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Jonathan Lyons
Once, all comedy was performed live before an audience. Whether or not the audience laughed immediately told the artist what was funny, and what was not. Comedians learned this way for thousands of years, and the traditions and wisdom were passed down to younger performers. Today, however, entertainment i s an industry, and recording technologies have created a huge gap between performer and audience. Animation i s
particularly affected by this gap because it i s by nature a recorded art form. Actors and musicians have the option of playing live, and virtually all of them experience it. Animators can only s i t with an audience and see how their completed work i s received. Considering the amount of time involved i n making animated films, this system provides very few chances to learn. Young animators depend on watching old cartoons and silent live classics. This situation, combined with economic and social pressures on studio producers, has stagnated animated humor. Modern animators,
writers, and their business partners can only benefit from knowing more of the rich tradition of live comedy, specifically the ancient art of clowning. In reviewing four kinds of clown theater, the Italian commedia del l'arte, the English pantomime, the American vaudeville, and the circus, the fountainhead of comedy i n animation can be found.
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Before looking at the commedia dell'arte the origins of comedy i n our culture deserves a mention. John Towsen writes i n his book Clowns: "The Western tradition of theater begins, not with the tragedies of Aeschylus and the comedies of Aristophanes, but with short farces created and performed by troupes of itinerant clowns and acrobats i n the Dorian States of ancient Greece." i These clowns were skilled caricaturists, and they developed a cast of type characters: thieving slaves, bragging soldiers, pretentious doctors, and country buffoons. Their acting was exaggerated and they wore masks and huge phalli, as well as padded stomachs and buttocks, creating a bizarre appearence. Despite their enormous
popularity i n the Dorian city of Megara, they were considered low by the Athenians, and were not accepted into the theater festivals held i n honor of the fertility god Dionysus until around 300 B.C. Many of the stock characters found i n the ancient comedies also appear i n the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries i n the Italian commedia dell'arte. Commedia dell'arte means comedy of the professional actors, and they are s t i l l famous for their skill of improvisation. In the
commedia, actors, not writers, decided what happened on stage. Lowell Swortzell describes their system i n his book
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Instead of a script a comedian worked from a simple outline or plot summary called a scenario, with notations of bits of surefire dialogue t o t i e the improvised scenes together. Beyond that he was on his own."2 This method of comedy put the players on the spot and forced them to handle any situation, and t o be somewhat unpredictable. Since comedy thrives on unexpected turns, improvisation i s naturally effective. To facilitate
improvisation, the commedia used a limited structure, employing stock scenarios, stock characters, and some stock gags. It was also common for the actors to speak to the audience, much like some cartoon characters do. The cast of characters usually included a merchant, a doctor, a soldier, two lovers, and two servants. Once an actor or actress had assumed a role, it was kept for life. They lived and breathed the parts, and knew exactly what their characters would do i n any situation. Much of the comic action came from the two servants who were called "zanni", the origin of the English word zany. Usually the pair Included a quick witted "first zany", and a slow witted "second zany3 Most of the characters in the commedia wore half masks that l e f t the mouth free t o speak. The grotesque masks were so important the parts were called masks, rather than roles or characters. Two characters who
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did not wear masks were the lovers. They were realistic characters and not expected to be f unny.4 The image of normal people sharing the stage with the bizarre masks i s not unlike some animated features such as Gulliver's Travels ( 1 939) or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( 1 938), where human types interact with a variety of unusual beings. The mask was part of the costume that made the character instantly recognizable to the audience. But i n performance, costume i s not as important as acting. Each character had a distinctive style of moving, and this quote by Carlo Mazzone-Clement i beautifully describes this action: Hens, chicks, roosters, capons, ducks, peacocks, all the farmyard bipeds make us laugh, their walks absurd parodies of man's own gait. [The actors] are not identified so much by the color and cut of their costumes as by the walk, the gesture, the manner i n which each uses his 'feathers' to express pride, joy, anger, and sorrow,) alternately swelling and
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The value of characteristic walks i s well known among animators, and i s a fundamental aspect of personality animation. The characters of the commedia dell'arte, especially the zany servants, had such vitality they survived the passing of their national theater, spreading across Europe to grow even more famous. Pulcinella became England's Punch. 6 Pedrolino developed into France's Pierrot. 7 and Arlecchino became the lover/trickster Harlequin i n England's pantomime. a The pantomime shows were an English tradition during the nineteenth century. Competing plays would open on Boxing Day (the day after
Christmas) and run for weeks or months depending on their popularity. And popular they were, forcing some theaters to replace Shakespeare's plays with the holiday favorite. Though called pantomime, these were actually variety shows, heavily laden with spectacle.9 John Towsen describes them: In those days, pantomimes were divided into two parts, the opening - a fairy tale in dance, dialogue, and song
The two
halves were linked by a transformation scene i n which a benevolent agent such as Mother Goose or a Fairy Queen miraculously changed the characters of
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the opening into such stock types as Harlequin, Columbine, Pantaloon, and Clown. The plot shared by both parts usually centered around the romance between two young lovers.... The inevitable result was a long chase scene with pantaloon and his not-so-loyal servant, clown, i n hot pursuit of
Harlequin and Columbine. It was as i f a performance of Cinderella suddenly turned into a Keystone Cops comedy.
