Humor

In English, as one of our final units and projects, we got to have a ton of fun with the humor unit. I was actually pretty excited about this unit, because it meant we got to do improv, watch comedy videos, and read books and plays that weren’t so horribly depressing, as often happens in High School English. The whole unit was really fun, and I enjoyed being able to explore new sides of writing I hadn’t before. I had also never done any humor analysis, so it was fun to get to try that out as well. I really valued how new this unit was. I had never done anything like it, so it was an exploration into a topic I probably wouldn’t have thought about at all otherwise. So let’s dive into my humor project!

Proposal and Analysis

Firstly in the humor project, we were tasked with analyzing two different “humorists” and picking apart a piece from them. I did John Mulaney’s “Horse loose in the hospital” bit, and Jack and Dean’s comedy video “Nazi Bar.” Below is my analysis of both pieces:

For my first humorist, I’m going to be looking at John Mulaney, specifically his Horse Loose in the Hospital bit from his show Kid Gorgeous. This is one of his more famous bits, and a favorite of mine. Other good ones he’s done are the ever-iconic Salt and Pepper Diner, New in Town, and Street Smarts. Now, what makes this Horse in the Hospital bit so good? Firstly, the main idea. His take on the Trump presidency is extremely fresh. It’s a new and funny look on this absolutely crazy situation, and uses absurdity combined with observational humor to work. Like we talked about with Key and Peele, there has to be this idea to a sketch or bit. The main idea of this one is comparing the president to a horse in a hospital. It’s outlandish and creative and intriguing and generally fun to think about. Next, I really think his physicality plays a huge role, similar to slapstick humor. At the start of the bit, he’s playing with the microphone cord before running across at the stage. He mimes things and changes the way he stands based on the character’s he’s playing. Essentially, he’s throwing himself into everything, staying loose and using movement to increase the energy and comedy of moments. His voice and tone also helps him. I can always distinctly remember the voice he used for the news reporter, and the voice he uses for the line “he’s never been in a hospital before!” He’s never monotone, always using inflection to make things just a little bit funnier. Without his movement and his voice, then the bit just wouldn’t land as well as it does. And of course, then comes the actual writing. I think it’s amazing that he got his point across without even even saying the word Trump. He uses this idea to have so many good metaphors, like the part about the people opening the door for the horse or reporting on the horse using the elevator. It’s observational comedy observing something that doesn’t even exist, but something we can all have a hoot imagining. It’s satire and it’s genius. 

The next thing I’m analyzing is one of my favorite videos from Jack and Dean, Nazi Bar. They have so many great videos, from the consent song to the ever classic fac-e-book, and of course other ringers like laundry day and the shredder. They are some of my favorite sketch comedians. Now Nazi Bar has a lot going for it. An extremely absurd concept, the fact that there is this Nazi bar that Jack and Dean have found themselves in. The ever-classic straight man constantly surprised and annoyed at the world around him. Satire, ridiculing nazis and nazism. Dean is constantly understating the actual evidence of the nazi bar, from the skulls in the wall to the swasitka coasters. These details are also satire of the things nazis like, particularly the decorative wall skulls. But wait it gets better with a banner that says “every night is nazi night (except wednesday which is ladies night.)” Hysterical. There’s also uses of fourth wall breaks, with quips about how the bar isn’t usually this full, but it’s making a comeback lately, to which Jack remarks “I wonder why” with a blink and you’ll miss it look at the camera. There are puns with “you said this place was alright!” “No, I said it was alt-right” as well as the names of all the drinks being puns. Except of course, Fanta. Incongruity! Then one of the best moments of satire, where a nazi comes up to them complaining about how they used the “bad n-word.” Not the racist one, no, the word nazi. He remarks “not everyone you disagree with is a nazi!” before it’s pointed out that he’s wearing the S.S. uniform, making fun of all the alt-right people who act like they aren’t sexist, racist, or nazis, when in reality they do and say and believe everything nazis did, they just don’t call themselves nazis. The joke goes on, the nazi complaining about them being intolenent despite his entire world view being based on intolerence, and then telling his own personal sob story about losing family and jobs because he was a nazi, when in reality it was his own choice to make. I won’t go on longer though I could, but it ends with it becoming even more absurd as Jack sees the actual Hitler, scaring him awake. It was all just a dream! And ends with another nice look straight at the camera, declaring that “people being  tolerant of Nazis? It was just a bad dream. That would never happen in real life.” Oh, the irony. This will forever be my favorite sketch by them, every line is hilarious and it’s just so well written and inserts it’s message and opinion perfectly into the humor.

