Anatomy of joke: Sight Gags

This is probably the last one of these, at least until my funny bone hits me again. Mostly, I'm stumbling across thoughts that occur to me as I get a chance to reflect.

Sight gags can work in a deconstructive way, as well. One of my favorites is a story Gene Wilder told about how he wanted to introduce Willy Wonka to the audience in the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie in 1971.

Basically, Gene comes out, limping on a cane, then rolls over and stands up to continue walking without a limp. What Gene wanted to do was establish that Willy lies. It's a neat, clean little gag that shows how suspicious we should be of the candy man...

Other sight gags? How 'bout Blazing Saddles, specifically the toll booth in the middle of the desert? You could have that as a still drawing, and it would work just fine, I think. The absurdity of it just sits there, no explanation needed. Same thing with the food fight in the commissary at the end, pure Busby Berkeley madness and ridiculousness, no explanation required.

But a current master of this sort of thing is Teller of Penn and Teller. Together, Penn and Teller have their very own special sort of madness.

Teller by himself, though, has his own lunatic magic. He's worth seeking out for the bits where he just does a quiet (not sorry) bit of magic, no frills, no games, just you and him and the gag. It's pure storytelling at the highest level.