" of their own)
* The comedian must be clumsy by making mistakes and having accidents with objects
* The comedian will keep attempting something "long after a normal person would've given up"
* The comedian doesn't understand or just disregards "morality," "legality," or traditional conventions
=Three Different Approaches from the Comedian's Manual of Sexual Relationships
=
# ''The Romantic Approach'': "his emotional age zooms up from childhood to early adolescence"
# ''The Direct Approach'': "ignores all codes of proper behavior and acts on his desires"
# ''The Startled Virgin'': a role reversal "with the woman as the sexual aggressor" and the male as a "bewildered child"
The Final Point
References
External links
*{{IMDb title, id=0259773, title=Funny Business
1992 British television series debuts
1992 British television series endings
1990s British comedy television series
BBC television comedy
BBC television documentaries
1990s British documentary television series
English-language television shows