Mr. Bean Is A Master Of Physical Comedy

you [Music] [Applause] [Music] I mean generally I enjoyed the performs more than the joke I usually enjoy the performer and his attitude you know it's the attitude with which humorous told which I enjoy [Music] [Music] that little bit of slapstick comedy by the great Rowan Atkinson is as simple as it gets unsuspecting man walks into a tree it's probably the most famous bit from the late 1970s sketch show that atkinson starred in called not the nine o'clock news and what elevates it beyond a simple joke is the same thing that makes Atkins in one of the world's most gifted physical comedians attitude I mean look at this sweet little man noticing a camera being self-conscious at first but just at the moment he starts to feel a little bit special he's undercut Atkinson has the chops of the very best physical comedians like Charlie Chaplin Buster Keaton or Jacques Tati but what sets them apart I think is this natural gift for characterization nonverbal characterization not just the ability to do funny things physically but the ability to use that physicality to broadcast an attitude the things that make me laugh are characters you know it's people who kind of present a sort of truth to you I mean even though it's mad or it's funny or it's wacky or it's rude or it's no it's silly but there's a sort of a truth there that you identify with of course most people know Atkinson as mr. bean the globally famous character he created who's mostly wordless antics call back to the visual comedy of silent films most Americans probably know him from the bean feature films that came later but the original sitcom which ran for only 15 episodes across six years is where the best bean work is that's generally because the more cinematic the format though less interesting mr. bean becomes Atkinson doesn't need much more than the single two-shot to work wonders and unlike Chaplin Keaton Atkinson isn't a director he's a performer through and through this is hell and I am the devil good evening but you can call me Toby if you like we try to keep things informal here as well as infernal that's just a little joke which is why I think Atkinson's purest and often best work is in his stage shows no frills just a man and his audience these shows make the most of Atkinson's talents the skits are funny but the attitude in which they're performed is the real joy try to keep things informal here as well as infernal that's just a little joke ancien name's Amos ass bandit I'm a dick I'm a dick you know a lot of prospective brides ask me these days father what is the church's attitude to fellatio and I tend to reply by telling them a little story about the first time I was asked that Bush these are all jokes that require the performer to strike the exact right tone because it's the character that makes them work not the punchlines it's the way this priest cracks the communion wafer and dips it into the wine it's the deadpan seriousness of this schoolmaster doing a totally absurd roll call it's the way the devil drops his head to the side with a bit of self-deprecation the character is the joke [Music] this is the comedy of personality rather than the comedy of gags it's not about doing funny things it's about doing something quite normal in a funny way that's actually Atkinson himself acting in and narrating a documentary really a long video essay on the principles of visual comedy I'll link to it below definitely watch the whole thing in describing the comedy of personality Atkinson is describing what excites him the most but also what he's the best at for example if you were to take the comedy of personality to its most extreme you'd probably get a sketch like this one where Atkinson gives an acting lecture portraying a bunch of different personalities a messenger enters bearing good news [Applause] [Music] the message enters bearing bad news messenger enters bearing bad news which he thinks is good news [Music] there's really no joke at all here just personalities and personalities within personalities Atkinson is playing a self-serious actor playing various different parts the actor is proudly displaying his talent but when something goes wrong we get a glimpse of the character underneath and it's even funnier to really grasp an audience with comedy like this takes enormous precision and those who can do it have a style that is completely inimitable which is sort of ironic since being a physical comedian requires a mastery of imitation and a minut study of human behavior these comedians find comedy in the slightest things the way someone flicks a wrist or the way someone pronounces the first letter in a word and he knew not whence it comes or feels a single piano note or signifies a whole nationality with the tiniest head movement as well as the Russians generally the things that make me laugh are characters you know it's people who kind of present a sort of truth to you I mean even though it's mad or it's funny or it's wacky or it's rude or it or it's silly but there's a sort of a truth there that you identify with and you think I know that situation I've been there I've seen someone like that on the train or I am someone like that and I and I prefer to keep it hidden and yet here here I am being characterized extremely well and and and that's and that does make me look [Music] [Music] one of the questions you guys ask me all the time is what kind of software I use to make these videos well to edit I use Final Cut Pro 10 and since 10 is so different from the program that came before it I depended a lot on online videos to teach me all the new features these days you can pretty much teach yourself anything this way and Skillshare is the perfect way to do it Skillshare is an online learning community for creators with more than 18,000 classes and graphic design animation web development video game design and Final Cut Pro 10 all the classes are professional and understandable and follow a clear learning curve a Premium Membership begins around $10 a month for unlimited access to all courses but the first 200 people to sign up using the link in the description will get your first 3 months for just 99 cents this offer was supposed to be only available for January but Skillshare is extending it out for you guys until February 15th in those three months you could easily learn the skills you need to start a new hobby or business what's the skill that you've been putting off learning check out skill share thanks guys I'll see you next time

Channel: Nerdwriter1

Views: 3,371,046

Keywords: the nerdwriter, nerdwriter, nerdwriter youtube, youtube nerdwriter, nerd writer, nerdwriter1, nerdwriter channel, video essays, essays, education, education channel, nerd writer essays, rowan atkinson, mr. bean, bean, atkinson, rowan, visual comedy, physical comedy

Id: uBUnmdd5-iA

Length: 8min 59sec (539 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 31 2018