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The transformation scene was the stage equivalent of a film dissolve. The fairy story set would change into the harlequinade set before the eyes of the audience.1 t The harlequinade that followed was the origin of the extended chase scene, and the use of it would survive to the silent film days. and to modem animated films.
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The chase demanded great physical skill, and acrobats made the most entertaining clowns. This quote by French poet Theodore de Banville i n
1880 describes these perforrners:
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choice: he has chosen the adjective "impossible." He lives i n the impossible; i f it i s impossible, he does it. He hides where it i s impossible to hide, he passes through openings that are smaller than his body, he stands on supports that are too weak to support his weight; while being closely observed he executes movements that are absolutely undetectable,
... he
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Impossible i s certainly a word to describe what animated characters can do. If standing on insufficient supports i s entertaining, then Wile E. Coyote takes i t one step farther by standing on thin air, if only for a moment. The most celebrated of these pantomimists, and possibly the most famous clown ever, was Joseph Grimaldi. Swortzell writes: "Joe's
essential comic gift was the uncanny mobility and expressiveness of his face and body... Joe's glances, winces, and scow 1s instantly projected his volatile emotions to the farthest reaches of the gallery."
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That i s a good
example for animators. In fact, Towsen tells us Grimaldi himself was something of an animator
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Thanks to a lifetime i n pantomime, Grimaldi was well versed i n trickwork and was himself the designer of many effective "tricks of construction." In these transformations, something new and
unexpected was created out of something quite ordinary, ... Ridiculous combinations of objects could become animated i n Grimaldi's hands; he could create a living (and belligerent) vegetable man out of a pile of turnips and carrots.
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It i s notable that the vegetable man had an attitude. Motion isn't enough for
an object to appear alive, it must have a spirit. When discussing comedy in animation, vaudeville must be cited as one of the direct early influences. Many of America's first animators were able to see vaudeville during it's final years, just before motion pictures captured the nation's attention. In The Fliescher Stow, Leslie Cabarga
writes about Dave Fliescher's first job, as an usher at the Palace Theatre, the premiere vaudeville theater in America: "This job was to make a
lasting impression on the young man. Dave watched all the vaudeville acts, studied the timing and listened to the reaction of the audience. This 'schooling' proved invaluable in later years".
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During his time at the Palace, Dave may have seen a common vaudeville routine called "The Rivals." The skit involved only two men. The scenery was the exterior of a cottage. One man would enter the stage where he would sing a song about visiting his sweetheart. Then he would dance a bit, and go into the cottage. The second man would enter the stage and sing about his girlfriend and his suspicions of the f i r s t man. Then he would go into the cottage. Crashing sounds were heard and one man would come smashing through the door. The other would jump out through the window. Somehow they called a truce and l e f t as friends. Gilbert Douglas i n his American Vaudevi 1le writes: "The 'rival' song and dance acts are interesting because they were of a pattern, highly stylized, and depended upon the clever linesand theabilityof theperforrners."
