Jump to content

Deadpan: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
Tag: Reverted
No edit summary
Tag: Reverted
Line 15: Line 15:
Deadpan delivery runs throughout [[British humour]].<ref>Andy Bloxham (10 March 2008). [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1581251/British-humour-dictated-by-genetics.html "British humour 'dictated by genetics{{'"}}], ''Daily Telegraph''. Accessed 31 July 2019</ref> In television sitcoms, [[John Cleese]] as [[Basil Fawlty]] in ''[[Fawlty Towers]]'' and [[Rowan Atkinson]] as [[Edmund Blackadder]] in ''[[Blackadder]]'' are both frustrated figures who display little facial expression in their put-downs.<ref>{{cite news |title=Blackadder rides again in festive schedule|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2008/nov/25/blackadder-bbc-christmas-tv-schedule |access-date=22 July 2021 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> Atkinson also plays authority figures (especially priests) while speaking absurd lines with a deadpan delivery. [[Monty Python]] include it in their work, such as "[[The Ministry of Silly Walks]]" sketch.<ref>{{cite news |title=John Cleese and Mick Jagger are wrong – Monty Python's silly walks are still hilarious |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jul/01/john-cleese-mick-jagger-monty-python-silly-walks-funny |access-date=26 August 2019 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> For his deadpan delivery [[Peter Sellers]] received a BAFTA for Best Actor for ''[[I'm All Right Jack]]'' (1959). A leading figure of the British [[satire boom]] of the 1960s, [[Peter Cook]] delivered deadpan monologues in his double act with [[Dudley Moore]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Peter Cook & Dudley Moore, The 25 best comedy duos|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comedy/comedians/the-25-best-comedy-duos/peter-cook-and-dudley-moore/ |access-date=22 July 2021 |newspaper=The Telegraph}}</ref> In his various roles [[Ricky Gervais]] often draws humour from an exasperated sigh.<ref>{{cite news |title=The king of deadpan |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/the-king-of-deadpan-1.900652 |access-date=31 July 2019 |work=The Irish News}}</ref> While in his various guises such as [[Ali G]] and [[Borat Sagdiyev|Borat]], the comedian [[Sacha Baron Cohen]] interacts with unsuspecting subjects not realising they have been set up for self-revealing ridicule; on this ''[[The Observer]]'' states, "his career has been built on winding people up, while keeping a deadpan face."<ref>{{cite news |title=Sacha Baron Cohen: Our man from Kazakhstan |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2006/sep/10/comedy |access-date=19 October 2019 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>
Deadpan delivery runs throughout [[British humour]].<ref>Andy Bloxham (10 March 2008). [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1581251/British-humour-dictated-by-genetics.html "British humour 'dictated by genetics{{'"}}], ''Daily Telegraph''. Accessed 31 July 2019</ref> In television sitcoms, [[John Cleese]] as [[Basil Fawlty]] in ''[[Fawlty Towers]]'' and [[Rowan Atkinson]] as [[Edmund Blackadder]] in ''[[Blackadder]]'' are both frustrated figures who display little facial expression in their put-downs.<ref>{{cite news |title=Blackadder rides again in festive schedule|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2008/nov/25/blackadder-bbc-christmas-tv-schedule |access-date=22 July 2021 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> Atkinson also plays authority figures (especially priests) while speaking absurd lines with a deadpan delivery. [[Monty Python]] include it in their work, such as "[[The Ministry of Silly Walks]]" sketch.<ref>{{cite news |title=John Cleese and Mick Jagger are wrong – Monty Python's silly walks are still hilarious |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jul/01/john-cleese-mick-jagger-monty-python-silly-walks-funny |access-date=26 August 2019 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> For his deadpan delivery [[Peter Sellers]] received a BAFTA for Best Actor for ''[[I'm All Right Jack]]'' (1959). A leading figure of the British [[satire boom]] of the 1960s, [[Peter Cook]] delivered deadpan monologues in his double act with [[Dudley Moore]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Peter Cook & Dudley Moore, The 25 best comedy duos|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comedy/comedians/the-25-best-comedy-duos/peter-cook-and-dudley-moore/ |access-date=22 July 2021 |newspaper=The Telegraph}}</ref> In his various roles [[Ricky Gervais]] often draws humour from an exasperated sigh.<ref>{{cite news |title=The king of deadpan |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/the-king-of-deadpan-1.900652 |access-date=31 July 2019 |work=The Irish News}}</ref> While in his various guises such as [[Ali G]] and [[Borat Sagdiyev|Borat]], the comedian [[Sacha Baron Cohen]] interacts with unsuspecting subjects not realising they have been set up for self-revealing ridicule; on this ''[[The Observer]]'' states, "his career has been built on winding people up, while keeping a deadpan face."<ref>{{cite news |title=Sacha Baron Cohen: Our man from Kazakhstan |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2006/sep/10/comedy |access-date=19 October 2019 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>


Dry humour is often confused with [[highbrow]] or [[egghead]] humour because the humour in dry humour does not exist in the words or delivery. Instead, the listener must look for humour in the contradiction between words, delivery and [[Context (language use)|context]]. Failure to include the context or to identify the contradiction results in the listener finding the dry humour unfunny. However, the term "deadpan" itself actually refers only to the method of delivery.
Dry humour is often confused with [[highbrow]] or [[egghead]] humour because the humor in dry humour does not exist in the words or delivery. Instead, the listener must look for humour in the contradiction between words, delivery and [[Context (language use)|context]]. Failure to include the context or to identify the contradiction results in the listener finding the dry humour unfunny. However, the term "deadpan" itself actually refers only to the method of delivery.