Now, immediately these two works are extremely different in medium. John Mulaney is doing stand up while Jack and Dean are in a comedy sketch. However, they both actually have very similar messages and get their point across in the same broad strokes. Both make fun of the absurdity of the alt-right in their pieces, though J&D are a little more on the nose. Both have elements of satire and observational humor, making fun of nazis and the government, and observing the absurd situations of the world around them. Of course, they also are different. Jack and Dean have a back and forth, allowing for more quips and banter. They have understatement, fourth wall breaks, and more ironic humor as the sketch is outside of the real world. It’s also more focused on making fun of nazis. Mulaney on the other hand, has a lot more exaggeration, slapstick, and elements of parody. He’s making fun of Trump and then the general situation rather than just nazis. Being two different mediums, it’s interesting to find how they’re both so similar, but also use the medium to their strength.

Then, I looked into what features of the pieces I was most interested in including in my own comedy presentation:

Both these projects deal with very heavy subjects. Nazism, politics, alt-right, hate, etc., yet do it with a wink and a smile and make you laugh at the absurdity of it all. Both my project ideas deal with potentially serious subjects, being gay and having mental illnesses. But for both, I want to make an audience laugh. I’m really inspired by how despite a difficult topic choice, both mediums of comedy made it work. They are also able to have their own opinions and messages inside. It doesn’t have to make everyone happy. Anyone alt-right would hate the Nazi Bar sketch and probably find it extremely insulting, and trump supporters probably hate Horse Loose in a Hospital just as much. Seeing that they aren’t there to please everybody is really important. Maybe some people will find what I say offensive and won’t laugh. That’s okay. I just need to write something that makes me laugh, and it would probably translate to others too. We can hope.

Honing in, I want to look at Mulaney first. I think what is most important there for both my ideas is physicality, tone, and general voice. Mulaney is always moving around the stage, never stagnant or slow. He mimes being in the hospital, makes facial expressions to be an angry hippo, does the trump voice while “tweeting.” It’s not always what he says, but just the way he says it. His inflection is amazing. He never sounds dull or bored at all. I always think about him yelling “NO!” or “okay, okay, okay, okay.” He’s full of life and energy, and I think that’s what makes him so good. Whether I do stand up or a sketch, I want to harness those physical and vocal elements he displays.

Now looking at Jack and Dean, my focus here is definitely on writing. I really think the script for this sketch is brilliant, even just that first part. It sets everything up really well, and has great banter that doesn’t ever really repeat itself. It goes from puns to understatements to absurdity in the blink of an eye. And just like a good movie, it has callbacks to statements made earlier, making everything feel complete and thought out. It never wastes time or lines, making every word count. When I apply that to both my ideas, to me, it’s about variety. Change things up, try new things, get rid of something stale, kill your darlings. Everything starts at a script, and making it clean and crisp and never stopping is important. The sketch just feels so thought out and once again, never wastes a second, always jumping to something new. However, it’s also able to accomplish this without feeling overwhelming, knowing the limits. It’s a great balance that I want to find with my own comedy writing.

Finally, something overlooked but extremely, just so extremely important, is timing. Both pieces have fantastic timing. They use their pauses really well, the lines moving at a good pace. Honestly, in so many comedy pieces, timing can  make or break it. Nazi Bar would not be as funny if Jack had declared they were at a Nazi Bar at the first line, or if we knew about the guy’s S.S. uniform before Jack said anything. The way he chooses to slow down saying “there’s a HORSE loose in the HOSPITAL” and speed up at the tweets, getting faster until the okay, okay,  okay, okay bit. He uses the speed of the words to create comedy, revealing certain information to us faster or slower to set a pace. In both cases, timing is extremely important. It’s the difference between a laugh and blank stare. In both of my ideas, I want to think about that timing, particularly in the sketch idea. How quickly will information be revealed? Should this happen suddenly or slowly? Should there be a pause here? Should this be said slowly or quickly? All these decisions can make something more or less funny, and are really important to think about when performing. Both these comedy acts have it down.

I highly highly recommend checking out John Mulaney and Jack and Dean. Jack and Dean are a little less known, being youtube comedians who don’t post very often, but when they do the  sketches are always really well written and have high production value (aside from the earlier sketches, like fac-e-book, though of course fac-e-book is hilarious and well written just not as pretty to look at.)