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Thisroutineresembles
the stock scenario that the Flieschers used so successfully i n their Popeye cartoons. The rivalry that often developed between Popeye and Brutus over Olive Oyl also depended upon the animator's ability to create fresh and funny gags. In addition, Popeye cartoons made great use of music, songs, and dance. Walt Disney was another producer of animated films who took inspiration from vaudevi1le. Frank Thomas and 0 1ie Johnston 1
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remember, "...if Walt had not had vaudeville as a model, had not seen these examples, had not been aware of the possibilities, he would have settled for less without ever knowing such potential existed." i s In Steamboat Willie (1928) there is a gag which may have been inspired by a stage act. In the film, Mickey does his musical number, his "minstrel show"i9 as Donald Crafton called it, by using animals as instruments. When finding a group of piglets suckling at a sow, Mickey yanks on their tails to produce squeels that follow the melody. There was i n vaudeville an act called "The Cat Piano." A "musician" would come on stage rolling a long box that was divided into compartments. In each compartment a live cat could be seen. Turning the box around he exhibited the cat's tails (actually false) protruding from the back of the box. With his back to the audience, the cat pianist would sequentially yank the tails, and vocally create the various screeches, yowls, and spits the cats were supposedly making, forming them into a known melody. 20 Johnston and Thomas also write about the planning of the ballet dancing hippos for the "Dance of the Hours" segment of fantasia ( 1940). In choosing how the animals should act, Walt Disney refers to a vaudeville show that was popular i n America and Europe:
Lyons 1 1 Maybe like Frank Brittonus Band... Frank's all dressed up in evening clothes i n front of his dignif ied-looking band. They start out playing good music, when here the cello player
- playing away -
first his chair slips off the platform, and you think something has actually happened, and the cello stand slips to the floor. From there on everything goes wrong, and they end up throwing each other i n the orchestra pit heads.
each other's
beginning. 2 1 Something the quote does not mention i s that the conductor of the band i s so lost in concentration that he continues to perform while his band i s destroying itself. His lack of reaction contrasts with the bedlam of the musicians, and is half the comedy. This act must also have been the inspiration for The Band Concert (1935). In that film, Mickey Mouse
continues to conduct an all animal band despite the arrival of a tornado which l i f t s and scatters them over the countryside. Those ballet dancing hippos, by the way, also had a predecessor i n Tony Grice, a British music hall clown who was a stout gentleman. One of his most popular acts was his imitation of a ballet dancer. 22
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While vaudeville has been left to the history books, the circus has continued to live on. Originally the circus was a show of horses running around i n a ring with riders performing stunts. An acrobatic clown would pose as a drunken audience member, and demand to ride one of the horses. The "drunk" would not only manage to stay on the horse, but would "accidentally" perform amazing stunts. In the days of the one ring circus clowns could easily employ verbal humor, sometimes being no more than stand up comics. But as competition among the circuses increased, a second ring was added, and then a third, as promoters learned audiences gravitated to the more spectacular show. 23 As the circus grew, clowns became relatively smaller. To be visible to the huge audiences, they had to act i n a broad, exaggerated manner, dispensing with subtlety of character. According to Earl Shipley, a clown with the Ringling Bros., Barnum & Bailey (RBB&B) circus during the twenties, "The work i s much like cartooning, with the exception that the artist in the circus i s his own picture." 24 One of America's most famous clowns, Emmet Kelly, started out as a cartoonist for an animation company. In his autobiography Clown,
Kelly tells how he developed his trademark tramp character while working
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at the Adagram Film Company in Kansas City, Missouri. Just across town, Walt Disney was also getting his start, working for the Kansas City Film Ad Company. The two did not meet then, but they did become friends later i n life. 2s Because the circus has continued to perform since the divisal of animated films, cartoon comedy can predate clown acts. In 1946 a clown act premiered in the RBB&B show that simulated a gag in an Oswald the Lucky Rabbit film. The act was called "The Adam Smasher," and was
inspired by the then recently invented atom smasher. In this act a group of professional clowns placed a tall clown into a scientific looking box, leaving his head exposed. They activated the machine, and a pile driver crashed down onto the clowns head, pushing him into the box. Instantly, doors opened from the sides of the box, and four dwarf clowns dressed like the original tall one ran out.