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 22:41, 28 September 2021

"Deadface" redirects here. For the electrical engineering technique, see Deadfacing.

Deadpan, dry humour, or dry-wit humour[1] is the deliberate display of emotional neutrality or no emotion, commonly as a form of comedic delivery to contrast with the ridiculousness or absurdity of the subject matter. The delivery is meant to be blunt, ironic, laconic, or apparently unintentional.

Etymology

The term deadpan first emerged as an adjective or adverb in the 1920s, as a compound word combining "dead" and "pan" (a slang term for the face). The oldest usage recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary comes from The New York Times (1928), which defines the term as "playing a role with expressionless face".[2] An example of this usage is in a scene from the 1934 film The Gay Bride in which a gangster tells a man on the other end of a phone conversation to "give it a dead pan" (with the emphasis on "pan"), so that the man does not inadvertently alert anyone else in the room as to the importance of what the gangster is about to say. The usage of deadpan as a verb ("to speak, act, or utter in a deadpan manner; to maintain a dead pan") is recorded at least as far back as 1942.[2]

Examples

See also: List of deadpan comedians
Rat Pack comedians Joey Bishop and Brad Jewell, noted for their deadpan style, with Jennie and Terrie Frankel (Doublemint Twins), Sig Sakowicz, Tony Diamond, Sara Sue, Tippi Hedren and Mel Bishop

Early in his vaudeville days, Buster Keaton developed his deadpan expression. Keaton realised that audiences responded better to his stony expression than when he smiled, and he carried this style into his silent film career.[3] The 1928 Vitaphone short film The Beau Brummels, with vaudeville comics Al Shaw and Sam Lee, was performed entirely in deadpan.[4] The 1980 film Airplane! was performed almost entirely in deadpan.[5] Actor and comedian Bill Murray is known for his deadpan delivery.[6]

Many popular American sitcoms use deadpan expressions to deliver dry humour, including Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development, and My Name Is Earl. More recent examples are Andre Braugher as Captain Raymond Holt from the TV show Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing in Friends, Aubrey Plaza as April Ludgate in Parks and Recreation, Jennette McCurdy as Sam Puckett in iCarly, and Louis C.K. in Louie. Another example is the comedy of Steven Wright.[7]

Deadpan delivery runs throughout British humour.[8] In television sitcoms, John Cleese as Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers and Rowan Atkinson as Edmund Blackadder in Blackadder are both frustrated figures who display little facial expression in their put-downs.[9] Atkinson also plays authority figures (especially priests) while speaking absurd lines with a deadpan delivery. Monty Python include it in their work, such as "The Ministry of Silly Walks" sketch.[10] For his deadpan delivery Peter Sellers received a BAFTA for Best Actor for I'm All Right Jack (1959). A leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, Peter Cook delivered deadpan monologues in his double act with Dudley Moore.[11] In his various roles Ricky Gervais often draws humour from an exasperated sigh.[12] While in his various guises such as Ali G and Borat, the comedian Sacha Baron Cohen interacts with unsuspecting subjects not realising they have been set up for self-revealing ridicule; on this The Observer states, "his career has been built on winding people up, while keeping a deadpan face."[13]

Dry humour is often confused with highbrow or egghead humour because the humor in dry humour does not exist in the words or delivery. Instead, the listener must look for humour in the contradiction between words, delivery and context. Failure to include the context or to identify the contradiction results in the listener finding the dry humour unfunny. However, the term "deadpan" itself actually refers only to the method of delivery.

See also

References

  1. ^ Rishel, Mary Ann (2002). Writing humor. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. p. 166. ISBN 0-8143-2959-4.
  2. ^ a b Oxford English Dictionary. "dead-pan, adj., n., adv., and v." Second edition, 1989; online version December 2011. accessed 17 February 2012. First published in A Supplement to the OED I, 1972
  3. ^ "Deadpan: the comedy of Buster Keaton". Telescope. CBC.ca. 17 April 1964. Archived from the original on 2016-01-01. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  4. ^ Knipfel, Jim (29 May 2015). "Shaw and Lee: Vaudeville's Loony Futurists". OZY. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  5. ^ Dudek, Duane. "25 years and still laughing; 'Airplane!' maintains its cruising". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on 30 April 2008. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
  6. ^ Bernstein, Jonathan (October 30, 2015). "Will Bill Murray ever make another good movie?". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  7. ^ Thomas, E. C. (2014). The Everything Big Book of Jokes: Hundreds of the Shortest, Longest, Silliest, Smartest, Most Hilarious Jokes You've Never Heard!. Adams Media. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-4405-7698-0. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  8. ^ Andy Bloxham (10 March 2008). "British humour 'dictated by genetics'", Daily Telegraph. Accessed 31 July 2019
  9. ^ "Blackadder rides again in festive schedule". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  10. ^ "John Cleese and Mick Jagger are wrong – Monty Python's silly walks are still hilarious". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Peter Cook & Dudley Moore, The 25 best comedy duos". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  12. ^ "The king of deadpan". The Irish News. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  13. ^ "Sacha Baron Cohen: Our man from Kazakhstan". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  • The dictionary definition of deadpan at Wiktionary
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Deadpan&oldid=1047083536"