Finally, I proposed my comedy idea. I originally had two ideas, and went with the video idea.

1. Are you collaborating with others? Yes* or No

No

2. Which form of humor are you planning to develop? (See menu.) Note: due to our current shelter-in-place, all projects will be recorded and shared this year. 

I have two ideas and currently I’m not sure exactly which one I want to go through with. However, both are fully developed ideas. The first idea is a stand up act, and the second is a comedic narrative video.

3. What is the subject (or, in the case of satire, the target)? Why did you choose this subject? 

If I were to do the stand-up act, I would want to do it on an idea I had about how gay movies are lying to you, and here’s what it’s really like to be gay. In so many movies many things would annoy me, especially things like “I always knew from the womb” when I didn’t even know being gay was a thing until like, 8th grade. I choose this subject because firstly, it’s something personal to me that I have personal experience in. That makes it easier to talk about. Secondly, I always want to get more confident talking about my sexuality. It can be hard never knowing how anyone will react, so I get very nervous talking about it. I want to come out of my shell more. Thirdly, I think it is important for the people to know the truth about different experiences being gay in a comedic way.

My comedic video idea would be about mental illness. I know, heavy topic, but isn’t humor turning sad things happy or something along those lines? I wanted to do a skit where I sit down and talk with my three main mental issues about chilling out during quarantine. I think a big reason I would want to do this is because I already do it in my daily life. When my anxiety freaks out over nothing or OCD sends some random intrusive thoughts, I’m always just like “we GET it you’re NERVOUS” and generally make jokes and such. I think that so many people have this idea that people with mental illness don’t understand that the way they are thinking and acting is irrational, so I also really want to bring to light that we really understand it’s irrational, but our illnesses don’t. I think the absurdity of illnesses is often underrated, and it can be a nice way to even deal with illnesses, using comedy and undermining them.

4. Which comedic tools/techniques do you plan to use, and why? (List at least 3 main ones and explain briefly how you plan to use them):

For the stand up act: I think it would definitely have anecdotes a lot. The main idea centers around my experience being gay versus movies. I have plenty of stories, from my frustration with the meaning of Katy Perry’s “I kissed a girl” to the many awkward “so how did you know” conversations. By having these personal connections, it helps me come up with the material and because they’re all real, it can be relatable too, or just funny because I was a strange child. I also think it would be defusing anxiety. Even I tend to get stiff when LGBT topics come up, because I don’t want any arguments or homophobia or any of that coming up. I don’t want it to be a debate or people prying into my life or hearing tragedies and such. With this, the topic seems hard to breech and nerve-wracking, but by making it about movies and making fun of tropes, there isn’t anxiety about it anymore, it’s just something fun. In my attempts at writing it, I’ve also found I used hyperbole a lot to embellish my experiences and make them a little more fun. I was confused by Katy Perry’s song, but the way I tell it makes it seem like a lot bigger deal than it actually was. I think this helps make everything a little less boring and adds some spice to my life to share.

For the video: From the get-go it’s definitely absurd. Me sitting down with three other mes representing my mental problems and then having a chat that is immediately derailed by them. That’s a little insane, but I think it also helps reinforce the idea that the way these illnesses act and talk and all that is just. Absurd. Illogical. And often funny. I would also have to use a fair amount of black humor. Even for something funny, mental illness can’t be all sunshine  and rainbows, so there would have to be talk of violence, particularly when it comes to intrusive thoughts. But I also think it would work because I would be making fun of the absurdity and lunacy of the thoughts, and I think similar to slaughterhouse five, the suddenness can add some comedy. I also think it would definitely be defusing anxiety. The thought of talking about and confronting mental illness is stressful and serious and scary. Turning it into a comedic scene where everyone’s a little crazy and it isn’t something serious, but something entertaining, would defuse the anxiety when talking about such a difficult issue.

5. Why do you think this is the right humor project for you? (If you have a group, can you assure me that everyone is invested in this idea and you won’t have trouble getting everyone to contribute meaningfully?) What makes you excited about this idea? What are some potential pitfalls you wish to avoid?

For the stand up: I think this would be right for me because it’s out of my comfort zone yet right inside it at the same time. I’m talking about something I make jokes about every day, but now I’m sharing it outside of people who are my close friends. I’m excited about it because I do have a lot to say on the topic and let’s be honest it’s fun to talk about yourself. I want to avoid the anxiety I know I’ll get when writing and talking about it, and just letting myself actually do it. Stand up makes me extremely nervous, but I might as well go for it!