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howevev, to be knocked into several smaller Oswalds i n the film priaht Liahts ( 1928). The Adam Smasher was designed by Paul Jung. He was what i s called a producing clown. He conceived and built large props for special acts. Another of his creations was a steamroller which would roll over a
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streetsweeper clown, leaving behind an oilcloth flattened image, which would be carefully placed on a stretcher by two doctor clowns. 27 We have most recently seen this i n Who Framed Roaer Rabbit (1988) when Judge Doom i s similarly steamrolled. The Roger Rabbit feature also contained a new character with a circus clown ancestor
The RBB&B circus had a dwarf dressed as a pipe smoking baby who chased his buxom nurse by driving a motorized baby carriage.
As the circuses grew and forced the clowns t o exaggerate their
appearance and actions as much as possible, it may have done more harm than good. Though they can be quite funny in the circus, this type of clown does not do well outside of it. Everything about the circus clown must scream for attention, so attempts to bring them close up can prove frightening. Sadly, American television has reduced the clown to a funny suit and make-up, removing all of their true spirit, and value. From the improvisation of the commedia dellmarte, to the madcap harlequinade, to the slapstick of vaudeville, to the pandemonium of the circus, it becomes clear that plot development i s a low priority i n comedy. Plot, however, i s very important t o tragedy, and to better understand the
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significance of comedy, it helps to compare it with tragedy. It has been said that tragedy deals with death, while comedy deals with sex. While the adventures of lovers i s the main ingredient in much comedy, it certainly does not cover the range of possibilities. This i s because comedy deals with infinite possibilities. All drama i s built on problems. In tragedy a character gets into a difficult situation and i s eventually destroyed, either physically or spiritually. In comedy, a character gets into trouble, but he or she escapes. For instance, Harlequin i s cornered by the father of his lover, and capture seems certain. But Harlequin i s an acrobat, and his skill enables him to leap out of the corner, and out of danger. In tragedy, when a character i s backed to the wall, capture w i11 come because that i s what probability says w i l l happen. But when Harlequin leaps straight up and out of danger, possibility has shown us what happen. His physical repositioning i n
space changes the entire situation. Harlequin may have chosen to distract his opponent and escape past him, or perhaps a trapdoor opens and he disappears through it. It could be anything. There are infinite possibilities for Harlequin to move i n any direction. He proves that being up against a wall i s no barrier. Our expectation of probability was an illusion, and Harlequin broke it.
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Now it i s easy to see why comedy relies on character for it's entertainment. The progression of the story becomes secondary to enjoying the action moment by moment, as the comedian defies destruction. Tragedy shows us how life breaks people down, while comedy shows us how people can survive and change any situation. This i s how drama reflects the balance of forces in the world. Though comedy has eluded the analysis of philosophers and scientists for centuries, Arthur Koestler put forth an interesting theory. Basically, he says that when Harlequin leaps our minds must leap as well. When he unexpectedly changes his situation we must adjust to a completely different state of affairs. Reality itself has changed in a flash, and our brains must instantly accept the new order. This puts a demand on the brain that i s so intense it has a physical side effect
- laughter.
Koestler
calls this occurence "bisociation," and his book The Act of Creation 28 thoroughly describes how bisociation i s important to comedy, science, and art. But because comedy i s different for every person, it i s truly a
mystery, like dreams are. Maurice Charney, i n his book Gomedv Hiah and
& writes: *The links between comedy and dreams are very specific,
especially in the mechanism of free association, by which the dreamer and
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the comic hero jump from point to point by intuitive leaps and without any necessary logical connection.'
