Double act

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about comedy duos. For the novel, see Double Act (novel).

Laurel and Hardy

A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition,[1] and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act, often highlighting differences in their characters' personalities. Pairings are typically long-term, in some cases for the artists' entire careers.[2] Double acts perform on the stage, television and film.

The format is particularly popular in the UK where successful acts have included

Wheeler and Woolsey, Abbott and Costello, Gallagher and Shean, Burns and Allen, and Lyons and Yosco. The British-American comedy double act Laurel and Hardy has been described as the most popular in the world.[6]

Format

Humor is often derived from the uneven relationship between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin, and profession but drastically different in terms of personality or behavior; each one serves as a foil to the other. One member of the duo—the "straight man", "feed", "dead wood", or stooge—is often portrayed as reasonable and serious, while the other one—the funny man, "banana man", or comic—is portrayed as funny, less educated or less intelligent, silly, or unorthodox.[citation needed] When the audience identifies primarily with one character, the other is often referred to as a comic foil. The term "feed" comes from the way a straight man sets up jokes and then "feeds" them to his partner.[citation needed]

Despite the names often given to the roles, the straight man is not always humorless, nor is it always the comic who provides the act's humor. Sometimes the straight man gets laughs through sarcastic reactions to the comic's antics, such as Stewart Lee's deadpan, reasoned reactions to Richard Herring's ridiculous antics in their pairing. When the straight man serves no specific comic purpose, but acts as a device to make the comic look good, he is known as a stooge. Sometimes considered a derogatory term, "stooge" began to fall out of use by the 1930s with The Three Stooges. Most often the humor in a double act comes from the way the two personalities play off of each other, rather than from the individual players. In many successful acts the roles are interchangeable.

History

Early development

Lyons and Yosco, vaudeville act and ragtime composers from the 1910s

The model for the modern double act began in the British music halls and the American vaudeville scene of the late 19th century. Here, the straight man was needed to repeat the lines of the comic because audiences were noisy. A dynamic soon developed in which the straight man was a more integral part of the act, setting up jokes for the comic to deliver a punch line. Popular draws included acts like George Burns and Gracie Allen (who initially operated with Burns as the comic but quickly switched roles when Gracie's greater appeal was recognized), Abbott and Costello, Flanagan and Allen, Gallagher and Shean, Smith and Dale, and Lyons and Yosco. The dynamic evolved, with Abbott and Costello using a modern and recognizable formula in routines such as Who's on First? in the 1930s and Flanagan and Allen using "cross talking".

Gallagher and Shean, a popular vaudeville act of the 1920s

Though vaudeville lasted into the 1930s, its popularity waned because of the rise of

silent era. The comedy was not derived from "cross-talk" or clever verbal exchanges, but through slapstick
routines and the actions of the characters.

The first double act to gain worldwide fame through film was the Danish duo

talkies
. They were one of the few silent acts who made a successful transition to spoken word pictures in the 1930s, showing themselves to be equally adept at verbal wordplay.

1940s–1960s

Martin and Lewis

In 1940 was the release of Laurel and Hardy's

Rowan and Martin's Laugh In
.

In Britain, double acts were confined to theatres and radio until the late 1950s, when double acts such as

Sunday Night at the London Palladium. These acts came into their own in the mid- to late-1960s. When Morecambe and Wise teamed up with writer Eddie Braben, they began to redefine what was meant by a double act, with Wise, the straight man, being developed into a comic character in his own right. They provided the link between music hall and modern comedy for double acts.[7]
As the two leading double acts of the day, Morecambe and Wise and the Winters brothers enjoyed a playful rivalry—the Winters mocked the slight edge Morecambe and Wise had over them in popularity, while Morecambe, when asked what he and Wise would have been if not comedians, replied "Mike and Bernie Winters".

