Between: The humour of the really real and the more than real

Thursday, 19 January 2012

The humour of the really real and the more than real

Transpositions is a collaborative effort of students associated with the Institute for Theology, Imagination, and the Arts at the University of St Andrews which was voted runner-up as Best Newcomer Blog in the Christian New Media Awards 2010. The blog aims to transpose from the mode of theology to the arts and from the arts to theology in order to create meaningful resonances.

In a recent post Jim Watkins advocates for William Lynch's contention in Christ and Apollo that "comedy is the imaginative form par excellence because it exposes, like no other form can, our concrete and finite reality." Watkins writes that:

"Lynch contrasts comedy and tragedy as the two ends of a telescope. Tragedy looks at life through the narrow end where the human condition is writ large, and so we weep for its frailty and death. Comedy, however, looks at life through the wide end where the human appears small and insignificant, and so we laugh at its foibles and awkwardness."

I agree that this is true for much comedy but not for my favourite form of comedy; which is the surreal. Surreal humour is either more than real - taking us on a flight fancy from a real starting point to a world that is other than our own - or really real - creating absurdity by taking literally what is commonly understood figuratively.

Here are several examples primarily as an excuse to post some great sketches:

The Goon Show - 'The Great String Robberies'

Seagoon: Oh, jolly good, jolly good, ha-ha! [Nose throw sound] Now, where's the scene of the crime?

Navy Red Kilt: This is the hoose.

Scot No.1: Aye, welcome to the scene of the crime.

Seagoon: Ah, wheres the front door?

Scot No.1: It's in this brown paper parcel. [Opens it] We only use it for going in and out. Agh, there.

FX: [Door opens]

Scot No.1: The black-bearded criminal must have got in through the door or the windows. Everything else was locked.

Seagoon: I see. Right. Now, who was killed?

Scot No.1: No one's been killed.

Seagoon: Then this is a job for the police.

Scot No.1: You are a policeman.

Seagoon: Oh, yes, yes, I wasted no time getting here, did I, eh? - Hands up! You're all under arrest!

FX: [Door through which they enter]

Greenslade: The String Robberies, Part Two.

Seagoon: Part Two? That's us!

Scot No.1: You see that piece of string on the table?

Seagoon: Yes. What's that space in the middle?

Scot No.1: That's the piece that's missing.

Seagoon: So! So that's what a piece of missing string looks like, eh? Where's it gone? Ah! [laughs] But wait... can't you see, you, you poor Scottish fool!

Scot No.1: [Gnashing teeth sounds]

Seagoon: It's all, it's all a practical joke!

Scot No.1: [Gnashing teeth sounds]

Seagoon: Someone's cut that string in the center, pulled the two pieces in opposite directions, giving the impression that a piece had been removed from the middle.

Scot No.1: Hairy gringlers, he's right! Och, it's true! If you put these two pieces together, the gap disappears!

Scot No.2: Aye, but did you notice when you did that, the two outside ends got shorter?

Seagoon: Gad... Gad, Chisolm's right! Now I see what happened. What cunning! [laughs] The criminal's cut a piece off each end, then cut across the middle pulled them apart, making the string look the original length.

Scot No.1: Oh dear, this makes it a baffling case.

Scot No.2: Aye.

Seagoon: Ah yes. Instead of one piece we're looking for two separate ends... It's a good job I can count! [laughs] We must start investigations at once!

FX: [Link music]

Greenslade: [As radio announcer] ...Finally, here is a police message: Will all people in possession of two pieces of string please report to their local police station.

Spike Milligan - The Late News