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This incredible ability of the comic hero to change any situation i s like magic. Inside his mind the clown can find a solution. The clown shows us that we too can find solutions, and therefore i s not so much a magician as a personification of the magic all humans have. It i s the magic that has allowed us to survive i n a world of destructive forces. It i s magic like the
DNA that programs our cells to grow into complex bodies. DNA exists, but
it i s not part of the everyday world we sense around us, and neither i s the
magic of the clown. To illustrate this, clowns alter their appearance i n order to separate themselves from "reality." George Victor Bishop tells us In The World of Clowns: Makeup in one form or another has been part of clowning since the very beginning. Understanding the need physically to separate their characters from reality, the earliest Greek and Latin "vintage" comics daubed their faces with the juice of the grape to fix a mask between themselves and ordinary mortals. The very word mask stems from the Arabic masharage, meaning "clown". 30
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carried on the role of clowns i n cartoons. This situation of clowns who are separate from daily life, and who delight i n forcing our brains to instantly reorganize, creating an illogical, dreamlike world, could become too much for an audience to handle.. To enjoy this crazy world, the audience needs to feel secure. Because fami 1iarity breeds contempt, comedy developes familiarity through repetition. 31 The use of stock scenarios, formula cartoons, and recurring popular characters allows the audience to feel it i s on familiar territory, and i s therefore safe. A happy ending i s guaranteed so there i s no reason to worry. 32 Tom the cat i s going to chase Jerry the mouse with lots of crashes and close calls along the way, but the mouse w i l l always escape. To create a profitable show, an illusion of safety must underlie all that chaos. Even though comedy i s not dependent upon plot development it can make extensive use of it. Plot development is the criteria used to mark the scale between what we call high comedy and low comedy. Both s t i l l rely on characters to get i n and out of trouble, but plot can be developed to any degree.
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At the high end of comedy we have the "well-made play." The subjects of these plays are the upper class, and one character initiates a scheme, or tries to keep a secret. Problems arise, and as the play progresses, the intertwining intrigues create what appear to be an inescapable web. Then, i n the final act, the writer reveals his skill by his ability to extract the hero from doom, get someone married, and tie up all the loose plot points. In high comedy verbal w i t i s more important than physical skill, and a clever answer can be the mental equivalent of Harlequin's leap. At the low end of comedy i s the chaotic slapstick of circus clowns bashing each other with l i t t l e or no reason. But in between the highest and the lowest anything can happen. High comedy has served the minority of the upper classes, while low comedy has appealed to the masses, and i s also called popular comedy. Animation has achieved the majority of it's success from the lower sort of comedy, and i n this paper, the term "cartoon" signifies animated popular comedy. Clowns have existed i n virtually every culture, with the first historical stage appearance being a dancing dwarf at the court of a young pharoah i n Egypt, over 2000 years before Christ.
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Cortes discovered
dwarfs and hunchbacked buffoons at the court of Aztec ruler Montezuma II.
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Peter the Great of Russia had over 100 jesters, and many Chinese and African rulers had court fools. w In the 14th century the Catholic church permitted the Feast of Fools, a -New Years celebration during which the minor clergy were allowed to usurp the functions of their superiors and engage i n a wide range of blasphemous yet officially approved c10wning.~ 3s Many American Indian tribes have ritual clowns who mock sacred ceremonies as a way of ridiculing those tribe members who do not conform to societies standards.= Though clowns come i n all descriptions
there are three general types we can discuss; tricksters, fools, and braggarts. The first two, tricksters and fools, are the most common. The name trickster i s usually associated with the North American Indian legends, but asa kind of clown, tricksters are found i n most societies. 37 Tricksters are clever and mischievous. They delight i n
outwitting others. Felix the Cat, animation's first star, attained his fame by having the characteristics of the classic comic hero. Maurice Charney describes the comic hero, -The comic hero imagines himself to be invulnerable and omnipotent. The comic hero i s a dreamlike figure who seems oblivious to human limitations. He can easily walk in the air... hover, glide, and perform remarkable aerodynamic feats without any effortem s s
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The comic heroSscarefree attitude i s echoed by Donald Crafton i n Before Mickey, when he discusses Felix: "Repeatedy Felix tests the limits of the imagination... Grotesque monsters, exotic landscapes, impossible
disjunctions of time and space are 'normal' recurring motifs i n Felix's world, and he accepts them with aplomb." 39 These two authors also provide statements concerning the comic plot, i n general and i n Felix's adventures. Charney writes "perhaps we could describe comic plots as mechanisms of acquisition. Something i s a1ways being sought, pursued, hunted, bargained for, or stolen something of value, be it love, sex, or money."