A series of black-and-white films based on

The Little World of Don Camillo (1952), The Return of Don Camillo (1953), Don Camillo's Last Round (1955), Don Camillo: Monsignor (1961), and Don Camillo in Moscow (1965). The movies were a huge commercial success in their native countries. In 1952, Little World of Don Camillo became the highest-grossing film in both Italy and France,[8] while The Return of Don Camillo was the second most popular film of 1953 at the Italian and French box office.[9]

Franco and Ciccio

Taviani brothers. Considered at the time as protagonists of B movie, they were subsequently reevaluated by critics for their comedy and creative abilities, becoming the subject of study.[13][14] The huge success with the public is evidenced by the box office earnings, which in the 1960s, represented 10% of the annual earnings in Italy.[15]

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the traditional formula was shunned by The Two Ronnies, who completely dispensed with the need for a straight man, and Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, two Oxbridge-educated comedians who used the double act to deliver satire and edgy comedy.

1970s

Terence Hill and Bud Spencer

Internationally the most popular double act of the 1970s was the Italian duo Terence Hill and Bud Spencer. The team had already made three straight westerns together during the 1960s but turned their act towards slapstick in their fourth (They Call Me Trinity, 1970), with massive success.

Light entertainment in Britain in the 1970s was dominated by Morecambe and Wise, who enjoyed impressive ratings, especially on their Christmas specials. Although Mike and Bernie Winters's popularity declined, The Two Ronnies' success grew while Peter Cook and Dudley Moore sporadically produced acclaimed work, in particular, their controversial recordings as Derek and Clive from 1976 to 1978.

The mid-to-late 1970s saw a resurgence in American double acts. Blazing Saddles (1974) featured a memorable performance by Mel Brooks and Harvey Korman (who later teamed up again in Brooks's 1981 follow-up History of the World, Part I). Saturday Night Live, first broadcast in 1975, provided an outlet for comedians to appear in sketches as double acts and continues to do so. It was here that Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi honed their characters The Blues Brothers, who were soon pulled to fame in the 1980 buddy movie of the same name. Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor also embarked on a string of successful buddy films in the 1970s. Cheech & Chong also gained massive popularity during this time.

Occasionally, the straight-man/funny-man dynamic appeared in unexpected contexts between characters not normally thought of as comics. This often appeared in the James T. Kirk (William Shatner)/Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) relationship in several episodes of the original Star Trek series.

1980s

Fry and Laurie

Morecambe and Wise had dominated British light entertainment throughout the 1970s, but their presence waned in the early 1980s. When Morecambe died moments after finishing a solo show in 1984 (his last words were 'I'm glad that's over'), the best-loved double act in British comedy came to an end, and several new acts emerged. The two distinct groups could not have been more different.

In the wake of

Ade Edmondson; Hale and Pace; and Smith and Jones. These edgier comics were brasher and crude—comedy's answer to punk rock.[7] They developed the satire and vulgarity of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore rather than the more gentle humour of Morecambe and Wise and The Two Ronnies. In fact, Smith and Jones showed blatant disregard for their predecessors, openly mocking the Two Ronnies (this may have been a factor in Ronnie Barker's decision to retire from comedy in the late 1980s[7]
).

1990s–present day

The early 1990s saw comedy become "the new rock and roll"[7] in Britain and this was inherent in the work of Newman and Baddiel and Punt and Dennis on The Mary Whitehouse Experience. Newman and Baddiel, in particular, symbolized this rock and roll attitude by playing the biggest ever British comedy gig at Wembley Arena. With this came tension. Newman and Baddiel fell out with Punt and Dennis, not wishing to share screen time with them, and then with each other. David Baddiel went on to form another successful double act with Frank Skinner.

Reeves and Mortimer

The 1990s also saw the introduction of one of comedy's strangest yet most successful double acts in

Reeves and Mortimer. They at the same time deconstructed light entertainment[7] and paid homage to many of the classic double acts (Vic Reeves would even do an Eric Morecambe impression on Vic Reeves Big Night Out
). They simultaneously used very bizarre, idiosyncratic humour and traditional double act staples (in later years they became increasingly reliant on violent slapstick).

Another double act that emerged in the mid to late 1990s was

clash of personalities
(downbeat and rational Lee contrasting with energetic, childish Herring) with very ironic, often satirical humour.

Also appearing in the latter half of the decade were Adam and Joe, whose low-budget, self-produced Channel 4 series The Adam and Joe Show was a very sharp combination of TV and movie parodies and satirical looks at various elements of youth culture.

