we were trying to list all the times jerry got a laugh strictly because
of his appearance. We came up with:
Puffy shirt
Lost & found glasses
Bad hair 1 (due to barber's incompetence)
Bad hair 2 (lack of shower pressure)
JS as Kramer (KennyRogers Chicken)
JS as Neuman (whistling, delivering mail)Please add to this admittedly incomplete list.
bradley young wrote:
How about...
The Cowboy Boots he had to wear [Mom and Pop Store] The 'busy' shirt he wore for Keith [The Boyfriend] The fur coat he wore [The Reverse Peep Hole] The carry all 'purse'he carried [The Reverse Peep Hole] The Pink Lining Jacket not turned inside out [The Jacket]
Jerry paints a letter on his chest to attend game (The Face Painter) Jerry grows substantive hair turning into a werewolf (The Muffin Tops)
Jerry (with George) grows a mustache.
What about facial expressions (does that count as "because of his appearance")? If so:
The look he gave after George said "It's like going to the bathroom in front of a large group of people and not even caring."
The panicked, body-scanning look when embracing "Mulva" (Delores).
In article ,
You can add to this list the scene with the Bubble Boy's father where Elaine and the Bubble Boy's father are crying and she gives Jerry a napkin and he wipes his mouth with it.
What about the time he had to struggle to get those jeans off Kramer?
Then there was that time where he got into a fight with Elaine and Kramer had to break it up and he said, "Can't you two see that you're in love with each other?!"
I think the term for what you describe is "sight gag" (i.e. Jerry with those hilarious glasses, his summer mustache, or Uncle Leo's eyebrows -all sight gags, and some of the best in the history of American comedy. Exceeded by none.) Facial expressions- comic or otherwise, are considered to be acting. "Physical comedy is pretty athletic stuff- Michael Richard's specialty and not really Jerry's . The jeans pulling scene- the physical comedy there was mostly compliments of Richards, as usual. Conventionally physical comedy has been looked down upon as the lowest form of humor, and referred to as "slapstick". Michael Richards however has taken it to an all new level. True genius. Its like watching a great athlete- total chaotic grace. (By the way, there has never been a physical comedian in Michael Richards league in American film or t.v.- no one else is even close. Not even his idol Charlie Chaplin. )
HannSC wrote:
There have been many other very good ones though. Dick van Dyke did some beautiful routines on his sit-com show but was not allowed to go to the extreme as his character was supposed to be a respectible husband and father. Given more freedom to experiment he would have shown that side of his talents more frequently. I remember a lecture he did a lecture denouncing slapstick comedy and of course during the lecture, falls, gets his hand caught in a drawer etc... he also had a collection of silent bits like the 'worlds worst pick pocket' 'the tennis player in slow motion' etc. that showed his phisical ability to be funny without just being silly. But I agree Michael Richards is right up there.
beautiful routines on his sit-com show but was not allowed to go to the extreme as his character was supposed to be a respectible husband and father. Given more freedom to experiment he would have shown that side of his talents more frequently.
I hadn't thought of that. I think you're absolutely right. Another performer who doesn't get much credit is Don Knots- in some of his work on Andy Griffith (NOT the later years when he joined Threes Company.) Its a hard form and considered crude- I guess because people equate it with the immaturity of mind that laughs when someone in real life slips and falls on ice or whatever, or the old theater when the simplest citizens were ushered to their seats, and some clown would simply smack his partner with a board for a quick, cheap laugh. But my opinion is that true physical comedy is something very different, and a close relative of the unusual talents and years of serious work that a great athletic performance demands. But old prejudices die hard.