Traditionally, actors with an established rep as serious performers can go into comedy, but not the other way ‘round.  That’s been smashed lately by The Daily Show and Stephen Colbert, among many others who riff off of CNN and let the jokes write themselves.  It’s revolutionary comedy, yet deeply indebted to the topical humor of Richard Pryor and George Carlin in the 70s.

What’s more important than how it will change comedy is how it might change how we talk about current events.  One central element of comedy is timing, and a sense of timing is working its way into the patter of political talk.  But how do you render that in writing?

That’s the secret.  It’s what I work on all the time.  Let me explain …

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July means many things.  The kids are off, the weather is hot, and somewhere between those two facts you can hope the lawn is being mowed regularly.  But for those of us who are into economic stats, July is the start of a new quarter – the sleepiest quarter of the year, despite a tremendous number of summer jobs.  Summertime, and the livin’ is easy.

It’s a good time to check in and see how we’ve done in 2011 so far and where we think it’ll go from here.  The short answer is “Meh?” but the long answer is a much more definitive, “Meh, don’t expect much”.  I’ll explain …

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Today is Canada Day, the celebration of Canadian independence on July 1st, 1867.  More or less, that is, because Canada became a nation slowly over the next 115 years.  It was a peaceful and orderly transition that fit with a people that are generally … peaceful and orderly.  We should celebrate by all rising for their national song:

Dum da-Dum da-Dum!
Dum da-Dum da-Dum!
Dum da-Dum da-Dum!
Dum da-Dum da-Dum! …

Whoops!  That’s their second national song.  But they get tired of people from the USofA singing “O Canada”, and only that part of the lyrics, as just about the only thing from this great nation.  It’s time we give them their due as a people that are more than just the very nice people who live next door.  No, once they lace on the skates, they aren’t usually very nice at all.

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Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies.
 – E B White.

What makes something funny?  It turns out that there are many different Humor Theories and none of them are funny.  That may seem like a problem right there, but the irony that you expect it to be funny and it isn’t could be funny if you … Hey!  Wait!

OK, so this duck walks into a bar and asks the bartender, “Why is it so often a duck?” and the bartender says, “Look, if you want to analyze stereotypes you could ask why it’s always a bar.”  The duck shrugs his wings, sits down, and gets so hammered he doesn’t even remember pecking the priest, the rabbi, and the lawyer to death.

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The show “Whose Line is it Anyway?” was never a big hit, but it was entertaining.  It was all improv, driven by the audience and (in the US) host Drew Carey (who turns 50 today).  The fun was set up like a contest where Carey would award “points” to each performance – but no one ever added them up at the end of the show.

These are the rules of the playground, a place where points don’t have to be added up because everyone is too busy having a lot of fun.  That is, until the bullies show up and worry a lot more about the points even though they still aren’t added up at the end.

That’s what “politics” has become, sadly.  It’s an improv show without entertainment, the playground without the fun, all the rules without even a squishy red rubber ball.  But, like a bunch of kids on a lazy summer’s green field, no one has to get anything done.

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