Indian cinema also had its share of the double act, with Tamil cinema comedians Goundamani and Senthil teaming up for several films throughout the decade, similarly Kota Srinivasa Rao and Babu Mohan in Telugu cinema.

In

Tennison Cooray
where they pioneered Sri Lankan commercial film industry in the 2000s.

The British duo Mitchell and Webb are another successful double act from the 2000s onwards, having multiple sketch shows on both radio and TV as well as starring in the award-winning sitcom Peep Show.

For over 20 years, Australians Hamish Blake and Andy Lee have worked together as Hamish & Andy, having multiple successful TV shows and a very popular radio show and podcast.

Most of the most successful double acts in the early 2000s take their inspiration from the odder strain of double-act comedy spearheaded by Reeves and Mortimer.

Matt Lucas and David Walliams, who had previously worked with Reeves and Mortimer, also took inspiration from the Two Ronnies. The Mighty Boosh also played with the formula but essentially remained traditional at their roots. Another popular current light entertainment/presenting comedy act is Ant & Dec
, who are a very basic yet effective example of a double act.

In early 2012, comedians Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele appeared in a sketch comedy TV show titled Key & Peele airing on Comedy Central.

Many modern-day YouTube channels follow this format. Some examples include Smosh, Dan and Phil, the Game Grumps, and Rhett and Link of the YouTube channel Good Mythical Morning,

United Kingdom

Mitchell and Webb

In its British form, the two actors would usually be composed of a "straight man" or "feed" and a "comic", the purpose of the feed is to set up jokes for the comic. This would rely heavily on comic timing.

The Chuckle Brothers
, where the straight man acted largely as a humourless set up for the comic.

Peter Cook and Dudley Moore were perhaps the first double act to go against the grain as turned their double act into a complex analysis of their relationship. In many of the sketches (especially the Pete and Dud exchanges) Cook played the domineering know-it-all (who knows nothing) and Moore the put-upon dimwit (who also knows nothing).

This dominance was accentuated by the difference in height between the two, and the speed of Cook's mind, which meant that he could ad lib and force Moore to

corpse in a Pete and Dud dialogue, leaving him helpless to respond. As the partnership progressed into the often-improvised Derek and Clive
dialogues, these light-hearted attempts to make Moore laugh became, as a result of Cook's growing insecurity and alcoholism, aggressive attacks on the defenseless Moore. Carrying the tradition of going against the grain of traditional double acts, when the partnership dissolved in the late 1970s, it was Cook whose career stalled due to boredom, alcoholism and lack of ambition, while Moore went on to become one of Hollywood's most unlikely leading men.

Sitcoms

The double act has become a popular theme in

delusions of grandeur
, and the comedy was derived from the two playing off each other's characteristics.

A common trend in sitcoms is to place the double act in a situation where they are forced together through uncontrollable circumstance. In another Galton and Simpson production,

rag and bone man
. The comedy derives from the way the characters interact in their tempestuous relationship. The series also has more heart-rending moments as the son despairs at his inability to escape his needy, selfish, grasping father.

Lennie Godber. The two would bicker but endured a relationship of mutual respect. Barker also formed a partnership with David Jason in Open All Hours
, with Jason playing Granville while Barker played Albert Arkwright. Many don't see this as a comedy duo, but the straight-man element coupled with Barker's funny-man antics on the show are still compressed into the script.

Bottom. Their characters are a pair of sad, pathetic losers forced together by their mutual hopelessness. However, unlike earlier examples of such, the characters in Bottom absolutely hate each other, exacerbating their despair. This often leads to slapstick violence, such as hitting each other with frying pans. Mayall and Edmonson have said Bottom aimed to be more than just a series of toilet gags—it was meant to be a cruder cousin to plays like Waiting for Godot
about the pointlessness of life.

Other popular double acts in British sitcoms include complex relationships involving status and superiority themes: in

Captain George Mainwaring, to his right-hand man (Sergeant Arthur Wilson) who is of higher status than him; and in Red Dwarf, the working class everyman Dave Lister to the middle class but socially-awkward Arnold Rimmer. However, the most prominent double act is that of an intelligent person and his inferior sidekick, such as Basil and Manuel of Fawlty Towers, Blackadder and Baldrick of Blackadder, or Ted and Father Dougal of the Irish sitcom Father Ted
.

