Old Time Comedy

Here's a clip of Sid Ceaser. I like it for several reasons.

1). It shows how common it was to still run across "classical" music even in contemporary comedy shows.

2). I've often heard it said that the secret to really successful comedy is timing. Here you can see a clip of two people using something else for timing purposes (Beethoven's symphony, which was never intended to be used as theater music) but managing to tell a complete story. Not only do these actors have good timing with each other, but they both have to be extremely familiar with the music to capture the sudden mood changes without looking like they're reacting to them.

3). Because I'm so familiar with the piece, I found myself slightly predicting when the conversation would turn from violent to sweet or vice versa.

Enjoy.


via videosift.com

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