Back to watching The Jerk.
A skillful comedian could coax a laugh with tiny indicators such as a vocal tic (Bob Hope’s “But I wanna tell ya”) or even a slight body shift. Jack E. Leonard used to punctuate jokes by slapping his stomach with his hand. One night, watching him on “The Tonight Show,” I noticed that several of his punch lines had been unintelligible, and the audience had actually laughed at nothing but the cue of his hand slap.These notions stayed with me until they formed an idea that revolutionized my comic direction: What if there were no punch lines? What if there were no indicators? What if I created tension and never released it? What if I headed for a climax, but all I delivered was an anticlimax? What would the audience do with all that tension? Theoretically, it would have to come out sometime. But if I kept denying them the formality of a punch line, the audience would eventually pick their own place to laugh, essentially out of desperation. This type of laugh seemed stronger to me, as they would be laughing at something they chose, rather than being told exactly when to laugh.
I’ve been informed (by more than one person) that sales of Jason’s books aren’t what they should be. As much as guys like me pimp his work, he’s just not gaining any real traction in the direct market or the bookstores. That’s why I’ve decided to help him out with slight modifications that should, at the very least, double his sales.
And while we’re here, I’m going to remind you all that you can read additional material by me when you pick up What Where They Thinking?!? Volume 1, where I get to join people like Keith Giffen, John Rogers, Michael Alan Nelson, and Johanna Stokes in the fine art of completely ruining old comic books with all-new dialogue. It’s goofy, trashy fun that has no redeeming qualities. So, you know, it’s perfect for you guys. Here’s what the cover looks like:
BONUS! The Promo Version, With Awesome Costumes!
So fucking tired, so don’t expect much more from me today. My flight got in at 2:30 AM. This is what happens when you make fun of the people with a busted door, isn’t it?
I’m out and about and can’t link directly on my phone. Just go to TheRackComic.com
This will have to tide you over – I had two other posts that I was working on for today that got lost when I didn’t follow my own “Save Early, Save Often” advice. That’s what I get for being a big ol’ hypocrite, huh? Anyway, I’m going out of town for a couple of days, so any posts from now until Monday will most likely just be pointing you to The Rack.
(Yes, I heard you, in the back, saying “How’s that any different than the norm?” Fuck you.)
“Alien Attack”
“Astro Girl” (Slideshow. Badly mixed live version here.)
Bonus! “Spock Rock” by Passion Exchange.
From Ken Levine’s latest entry:
Go back through your script. I bet you could lose two pages. (Probably page 8 and one other.)
I swear, just picking a panel in a page or strip to axe sometimes crystallizes things so damn well.
(For the record, I live in the only state that requires its citizens to have insurance, something that comes out of my own damn pocket since I’m a freelancer. Yes, I sort of hate that I am spending a huge chunk of my own money, but I can afford to, unlike many, many citizens.)
and was trying to find a link to a review to show it to a friend and came across the About.com profile of the book, in which the following items were listed as cons:
I fail to see any of these as a con, particularly, but then I am a bloodthirsty sort who likes to read books for grownups sometimes. I’d think the “Parental Advisory: Explicit Content” label on the front, when combined with the “RATED M FOR MATURE” icon on the back would sort of inform just about everyone that it’s not for kids, but just when you think there’s some headway in the war against the public’s perceptions blah blah blah you’ve read this part before.
(Yes, I’m very impressed with the book so far.)
, which left me cold. I understand why it’s popular with the arched-eyebrow crowd, but I need more than the repetitive, explicit presentation of the book’s theme to engage me is a reader. Points for the eye-catching design, though, and the (unintentional?) hilarity of subtitles that say things like “The sound of Astroturf unrolling” has some value.