In recent years, double acts as sitcoms appear to have gone full circle, as illustrated by the cult success of The Mighty Boosh. For the relationship between the two main characters this series uses a formula very similar to that between Sid and Tony in Hancock's Half Hour – that of an arrogant character whose best friend can see his faults and keeps him grounded. A similar dynamic is used in Peep Show in which the characters of Mitchell and Webb were adapted for the sitcom formula. In this case both characters have a degree of egotism. The difference between the pair is the free-spirited, uneducated and selfishness of Jeremy and the intellectual arrogance but shyness of Mark.

U.S. and Canada

Abbott and Costello

In the

Jay & Silent Bob, and Harold & Kumar have also proven quite popular with audiences. The double act format can also be used in presenting noncomedic information in an entertaining manner, such as Savage/Hyneman pair of the Discovery Channel's MythBusters (which Savage stated was unintentional when they began the series but naturally grew into a double act as the result of their own conflicting personalities).[16] From 2006 to 2010, Apple used the double-act formula successfully in its popular series of I'm a Mac/And I'm a PC ads with John Hodgman and Justin Long
.

Italy

Cochi e Renato in 1972
Ric e Gian in 1972
Ficarra e Picone at the 2010 Giffoni Film Festival

In Italy the tradition was more popular in the late part of the 20th century with Battaglia & Miseferi, Cochi e Renato, Ficarra e Picone, Fichi d'India, Gigi e Andrea, Katia & Valeria, Lillo & Greg, Pio e Amedeo, and Ric e Gian. Cochi e Renato were childhood friends, and they grew accustomed to perform together in front of an audience of friends and relatives.[17][18] Their professional debut took place in 1965 in the small cabaret club Cab 64 in Milan, where they performed along with Lino Toffolo and Bruno Lauzi.[17] They were also joined by Enzo Jannacci and Felice Andreasi with whom they formed the comedy ensemble Motore, who had a good success in Milan.[17] The couple became first known in the late 1960s thanks to the RAI innovative variety shows Quelli della domenica (1968) and È domenica, ma senza impegno (1969).[17][18] Characterized by a peculiar comic verve, filled with paradoxical and surreal moods, their popularity increased in the early 1970s with the variety show Il poeta e il contadino and with the participation with the musical show Canzonissima.[17][18] The couple began to crack in 1974, when Renato started devoting himself to a full-time film career.[17] After a long separation, Cochi e Renato reunited in 2000s for a series of television and stage projects.[17] Cochi e Renato were also very active as singer-songwriters (often with the collaboration of Enzo Jannacci), and they had several commercial hits;[19][20] their most successful song is "E la vita la vita", which reached the first place at the Italian charts in 1974.[17][20]

Ric e Gian met in an avanspettacolo at the Teatro Maffei in Turin, where Ric worked as a dancer and Gian was the sidekick of the actor Mario Ferrero.[18] They then decided to performing together as Jerry e Fabio and worked in various theaters, nights and cabarets in Northern Italy as well as at the Crazy Horse in Paris.[18][21] Noted by film producer Angelo Rizzoli, they renamed themselves Ric e Gian in 1962 and made their film debut in Ischia operazione amore (1966).[18] Starting from the late 1960s, the couple gained popularity thanks to their participation in several prime time RAI variety shows.[18] In the mid-1970s they focused on theatre, and between late 1970s and early 1980s their popularity revamped thanks to a number of Antenna 3 and Fininvest television shows they took part in.[18][21] In 1987 the couple split to pursue some solo projects, before briefly reuniting between 2002 and 2006 for a number of stage shows and plays.[21]

Gigi e Andrea started performing together in small theaters, cabarets and hostelries in Bologna in the second half of the 1970s.[22][23] They debuted in 1978 on the Rai 1 variety show Io e la Befana.[18] The year before they had appeared for the first time on TV in A modo mio, directed by Memo Remigi. In the 1980s, the couple starred and co-starred in several comedy films which were usually badly received by critics but of commercial success.[22][24] The same period, their presence on the small screen also became more intense, especially on Fininvest variety shows and television films.[22][18] In the 1990s, having reached a more than respectable success, the couple split in order to pursue solo projects.[22][18]

