Physicalisation within comedy

Physicalisation within comedy is one of the older forms of humour in human culture. Watching another person fall down, get dirty, receive a slap, trip over obstacles or perform a stunt has always been a popular source of entertainment for audiences of all ages. Physical comedy often depends on a sense of schadenfreude, the secret pleasure an audience member may derive from witnessing the misfortune, real or imaginary, of the performer. A circus clown who takes a hit of water to his or her face or a comedian making a comically exaggerated entrance is using his or her physicality to sell the joke to the audience. Physical comedy is not necessarily an undemanding form of entertainment, since many mimes and comedic actors can tell elaborate stories through body movement alone.

One of these comedians is the very popular Lee Evans. Born in 1964, he rose to fame during the 1990s, becoming noted for his loud, hot, sweaty, energetic on-stage performances, humorous voices and very physical observational comedy. His style of slapstick, physical humour has led to frequent comparisons with Norman Wisdom this lead him to win the Perrier comedy award in 1993.
Evans is unique in the way he performs his act as throughout his set he adopts several different characters and physicalises them using over the top gestures and movement; this makes the characters over exaggerated and therefore creates a remove for the audience. In his 2008 performance in the o2 arena he adopted the character of a farmer poking fun at city folk with fast cars that drive down country lanes and meet a tractor.

To achieve comedy Lee Evans style, the trick is to make everything bigger. In his book “Why is that so funny?” John Wright says that “it sounds extraordinary to be told to exaggerate, but it’s not an instruction to take everything over the top so much as an insistence that the choice you make is a clear choice. Few of us are as bold as we think we are.” This clearly means that Evans’ key selling point is exaggeration and making everything that he does much bigger than the norm.

Lee Evans is one extreme of the use of physicalisation in comedy. A prime example of the other extreme would be comedian Jimmy Carr. Described by the Guardian as “a comedy hero of our times”, Jimmy Carr is a household name in the UK. Known best for his hilarious jokes and for presenting channel 4’s 8 out of 10 cats. Carr is just as famous and as respected as Lee Evans but with an entirely different approach. As far as physicality goes Jimmy Carr is about as straight as they come. He literally stands and tells jokes. VIDEO

The question I ask is as a result of Jimmy Carr’s straight approach to comedy does it hinder his performance creating too much pressure on the wittiness of his jokes.
As his gags are never backed up by an amusing gesture or physical movement, Jimmy relies on something else to back him up. This is his confidence. Oliver Double talks about confidence in his book “Stand-up on being a comedian”. He says: “It’s about making the audience believe that you’re funny, creating faith in your own funniness. Famous comedians go onto stage with a huge advantage. The audience has come along knowing their reputation, having already experiencing their humour, and fully believing that they are going to have a good time.” Therefore, Jimmy Carr’s key selling point is rooted in his own confidence that his jokes are hysterical.

We all know that one of the most important elements in Commedia is the physicality of the characters. However, is this what makes them funny or is the humour in their dialogue. If a character adopts an amusing stance, he instantly becomes comical to the audience regardless of what he says. Lee Evans uses this technique. He understands that if he walks a funny walk or uses his body to create a humorous position then even if his joke lacks strength the audience is still likely to laugh. However, the numerous awards Evans has won would suggest that his material is hysterical and therefore the combination of well-written gags and the physical embodiment he adopts is comic gold.

Having just devised and performed a comedic based play, we knew that one of the most important elements was physicality. As our piece was not traditional but based upon the elements of this style of comedy, we decided that the most important factor that remained apparent in our piece was the physicalisation of our characters. This was because the setting and plot of the piece was very naturalistic and modern.

My character has definite elements of the comedic character Il Dottore. This is due to the stance that we both have and the way we speak. John Rudlin describes Il Dottore’s stance: “Weight on back heels, belly forward, hands gesturing in front.” Although my personal character “train spotter” and Il Dottore have different character traits, their physicality is almost identical.
Il Dottore is one of the less physical comedic characters and could be compared to Jimmy Carr’s motionless approach to comedy. Considering this my character may appear very static and one dimensional, yet there is still a definite character there unlike Carr’s style as he is not playing a character at all.

To conclude, I will leave you with a question: As he relies solely on his witty jokes, is Jimmy Carr a more talented comedy writer than Lee Evans, as he does not rely on physical action to back up his humour. Alternatively, does the fact that Evans is able to make us laugh so hard using both gags and physicalisation make him the more talented?