Jigsaw ep.318 – Comic Time.

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I was setting up to film Thursday evening. I was frustrated that the script had taken me so long to work out, but I was pretty sure I’d be able to knock it out in a couple takes and get it out before the end of Thursday.

And as I was framing the shot, I noticed it was already pitch black outside. Especially with a bunch of lights pointed at the windows. And I pictured what the shot would look like in front of dark windows, and deep down in my gut I just knew it was wrong. I can’t really explain it, but it just wasn’t funny at night.

I’ll admit, this isn’t the funniest episode I’ve ever written, but it’s got some laughs. But somehow the whole premise felt forced without visible sunlight. So I set my alarm and got up early this morning to film. And it felt right again. Sunlight just made the jokes work somehow. It’s not a theory of comedy I’m familiar with; I typically think about timing, and wording, and gesture, but until now I’d never thought about temporal setting. It’s a concept worth exploring.

A quick e.g.: the famous Marx Brothers routine in Duck Soup where they’re all dressed up as Groucho and play the mirror game in a doorway… that wouldn’t have been funny at all at two in the afternoon. I use as my evidence… the fact that it isn’t really a Marx Brothers routine, but rather a classic comedy staple, one of those old Vaudeville routines that everybody had a variation on. But we think of it as Marx Brothers because theirs just works better. And I think it’s because it takes place in the middle of the night (also the Marx Brothers were flipping geniuses, which might have a little to do with it, but their version is certainly more frequently aped than Charlie Chaplin’s, and I hear he was somewhat well-known for his comedy stylings as well).

Oh, and yes, that’s what Frank looks like now. Or at least until I decide to resculpt him. The last thing I wanted to do with this episode was to have a scene talking about how Frank looks. That’d be tacky, donchya think?

There are some adorable fauns in my backyard. I need to stare out the window at them for a bit. Ta. Comments always welcome.

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