For the video: I think it would be right for me similarly to the stand up because it’s something I know about and want to share my experiences with and get people to understand. Humor brings us together, what better way to get people like my sister to understand my struggles than making them funny and relatable. I’m excited because it’s something I really want to express and talk about, and this medium is a really good way to do it without getting really heavy about it. I really want to avoid making it too extreme in a way that makes people uncomfortable. It is an uncomfortable topic. For me, I don’t really have trouble making quips and jokes about it, but I don’t want it to be like, insanity or a cry for help or something like that, cause it really isn’t, it’s just me making fun of myself and my irrational need to be on time for school.

Script

After my project was approved, I wrote a script, using my favorite humor techniques. You can read it below:

SYDNEY enters the room, closing the door behind her.

SYDNEY: Hey guys, good to see all of you, I wanted to talk to y’all about something.

The camera quickly pans to the left, flicking to a character checking their phone nervously with the word ANXIETY written on a paper taped to the chest. This is ANXIETY.

The camera pans again to the corner of the room where a character with a paper labeled OCD taped to them is picking at their nails. This OCD.

The camera pans once more to the bed, where a sleepy figure in dark clothes sits up groggily, a paper taped to them reading DEPRESSION. They lay back down. This is, obviously, DEPRESSION.

The camera then whips back to SYDNEY, having completed a circle.

Now, everytime a character talks, we would be switching to the camera on them (not panning just through a cut)

SYDNEY: So, what I wanted to talk about was-

ANXIETY: The end times. The destruction of the world. The end of life as we know it.

SYDNEY: Um. No.

ANXIETY: (turning the phone to Sydney) Look at these numbers! Look at the facts! We’re never going to be released from this pandemic, the economy is going to crumble, we’re never going to go to college, Mad Max: Fury Road is practically a documentary at this point, and we have a headache! That’s how it starts you know, a headache, and then suddenly we’re in the ICU connected to breathing tubes and writing our will!

ANXIETY is extremely distressed. DEPRESSION sits up again.

DEPRESSION: Can we do this later? I’m trying to sleep.

SYDNEY: It’s four in the afternoon?

DEPRESSION: I know. I’ve been hearing Anxiety’s non-stop jabber for like, hours. She kept us up all night, and I need at least 12 hours of sleep to function, so, goodnight.

DEPRESSION falls back down on the bed and covers their face with a pillow.

SYDNEY: Okay, everyone just calm down. Depression, please just listen for a minute. Anxiety, put your phone away we talked about reading the news. And OCD stop picking your nails.

OCD: Sorry, habit.

SYDNEY: I’m not here to talk about the pandemic, I wanted to talk about-

OCD: What if we jumped out the window?

ANXIETY lets out a scream. DEPRESSION groans in annoyance.

SYDNEY: Why? Why would we do that?

OCD: I dunno, see what would happen.

SYDNEY: What would happen is a trip to the hospital and extreme pain.

OCD: Okay but hear me out: what if something else happens?

SYDNEY: It won’t!

OCD: Could be fun.

ANXIETY: Oh god oh god what if we did jump out the window oh god what if we broke all our bones and we had to go to the hospital that’s too expensive we’d probably make our family bankrupt or oh god what if we died?

DEPRESSION: maybe we can just die.

ANXIETY: BUT WHAT IF WE DIE?

SYDNEY: Okay! Enough! No jumping out of windows! No dying! None of that! Gosh, you guys are such a handful, and OCD I just told you to stop picking your nails!

OCD: Sorry, habit.

SYDNEY: Can we just calm down for a second, I didn’t want to talk about any of this, I wanted to say-

OCD: (holding a lighter) What if we lit this on fire?

SYDNEY: Why do you have a lighter? Who gave her a lighter?

ANXIETY: WE’RE GONNA BURN ALIVE AND GO TO JAIL FOR ARSON!

DEPRESSION: This. This is what I deal with.

SYDNEY: No burning anything!

OCD: But I wanna see what would happen!

SYDNEY: Fire! Fire would happen! Like what happens when you burn anything! It makes fire and it burns and it’s dangerous!

OCD: good point, but consider: What if something else happens?

SYDNEY: Nothing else is gonna happen! Put that away!

