I just read this article by Steve Martin about his career as a comedian that made me realize that how original his comedy was.
What if I created tension and never released it? What if I headed for a
climax, but all I delivered was an anticlimax? What would the audience
do with all that tension? Theoretically, it would have to come out
sometime. But if I kept denying them the formality of a punch line, the
audience would eventually pick their own place to laugh, essentially
out of desperation. This type of laugh seemed stronger to me, as they
would be laughing at something they chose, rather than being told exactly when to laugh.
To test my idea, I went onstage and began: “I’d like to open up with
sort of a ‘funny comedy bit.’ This has really been a big one for
me…it’s the one that put me where I am today. I’m sure most of you
will recognize the title when I mention it; it’s the “Nose on
Microphone” routine [pause for imagined applause]. And it’s always
funny, no matter how many times you see it.”
I leaned in and placed my nose on the mike for a few long seconds.
Then I stopped and took several bows, saying, “Thank you very much.”
“That’s it?” they thought. Yes, that was it. The laugh came not then,
but only after they realized I had already moved on to the next bit.
It’s pretty amazing how his starting premise was different than every other comedian working during that time…