Silver Ribbon in the same category.[28] Also in 2007 they were featured as comic characters in the story Zio Paperone e il rapimento teatrale (trad. Uncle Scrooge and the Theatrical Kidnapping), published in the issue 2678 of Topolino.[17][29]

China

Main article: xiangsheng

In China, xiangsheng (also known as crosstalk) is a traditional comedic performance usually in the form of a dialogue between two performers.

Japan

Main article: manzai

In Japan the manzai tradition parallels that of the double although it is more formulaic.[citation needed] Here there is a distinguished straight man (tsukkomi) and funny man (boke) and the humor consists of quick slapstick jokes, comical stories and social misunderstandings.

Germany

In Germany

Tünnes and Schäl (since 1803/1850s), two Cologne
puppet theater characters, fit to the concept of fool and straight man.

During WWII

Tran and Helle
appeared in a number of short films to deter Germans from actions detrimental to Germany's war effort or security.

Between 1950 and 1980, the most popular comedy duo of East Germany, Herricht & Preil, ran a very successful double act, with Hans-Joachim Preil as the straight man and Rolf Herricht as the comic.

Interchangeable roles

Double acts who do not use the "Straight Man/Funny Man" dynamic or whose roles are interchangeable – as well as notable examples:

References

  1. ^ "A curious history of the comedy double act | Charlie Higson".
  2. OCLC 1065523122
    .
  3. ^ ""Chesney and Allen" The Crazy Gang".
  4. ^ "Peter Cook & Dudley Moore, The 25 best comedy duos". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Who is your favourite UK TV comedy double act?". Radio Times.
  6. ^ "Laurel and Hardy – the world's greatest comedy double act". Sunday Post. 19 October 2013.
  7. ^ a b c d e The Story of Light Entertainment: Double Acts, BBC 2, 9pm, 22 July 2006
  8. Archive.org
    .
  9. ^ "1953 at the box office". Box Office Story.
  10. ^ "Una piazza per Franco e Ciccio amarcord tra vicoli e teatrini – Palermo – Repubblica.it" (in Italian). 11 December 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  11. ISBN 978-8884907783
    .
  12. ^ "Franco e Ciccio: amatissimi dal pubblico, detestati dalla critica - Toscana - il Tirreno" (in Italian). Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  13. ^ "Libri di cinema - "Due Cialtroni alla rovescia. Studio sulla comicità di Franco Franchi e Ciccio Ingrassia" di Fabio Piccione. - SentieriSelvaggi". 6 June 2005. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  14. ^ "Soprassediamo! Franco & Ciccio story. Il cinema comico-parodistico di Franco Franchi e Ciccio Ingrassia. Ediz. illustrata - Gordiano Lupi". Mondadori Store Team. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  15. ^ DVD N.9 Lezioni di cinema, Repubblica-L'espresso
  16. ^ "Insider". Business Insider. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  17. ^
    ISBN 8884402697
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  18. ^
    ISBN 881150466X
    .
  19. ISBN 978-8809756250
    .
  20. ^
    ISBN 8876054391
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  21. ^ a b c Antonio Lodetti (15 February 2010). "Gian, un finale commovente dopo cinquant'anni di risate". Il Giornale. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  22. ^
    ISBN 8884402697
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  23. ISBN 8880892959
    .
  24. ISBN 8820029197
    .
  25. ^ a b c "Ficarra & Picone anno per anno". La Repubblica. 14 November 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  26. ^ Vincenzo Mele (30 November 2020). "Striscia la Notizia, triste annuncio: addio al programma dopo 15 anni". Archived from the original on 21 January 2021.
  27. ^ "David di Donatello, Tornatore protagonista". DG Mag. 8 May 2007. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  28. ^ "Ficarra e Picone candidati ai Nastri d'Argento". La Repubblica. 17 April 2007. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  29. ^ "Ficarra e Picone anche su Topolino". Wuz.it. 12 March 2007. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
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