OCD reluctantly puts the lighter away.

SYDNEY: Can we get back to the topic, I wanted to actually do something-

DEPRESSION: Wait, do something? No way. Sorry. We aren’t doing anything except sleeping.

ANXIETY: But we have essays and editing and we still haven’t gotten the Adobe stuff working and what if we never do, we’re gonna fail freestyle and probably also economics and we’re behind in English and physics and math and-

DEPRESSION: No. We’re sleeping.

ANXIETY: We can’t!

DEPRESSION: It’s your fault we’re so tired! You kept us up all night!

ANXIETY: Yeah well it’s your fault we can’t get anything done, which is stressing me out!

DEPRESSION: None of that stuff even matters! No one cares if we miss one math assignment!

ANXIETY: Our teachers probably hate us!

DEPRESSION: Everyone probably hates us!

ANXIETY: OH GOD WHAT IF EVERYONE HATES US?

OCD: Hey anyone have a bandaid I’m bleeding?

OCD holds up a bloody finger.

SYDNEY: I told you to stop picking! At your fingers!

OCD: Sorry, habit.

SYDNEY: Can we re-focus here? We’ll get our work done, no one hates us, it’s all fine, so can you two stop arguing, and OCD! I literally just said stop picking at your nails! You’re bleeding!

OCD: Sorry, h-

SYDNEY: Habit! Yes! I’m aware! You guys have become way harder to deal with since this whole pandemic thing went down. Can we all just relax? We’re not going to die, we’re not lighting anything on fire, we’re not failing any classes, just everyone take a deep breath, okay?

Everyone nods, and SYDNEY leads them all in taking a deep breath. There’s silence.

SYDNEY: See? We’re all good. Now, what I wanted to talk about was-

OCD (Brandishing a large knife) What if we cut off our hand?

The next lines are all panicked and overlapping.

SYDNEY: What? Why? Why on Earth? That would hurt! We wouldn’t have a hand? Who gave her a knife? You guys who gave OCD a knife, why the hell would we cut off our hand? That’s ridiculous? Why do you always do this, there’s no reason for it, you have the worst ideas and you keep freaking out anxiety! Look at her! Look what you did!

ANXIETY: Oh god what if we cut off our hand, that would be so painful, there would be so much blood oh god we would have to go to the hospital and we wouldn’t have a hand and then we wouldn’t be able to to school and we wouldn’t graduate and it would all go downhill from there we would have to sell our stuffed animals and live on the streets as a one-handed homeless person who cut their own hand off, oh god oh god oh god.

DEPRESSION: See what I have to deal with? All day, panicking from this one and random stuff from this one that makes the other one panic, oh, what if we punched someone? What if we crashed the car? What if we yelled the n-word? All she does is rile Anxiety up and then I can’t sleep and then she freaks out because we aren’t sleeping and she starts picking at her nails again!

OCD: I just want to know! I’m just curious! That’s not a bad thing! I stole this from the kitchen, I know I’m technically not allowed to have sharp objects but just hear me out! It could be cool! We’ve never cut off a body part before, it’s exciting! Fresh! New! Interesting! I have great ideas! I want some adventure! Oh you guys be quiet, like you’ve never wanted to cut off your hand before?

SYDNEY: ALRIGHT EVERYONE SHUT UP!

The arguing and nagging comes to a sudden stop.

SYDNEY: I know we’re all having a hard time right now. You all have different ideas and opinions and it’s scary. But no fires, or hand cutting off. And we have to get out of bed and do things sometimes. And we can’t keep freaking out about every little thing and staying awake with nerves! Look, this sucks, but we have to do our best to be productive. Can we try? Please?

The other three look at each other. The all nod after a moment, mumbling sorries.

SYDNEY: Thank you. Okay, guys, all I wanted to say was: Can we send an email?

At those words, anxiety faints.

OCD: What if we sent someone an email about us having cancer? Fun? Exciting?

DEPRESSION: No. No way. Nap time.

Depression burrows under the covers. OCD goes back to picking her nails. Anxiety is still fainted.

SYDNEY: Great, same response as usual, I’ll try again next week.

SYDNEY exits the room.

OCD: I still think we should try the window jumping thing

DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY: SHUT UP!

The end

The script itself was changed when I filmed, as I wasn’t always perfect with the lines I said, and I had to cut out some of the dialogue when it was running over the time limit. It still ended up being a little long, but not as much as the original cut.

