Feb. 15th, 2007
(no subject)
Feb. 15th, 2007 02:10 pmClassic comedy joke time, and it's an old chestnut by way of Ed McMahon, the straight man to Johnny Carson's comic. (Straight man in this case, of course, meaning the foil to a comic, though the person in this role may very well be a heterosexual male, but not necessarily. You never know.)
McMahon had often said the key to being a good straight man was merely to echo what the comic just said and echo it right. And you know? He's right. A comedy duo needs the right person to set the comic up for the punchline, and move on to the next joke.
Anyway, McMahon told the story of a straight man walking down the beach one day when he spotted a woman flailing about in the surf.
"Help! Help!" she yelled. "I'm drowning!"
To which the straight man immediately replied, "You mean to say you're drowning?"
THESE ARE THE JOKES, FOLKS
McMahon had often said the key to being a good straight man was merely to echo what the comic just said and echo it right. And you know? He's right. A comedy duo needs the right person to set the comic up for the punchline, and move on to the next joke.
Anyway, McMahon told the story of a straight man walking down the beach one day when he spotted a woman flailing about in the surf.
"Help! Help!" she yelled. "I'm drowning!"
To which the straight man immediately replied, "You mean to say you're drowning?"
THESE ARE THE JOKES, FOLKS