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Drama vs Comedy

Posted on:January 13, 2022 at 12:13 PM

The difference between a magician vs a psychic or charlatan is that the magician is honest. Likewise, a good comedian sets the stage in a way that everyone agrees they’re doing jokes - everyone is in on it. If someone thinks they’re not doing comedy, but they’re getting big laughs, that’s not comedy, that’s drama, tragedy even.

A good example that touches on this subtle difference is Les Dawson’s piano bits (look it up!). It’s objectively funny because it walks on the line between drama and comedy. But we all know that only someone honest could be so skillful at being a horrible piano player, and so we’re all in on it.

Are you creating drama at work by not being honest? What can you do to set the stage so that everyone is in on it, no matter what “it” is?