The Finished Product

Honors Project

For honors, I was also tasked with writing a comparison essay between two works of satire. The first was Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, and the second was Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. I really enjoyed both works, and had a great time comparing and constrasting the strategies used by both works.

The Inevitable Ending

I remember learning about inevitable, a third grade vocabulary word from Charlotte’s Web. It means something certain to happen, an unavoidable event. Even today, that word jumps off the page to me every time I see it. Surprisingly, the places I’ve noticed its impact the most sre somewhere that the word is rarely, if at all, written: in Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut and in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard. Slaughterhouse follows a man, Billy Pilgrim, who comes unstuck in time during World War II, while Rosencrantz sees the two characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern during the events of Hamlet. Both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Slaughterhouse-Five question the idea of the inevitable and the knowledge of the future. However, both mediums use the knowledge of the future in completely different ways, giving completely different styles of fourth wall breaks and dark humor. However, the mediums are once again brought together in their absurdity.

In Slaughterhouse, both Vonnegut’s self-reflexive narrator and his protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, know everything that did happen and will happen, causing fourth wall breaks to be more direct and the black humor to come off as more deadpan and reliant on its suddenness. This can first be observed in the first few pages of the book, as the entirety of chapter one takes place outside of the story, telling a separate tale of Vonnegut and his trials writing the book we’re reading now. On the first page of the book, it begins with, “All of this happened, more or less.  The war parts, anyway, are pretty much true. One guy I knew really was shot in Dresden for taking a teapot that wasn’t his. Another guy I knew really did threaten to have his personal enemies killed by hired gunmen after the war” (Vonnegut 1). This introduction is neither cheeky nor subtle. Vonnegut addresses his audience immediately, with no jokes about it being a story about the story we’re reading. It’s jarring, a letter directly to the reader. It’s startling and fun and feels like a friend talking to you. The fourth wall breaks are never hidden or just for the audience sake. This is the same with the black humor. When on the train to Dresden, Billy Pilgrim talks of a homeless man on the train with them. The homeless man continually talks about how their situation isn’t that bad, saying on what was the eighth day of the journey, “This ain’t bad. I can be comfortable anywhere,”(79). Of course, right after that, it reads, “On the ninth day, the hobo died. So it goes. His last words were, ‘You think this is bad? This ain’t bad,’”(79). In this situation, the suddenness of the death as well as the irony of the hobo constantly saying that it wasn’t that bad, creates the humor. However, the reader is not aware that the hobo is going to die until he does, the black humor of death shockingly funny. The irony comes from the death itself, not from the knowledge of a death to come. Slaughterhouse Five uses it’s interesting format to surprise the audience with  fourth wall breaks and deaths, despite the readers knowing they might happen, and uses the knowledge of the deaths to create comedy through understatement as the lack of emotion and caring from the main characters is incongruent with the state of things.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, it is almost a reverse of Slaughterhouse, in that the audience is aware of the characters being in a play and is aware of their fates, yet everyone on stage is oblivious, making the fourth wall breaks far more ironic and the black humor slightly more saddening. Firstly, the fourth wall breaks are constant and hilarious, with the members of the cast completely unaware of the audience they accidently refer to. At one point, Rosencrantz decided to randomly demonstrate free speech, yelling “Fire!” and at Guildenstern’s reaction, he replies, “It’s all right – I’m demonstrating the misuse of free speech. To prove that it exists. (He regards the audience, that is the direction, with contempt – and other directions, then front again.) Not a move. They should burn to death in their shoes,” (Stoppard 28). It’s extremely comical how he regards the audience, breaking the fourth wall to almost talk to them, yet the moment is never mentioned, almost as if Rosencrantz simply did it on a whim. The random calling out that this is a play and this is in a theater is hilarious. The fourth wall break doesn’t stare the audience in the eyes as in Slaughterhouse, but instead is a cheeky wink to the audience that the author is aware it’s a play. Another moment of similar fourth wall comedy comes when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are talking to the Player, who is the leader of a troupe of actors. The Player remarks, ““We’re actors – we’re the opposite of people!”(30). Though this is within the play, the idea of an actor playing an actor in a play where he says actors are the opposite of people is confusing and always entertaining. It makes the audience laugh because it’s like the actor is unknowingly insulting himself. This line is only funny because this is a play, the fourth wall break adding an extra layer of humor unknown to the characters themselves. The dramatic irony is also increased due to the audience knowing of the inevitable demise of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. At one point in the play, Rosencrantz begins to monologue about  his thoughts of being dead, lying in a box, buried underground. As he speaks about what it would be like, to wake up in that box, he remarks, “You’d have a chance at least. You could lie there thinking – well, at least I’m not dead!”(34). It’s both funny and sad that he says this, as the audience knows from both the play Hamlet and the title of this piece that the two will not make it out. It’s funny to see them go along the exact path to their deaths, completely unaware that this is where they are going. It’s ironic that Rosencrantz has these ideas about being dead in a box, thinking he could be there right now, almost predicting the future in a way that makes us laugh at the irony but sigh at the sadness. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead uses this dramatic irony as well as the fourth wall breaks mentioned earlier to create comedy for the audience, who watches the characters stumble through a play that the audience is completely aware of, yet the characters remain oblivious.

