1. 13 a: Offensiveness & Comedy- continued
Slides #22-30

2. 13: Surrealism & Anarchy
Picture: One of Terry Gilliam’s surreal animations from Monty Python’s Flying Circus

3. Surrealist Comedy- & the British
The British are famous for their eccentrics, which might explain the stranger side of our sense of humour. Surrealism, the art movement born in the 1930s, may have been more associated with France or Spain, but in comedy, the British have claimed surrealism as their own and exported it to the world. (Duguid)
Surreal humour (also known as absurdist humour) is a form of humour predicated on deliberate violations of causal reasoning, producing events and behaviours that are obviously illogical. Constructions of surreal humour tend to involve bizarre juxtapositions, non-sequiturs, irrational or absurd situations and expressions of nonsense.
Note: A non-sequitur is a statement that is not connected in a clear and logical way to anything said before it
Source: ‘The British Sense of Humour: Madness and Surrealism’ by Mark Duguid

4. Surreal Comedy- Humour
The humour arises from a subversion of
audience's expectations, so that amusement
is founded on unpredictability, separate from
a logical analysis of the situation. The humour
derived gets its appeal from the fact that the
situation described is so ridiculous or unlikely.
The genre has roots in Surrealism in the arts.
Picture: topless policeman by Terry Gilliam/Monty Python’s Flying
Circus

5. Surrealist Comedy- Early references, examples
Edward Lear – Nonsense Rhymes
The Lively Learned Lobster, The Enthusiastic Elephant, who mended his own Clothes with who ferried himself across the water with the a Needle and a Thread. Kitchen poker and a New pair of ear-rings
Source: Book of Nonsense (1845), Edward Lear
See also: ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’ (handout #50)

6. Surrealist Comedy- Early references, examples II
Surreal Themes: Illogic, absurdity, break in causality , non-sequiturs Picture/Clip: Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll with illustrations by Sir John Tenniel; Terry Gilliam’s animation from Monty Python’s Flying Circus: ‘Conrad Pooh’s Dancing Teeth’

7. Surrealism & Anarchy- The Young Ones
The show combined traditional sitcom style with violent slapstick, non-sequitous plot turns, and surrealism.
Every episode except one featured a live performance by a band, including Madness, Motorhead, and The Damned.
Pictures: (left) Mike, Rick, Neil and Vyvyan in their shared house; (right) Vyvyan’s pet hamster

8. The Young Ones- Breaking through the Fourth Wall
"The fourth wall" is an expression stemming from the world of theatre. In most modern theatre design, a room will consist of three physical walls, as well as a an imaginary fourth that serves to separate the world of the characters from that of the audience.
In fiction, "breaking the fourth wall" often means having a character become aware of their fictional nature. This technique is frequently used in surrealist works and can be seen in every episode of The Young Ones.

9. The Young Ones- ‘Bambi’ (series 2, episode 1)
See: handout #52 for scripts, themes

10. The Young Ones- ‘Bambi’ (series 2, episode 1) – part 2
Clip 5/ train Full

11. Shooting Stars- Surreal Celebrity Quiz
Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer (hosts)
with celebrity guests
Question Types & Regular Themes
1. True or False?
2. Vic’s failed wooing
3. George Dawes, the baby
4. The ‘Club Singer’
5. Juxtapositions
6. Dove from Above
7. Vic’s failed jokes
8. Surreal Interludes
9. The Final Challenge
Themes: surreal, anarchic humour, panel show format

12. Question Types- (1) True or False? & (2) Vic’s failed wooing
Clip: Shooting Stars See: Handout # 53

13. Question Types- (3) George Dawes, the baby scorekeeper
Role: keeping score; singing songs related to questions (usually blending pop music with advertising jingles or original songs) Themes: irrelevance of scores; infantile nature/irrelevance of score keeping; Clip: George Dawes [0-3:08]

14. Question Types- (4) The Club Singer Question
Themes: audience participation, nonsensical, the bad as good Clip: Club Singer, Shooting Stars

15. Question Types- (5) Juxtapositions
Theme: one simple way to create surreal humour is through juxtaposition; placing two incongruous things together. In this clip Vic juxtaposes virtual reality and sex alongside traditional, Victorian merry music Clip: Shooting Stars, Series 2, episode 2 [5:20-7:15]

16. Question Types- (6) Dove from Above & (7) Failed Jokes
Vic: Bob, let me stop you there. A dove, an old dove went to the doctors because he couldn’t fly as good as he used to. And the doctor said, ‘wings ain’t what they used to be.’ Themes: incongruous use of the dove (it’s primary function is to allow Vic to use his failed joke); all guests ‘coo’, implying by majority consensus that this is normal; portmanteau (‘eranu’; ‘uvavu’) Clip [7:15-]

17. Dove from Above- (7) example question/challenge
Clip: Jarvis Cocker versus ?

18. Question Types- (8) Surreal Interludes
Clip: Shooting Stars, series 5, episode 7 [3:45-4:30]

19. Question Types- (9) Final Challenge I
Themes: insignificant prize; absurd, surreal challenge Clip: Animal Challenge with Myleene Klass [6:00-

