A Trip to the Circus: A Classic Comedy Spectacular

I had tickets to watch a big tent circus last week that was reminiscent of classic Circus shows from older generations (minus the elephants). It was my first time going to the circus since I was six years old, unless Cirque du Soliel is considered a circus, which for the purposes of this article, it is.

One similarity I have noticed at all the circus shows I attended, is that there is a side show involving two clowns inbetween all the acrobatic and contortionist acts. One of the clows has a high pitched voice and acts like a young child, while the other dresses all in black and white and has a more serious face (this figure is known as Pierrot). Honestly, I have no clue which language the two clowns were speaking, but the audience was fully involved with the characters and laughing at their antics.

It makes me wonder whether slapstick comedy is so successful because it crosses the language barrier and it is cross generational. A lot of the time, the dialogue and banter between the two clowns makes little sense and it is all jibberish, but people love them anyway.

About a month ago, I went to see the film Ferdinand in theaters and I was amused at all the smart, cerebral jokes thrown in for the older members of the audience. I was just as baffled when I saw an entire row of children laugh at a scene where a character falls into the mud or has to do a funny dance.

In the end, an audience does not want to think TOO MUCH when wanting a good laugh, so when pitching a joke in a comic strip, think back to those two clowns in the circus and know that some types of humor do not require any verbal cues. Comedy can be visually hilarious without using words at all.