Despite the differences in each author’s use of the fourth wall, black humor, and irony, both works contain continuously absurd dramatic situations, using illogical actions as well as understatements to create comedy. In Slaughterhouse Five, this is most obviously seen in the abduction of Billy Pilgrim. Strange aliens known as Tralfamadorians abduct Billy after the war, and Billy’s first question is a simple “Why me?”(Vonnegut 76). This situation is completely absurd, yet Billy seems almost blase about the whole situation, his reaction a complete understatement. I found myself smiling in confusion at the craziness of the situation undermined by the calmness of the characters. Later on, in the zoo on the planet of Tralfamadore, the absurdity creates even more comedy. The book reads, “Billy got oss his lounge chair now, went into the bathroom and took a leak. The crowd went wild” (Vonnegut 112). Just the picture of a crowd of aliens cheering as a grown adult man goes to the bathroom is an absurd and hilarious situation. Nothing makes sense, and the book just sits back and lets it all happen, no one pointing out the craziness. It’s nonsensical, but that’s the reason it’s comical. Similarly, in the case of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, the first scene uses understatement and impossibility to have fun in an absurd situation. The first scene of the play begins with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern flipping coins, with Rosencrantz getting the coin if it lands on heads, and Guildenstern getting it if it lands on tails. However, the coins are inexplicably always landing on heads. Guildenstern questions the situation after over seventy-seven losses, saying, “A weaker man might be moved to re-examine his faith, if in nothing else at least in the law of probability” (Stoppard 1). Even though there is some question, it is eventually given up by Guildenstern, simply accepting that it always lands on heads, saying, “It must be the law of diminishing returns” (Stoppard 2). This scene is extremely funny due to the unusual circumstance, but also because of Rosencrantz’s uncaring feeling about it, simply excited that he is winning. Of course, Guildenstern declaring that this impossible situation is a law of diminishing returns is also hilarious, as it makes no sense to say that. The audience almost wants to yell at them, why don’t they think that it’s absolutely bonkers? It’s almost a metaphor for the show itself. All the coin flips have already been decided as heads, and there is no way to change it; despite that logical improbability, the characters keep flipping coins and never question anything. There is no rhyme or reason, complete absurdity, yet there is also no real question of it. Both Slaughterhouse Five and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead use absurd and impossible situations, as well as the characters lack of reactions to these situations, to make the audience laugh at the stupidity and insanity of it all.Slaughterhouse Five and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead are two different pieces. A book versus a play. One is Shakesperian inspired, the other coming from experience in war. Yet they both come together on the idea of the inevitability of something, and the knowledge of the medium itself. While Slaughterhouse Five’s power lies in the author and protagonist, the shock of events surprising the audience, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead’s power lying in the audience themselves, both weave their stories around a fixed timeline. There is nothing to be done for any character in either of the stories, doomed to die in a very particular way. Still, though death is often sad, these pieces are able to continue to be funny. They use this knowledge to their advantage with fourth wall breaks and ironic moments, planting absurdity within the stories to keep the audiences on their toes despite knowing how it all ends. Both the play and book answer a question many people have: if you know the ending, why bother continuing? Well, it’s for the journey. Despite the tragedies that may occur, there is still happiness and humor and excitement to be found in the journey from point A to B, maybe even more so if the ending is clear. Why do we still read Romeo and Juliet when we know it ends in tragedy, or watch Disney movies knowing they end happily? It’s to see exactly how it happens. Stories like these remind us that we can find humor in the absurd, peace in the pain, and that the journey is more important than the destination.