Not so lucky was How I Met Your Mother, a series that never figured out its straight man, Ted Mosby, was a smug bore who was lucky the people around him didn’t mind being insulted and condescended to on a regular basis. To their credit, the writers seemed to realize this mistake as the show went on and subverted the idea of Ross as the sane center, instead showing his arrogant chastising to be a mask for his own doofy foibles and general ineptitude in situations those upon whom he looked down could navigate with ease, and it made for a much more fun show. All this did was make him a stick in the mud, ruining everyone’s fun when all we wanted to do was laugh at Chandler’s jokes or sing “Smelly Cat” with Phoebe. He was, however, a buzzkill, constantly moralizing and telling his friends to stop whatever they were doing and be “grownups” (Ross loved to cast himself as the only grownup in the room). In the early seasons, Ross was very much the straight man, anchoring the eccentricities of the other five characters.
In contrast, take Friends (a show that I love, but it’s not without its flaws).
Jerry never tries to take over, comfortable with being part of an ensemble instead of trying to hog the spotlight. Furthermore, it’s not even the button on the scene, as when Jerry is finished Kramer continues his ridiculous act as host of a talk show that exists only within his own warped mind. Only when George finishes his story does Jerry shoot off a barb, adding to the overall effect instead of trying to steal anyone’s thunder. While George talks about trampling pigeons and Kramer pretends to be Merv Griffin, Jerry sits back and lets them own the scene in fact, when he begins to interject, he’s shushed by Kramer. Take this scene from “The Merv Griffin Show”… Once the others were finished with their outlandish moment, Jerry would complement their work by delivering the perfect one-liner. It’s a thankless job, and Jerry is rarely cited as anyone’s favorite character (cards on the table: he’s mine), but he was exactly what he needed to be and Seinfeld was stronger for it.Īnother weapon in the good straight man’s arsenal is the sarcastic comment, something I’d venture Jerry Seinfeld did better than anyone. In doing so, he’s giving his fellow actor exactly what he needs to construct a very funny bit. Not once does he try to get “his share” of the laughs, instead recognizing that it is to George that the audience will react, that the best interests of the scene are served by his simply existing as a sounding board for Jason Alexander. Once George starts trying to guess the price of the jacket, Jerry remains silent, almost fading into the background as George gets louder and crazier. At all times, though, everything he did or didn’t do was in service of his co-stars, and the show as a whole.įor example, watch this scene from the season two episode “The Jacket”… Oftentimes, Jerry would just watch with a big smile on his face, delighting in his friends’ tomfoolery along with the audience. Jerry allowed them to take the spotlight as they schemed, connived, ranted or just stumbled all over the place, getting the more traditional laughs while the ostensible star of the show simply observed, waiting until the act was over to make a sarcastic comment, if he even commented at all. His humor was much different from that of silly Kramer, angry George or vindictive Elaine. On the revolutionary sitcom that bore his name, Jerry Seinfeld, while very funny, was the voice of reason (more or less) in the quartet of oddballs at the center of the show. The very best example of the straight man, though, and someone who I think rivals Bud Abbott as the best of all time, is Jerry Seinfeld. In more recent times – particularly on television – the straight man has often been poorly executed, resulting in watered-down set pieces and ruined jokes. Bud Abbott is probably the most famous straight man in history, and he was a genius of the art form, managing not only to set up Lou Costello’s wacky antics but to be funny in his own right without stepping over his legendary partner. This is true, at least, at the best of times when performed improperly, the straight man can suck the life out of a joke or series of jokes and ruin what could have been a hilarious moment.
The straight man is the unsung hero of comedy, the guy who forgoes getting the best laughs in order to set up his co-stars for the show-stopping gags, elevating the scene or sketch while seeming to be background noise.
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