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uniqueness derives from his metaphorical expression of fleeting childhood concerns.. the intense needs for food, for 1ibidinous gratification, for shelter and security." 41 Chamey also writes: "...the comic hero i s also a trickster..." 42 Felix literally carried a bag of tricks. His most peculiar trick was his ability to remove his own tail for use as something he needed, and this kind of resourcefulness i s also a talent of the classic comic hero. Again Chamey writes "He must at all costs, be ready for what turns up, and not only ready, but also skillful, versatile, ingenious, spontaneous and improvisatory. He
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must seem to perform miracles with only the slightest of materials. That i s why magic i s frequently a metaphor for comedy..."43 The fool i s simpler. John Towsen writes about the fool: Fool i s usually taken to mean someone lacking common sense. i f not totally devoid of reason... The fool's characteristic traits are very much like those of the "natural" man. Lacking social graces and
blissfully operating outside the laws of logic, he i s often seen as a child or even as an animal, but only rarely as a mature adult ... 44 Fools are protected from harm i n an almost magical way. For instance, the virtually blind Mr. Magoo can walk or drive his car through the most perilous situations, totally unaware of any danger, and never coming to any harm. 45 The third type of clown i s the braggart, which can include any character that takes himself or herself too seriously. The classic stage example i s Shakespeare's Falstaff, who claimed to be a courageous soldier, but was actually a coward. Warner Brothers has a pure braggart character i n Pepe LePew, the amorous skunk. Pepe shamelessly proclaims he i s an
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irresistible lover, never realizing his natural smell i s repulsive to his co-star, the black female cat with the white paint stripe. In Little Beau P e ~ e(1952) he mixes up a love potion that actually works. But when the cat chases him, he turns and runs away. Braggarts, however, are limited in comic potential, they have one basic joke, and interest i n them wains quickly, as it did for the Capitano of the commedia dell'arte.
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Still, Pepe
i s unusual for his being a lover rather than the classic soldier. The ubiquity of fools and tricksters suggests they have special roles i n society. The idea of the fool i s closely related to, if not identical with, the scapegoat. To laugh at someone makes us feel superior. To ridicule someone with laughter i s also a way to ostracize them. But i n drama (and i n history) those who are laughed at often turn out to be right. After returning home, Odysseus disguised himself as an old fool, and was ridiculed before he revealed his identity and killed his wife's suitors. Jesus Christ was reviled, cast out and crucified before performing the ultimate trick of resurrection. The scapegoat can become the hero. 47 This sort of change i s also found when reviewing the history of certain clown characters. Harlequin began his career as the stupid country buffoon Arlecchino i n the commedia dell'arte. But over the course of decades he
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developed into the crafty trickster, and then a space was opened for a stupid second zanni. In English pantomime, thetrickster Harlequinwas
seconded by a new fool simply called "clown." Eventually the pantomime disappeared and Harlequin was retired. Clown moved on to the circus where he became a sophisticated character, and again a new fool appeared to fill the gap. German.This one was called the "auguste," meaning clumsy fool i n So the fool, 1ike the scapegoat, can become the trickster hero.
A Bugs Bunny cartoon from 1950, Whats UD Doc?, illustrates how these
clowns probably advanced. The cartoon i s Bug's life story, and i n it Elmer Fudd i s a successful vaudevi 1le star who rescues the down and out Bugs and makes him second banana in his comedy act. Bugs wears oversized clothes and delivers straight lines while getting spritzed and slapped by Elmer. Then one night Bugs decides to try something new. In the next show, Bugs steals some of the funny lines. When Elmer gets angry and puts his shotgun into Bugsmface, Bugs improvises, saying "What's up Doc?" The audience goes wild with laughter, taking Bugs and Elmer by surprise. Reacting to the audience approval, as live comedians can, they decide to go with the new arrangement. And that i s how Bugs became top banana.
It seems that the audience gets used to a character being the victim.
