COMEDY and a Full Arch of Experience

The Comic Character

• His/her desire against forces of antagonism is marked by a blind obsession.

• Crackling wits such as Moliere, Shakespeare, Wilde, Chaplin assigned characters a “humour” – fixations that the protagonists do not see.

Jeff Bridges as The Dude

The Big Lebowski 1998Cohen Brothers, Writer/Directors)

Genre: COMEDY

Dude Lebowski, mistaken for a millionaire Lebowski, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it back.” (From IMDB)

Costars: John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymore Hoffman, John Turturro.

WATCH FOR:• Does the Dude make a full character arch? Does he become

changed/more powerful after a hero’s journey?• Does Dude have an interesting and complex subtext?• Can we analyze Dude as he pursues desire against forces of

antagonism? Does he have a blind obsession?• Does “Electronic Encoding” ie camera, lights, sound,

enhance the performance.• Do the writers leave room for/love the character?• Can we detect improv? How about blind obsessions?

NO

NO

YES

MAYBE

YESY Y

YES

John Cleese as Archie Leach

A Fish Called Wanda, 1998Cleese/Crichton, Writer/Directors)

Genre: COMEDY

“A comedy about Sex, Murder, and Seafood.” Characters team up to commit armed robbery, then try to doublecross each other for the loot.”

Ensemble: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Palin, Kevin Kline

WATCH FOR:• Does Archie make a full character arch? Does he

change/become more powerful after a hero’s journey? How/When?

• Does Archie have an interesting and complex backstory?• Can we analyze Archie as he pursues desire against forces of

antagonism? What is his blind obsession? Other characters?• Do the writers leave room for/love the character?• Can we detect improv? Electronic encoding?• See signs as per the Pressure Cooker of Cultural Codes?