20. Question Types- (9) Final Challenge II
Clip: Chocolate Challenge [4:50-

21. Question Types- (9) Final Challenge III
Clip: Lisa Stansfield & the Celery Challenge [5:22-

22. Surrealism- in Jaaam
The notorious Chris Morris's Jam was perhaps the strangest and most disturbing comedy ever seen on television, with its lizard-infested television sets, seven-year-old schoolgirl assassins and professional baby-fighting. (Duguid)

23. Jam- Ambient Comedy Ambient Comedy
Jam was, like Blue Jam, a very dark comedy sketch show which blended music and comedy. … Both radio and television versions were not only dark in tone but also sometimes sickly uncomfortable; many of the sketches felt as though they were informed as much by the genre of horror as they were by the traditions of comedy, while the sonic qualities of the show – featuring extensive use of ambient music, spoken dialogue which was often quiet and detached, and frequent use of manipulated voices – created a distanced and uneasy atmosphere. (Sexton)
Unusually, Morris was able to persuade Channel 4 to allow the programme to be shown without advertising breaks. (Sexton)
Source: ‘Lost in Techno Trance: Dance Culture, Drugs, and the Digital Image in Jam’ by Jamie Sexton

24. Jam: Episode 1- Screening https://www. youtube. com/watch
Jam: Episode 1- Screening See: handout # 54

25. Ambient Music- Definition & Effect
An ambience is defined as an atmosphere, or a surrounding influence: a tint. My aim is to produce original pieces ostensibly (but not exclusively) for particular times and situations with a view to building up a small but versatile catalogue of environmental music suited to a wide variety of moods and atmospheres. (Brian Eno, Music for Airports quoted in Sexton)
…ambient music is positioned as contemplative and reflective, capable of heightening the listener’s awareness of music’s relationship with environmental space… (Sexton)
Themes: seamless sonic mix, ambient flow

26. Ambient Music- in Jam
…dialogue scenes are blended with the music; while it is true that many forms of film, radio and television use music to underpin dramatic scenes featuring dialogue, in Jam sketches this is done in a particularly distinctive manner. Often, for example, the dialogue and music tracks are mixed at a reasonably similar volume, so that there is no conventional distinction between background or foreground audio. (Sexton)

27. ‘Ambient Wrong’- Surrealist Juxtaposition
The enmeshing of grotesque material within an ambient idiom is an unusual juxtaposition of form/content which can be connected to the surrealists, who stressed the importance of juxtaposing disparate materials, believing they were capable of producing a ‘spark’ that could jolt one out of ‘familiar reality’ and liberate us from ‘routinised thought’. (Sexton)
-Were you able to watch the episode passively?
-Did the episode ‘jolt’ you out of ‘familiar reality’ and transport you somewhere else, somewhere more uncomfortable?

28. Analysis- Techniques and Strategies
no advertising breaks during transmission
‘crossfading’ of scenes and sound (melding of diegetic and non-diegetic sources throughout)
audio manipulation: speed, distortion, overlap
visual manipulation: ghosting, polarization of visuals (the blurred and the clear, for example)
documentary fragments: realistic, ‘found’ clips
(4 sketches in episode 1 fit this category: the man who married himself, the agency that hires thick people, the man repeatedly jumping off the first floor balcony, the doctor who treats ‘symptomless coma’)

29. Jam- Episode 1; Sketch 1
Direction: Watch sketch #1 from the first episode again.
Consider-
How do the soundtrack and the dialogue compete for prominence in the clip?
What is the effect of the ambient music on the content of the sketch?
Surrealism: The ambient music emphasizes the mundane tone of the conversation. This is juxtaposed with the extreme, warped content of the conversation. Does this ‘surrealist’ technique nullify or obscure the black humour?
See: Handout #55

31. Jam- Episode 1; Sketch 3 Metacues
-a metacue is a signal that announces a joke or the presence of humour. For example, the laugh track is a clear metacue that comedy is present.
The use of ambient music and distorted voices alongside a range of ‘imperfect’ visuals make it harder for the innocent viewer (one unaware of the nature of the show; one unaware of Chris Morris’ work) to interpret the humour present.
Symptomless Coma
How does the documentary style of the sketch contribute to the unease of the comedy?
There is one clear metacue present in the sketch. What is it?

33. Jam- Episode 1, sketch 8 & Episode 6, sketch 3
Juxtaposition: perverse content with light-hearted music
The two sketches are bizarre and dark. However, they do provide a sense of relief from the sketches that come immediately before and after them. What effect does this juxtaposition have on the viewer? [the juxtaposition being between the darkness of the other sketches and the (relatively) light-heartedness of these sketches]

36. Work, etc. Assignment 4 For next next week
(15)The Panel Show: Banter, Spontaneity and
Knowledge
Reading: ‘“The Guardians of the General
Interest”: Discourses of Knowledge in QI’
by Brett Mills
Viewing:
QI (episode)
Nevermind the Buzzcocks (episode)