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Then suddenly the victim takes control of the situation and the audience i s surprised and delighted. But the ability to succeed was there all along. The trickster's skill at survival i s only the result of the fool's natural strength. That i s the magic of character. In the appendix to Comedv Wylie Sypher writes: "The fool at last proves to be the clown: and the clown i s He Who Gets Slapped - and 'is none the worse for the slapping.' He i s resilient with a vitality lacking to the tragic hero..:
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character was slapped. If that were all it was, then tragedy would also be funny. W laugh because in comedy we know the character survives. It e should be added that it i s not enough to simply survive the slapping physically. It i s most funny when we expect a character to react in an interesting manner. Comedy i s about spiritual survival. That i s the value of cartoon slapstick. When you distinguish a
character with greasepaint or an animal body, you represent that it i s not common reality. Even the youngest child recognizes this. A11 humans must adjust to a continually changing world. The clown and the cartoon character simply deal with changes at a much more rapid pace. They are representations of that tiny spark of vitality that keeps us alive, they are the spirit in insipiration.
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Most people appreciate the clowns vitality, because most of us are involved i n the daily work of survival. This i s the main reason why clowns are so often lower class types: slaves, servants, country hicks and tramps. This i s why the Toons i n Who Framed Roaer Rabbit were an underclass, living i n the ghetto of Toontown. But not all the world loves a clown. In the mid 1700s the commedia dell'arte was very popular with the people. But a certain comedy playwright named Carlo Goldoni had new ideas. In the book The World of Harleauin Allardyce Nicoll writes
Basically, Goldoni was concerned with bringing character, social criticism, and moral purpose to the stage, and for achievement of this objective he required a realistic framework." so His actors could no longer wear masks or improvise or directly address the audience. They had to adhere to a script carefully crafted to reflect the social values being promoted. Goldoni was the theater's representative of the intellectual movement known as The Age of Reason. Nicoll writes: "The age of reason and sensibility had no use for the exercise of fantasy, and the actor's business came to be the presentation of the real, as adapted by the drarnat ist."si Goldoni succeeded, and the commedia del l'arte lost it's
vitality. Carlo Goldoni was Judge Doom to the Toontown of the commedia.
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The wealthy, the powerful, the comfortable, find common reality to be quite acceptable. When one has all the physical comforts, the spirit
becomes unimportant. Clowns and Toons are spiritual beings, and are able to survive the thrashings of the physical world. Fools and tricksters are heroes to people who, like themselves, must struggle to survive. Our ancestors used tall tales and trickster stories to sustain their spirits i n the face of difficulty. During the American depression people found relief i n the movie theaters. Today, inner city blacks find strength in rap
music. Popular art i s more than entertainment, it fulfills a need i n the audience. To quote Roger Rabbit: "A laugh can be a very powerful thing, why sometimes i n l i f e it's the only weapon we have."
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MOTES
1. 2.
John H. Towsen* Clowns (New York: Hawthorn, 1976138. Lowell Swortzell, Here Come the Clown3 (New York: Viking, 1978) 42.
3 Towsen 67. .
Towsen 64. Towsen 73. Allardyce NicollJThe World of Harleauin. A Critical Studv of the Commedia dellgArte(Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1963) 84. Nicoll 88. Nicoll 199-202. Derek SalbergJ Once U ~ o a Pantomime. (Luton: CourtneyJ 198 I1. n Towsen 140- 1 Qtd. Preface to Memoires e t Pantomimes des Freres Hanlon-Lees (Paris8 1879) 9. Salberg I64- 17 1. Towsen 140. Tow sen I4 1 -2. Swortzell 108-9. Towsen 157-8. Leslie CabargaJThe Fleischer Stow (New Yo*: revised) 15. De Capo8 1988
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Donald Craf ton, Before Mickey: The Animated Film 1898- 1928 (Cambridge, Massachusettes, MIT Press, 1982) 297. Douglas 58.
20.
22.
Towsen 197.
Towsen 274. Emmet Kelly, Clown (New York: Prentice Hal 1, 1954) 3 1-49.
2s.
2 . Kelly 262. 6
27.
26.
Kelly 262. Arthur Koest ler, The Act of Creation. (London: Hutchison, 1964). Maurice Chamey, Come* Hiah and Low: An Introduction t o the Ex~erience Comedy. (New York, Oxford UP, 1978) 154. of
29.
so. George Victor Bishop, The World of Clowns. (Los Angeles: Brooke
House, 1976) 14.
3 1.
Chamey 82.
3 . Chamey 75-6. 2
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