IS JOHNNY CARSON BACK?

When my wife and I decided we need a break from crime shows and autopsy tables we discovered a welcome alternative - humor.

Humor is hard to define, yet I learned much about it by taking perhaps my favorite 3 credit elective course,"Contemporary Humor", a study of humor in movies, TV and books.
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The course highlighted successful comedy ingredients like timing, irony, deadpan humor, delayed takes and self-deprecation. Johnny Carson had all of these in spades.

It now appears Seth Meyers the host of "The Late Late Show" has mastered many of these key skills as well.

Meyers was weaned as a former standup comedian and 12 year head comedy writer for Saturday Night Live.

Like Carson, Meyers can often save a joke with a look - a change in posture - or a great soft clarifying follow-up line.

He is also an excellent interviewer, something that on so many of todays talk shows isn't easy to find. Too often the interviewer tends to hog the conversation.

Meyers comes across as an interested listener. While he possesses quick comedic follow-up lines, he primarily uses them in an interview as an attempt to save a nervous guest who appears to have lost his or her way.

Both Carson and Meyers were quick to recognize their show works best when they allow their sidekicks to display their own comedy skills. I'm convinced  Johnny's "Carnac" routines worked as well as they did for me due to the well timed input of Ed McMahon.

Meyers comedy counterpart is another SNL graduate, Fred Armison, actor and comedian as well as bandleader of the show's "8G Band".

Armison is a true master of deadpan humor and his reactions to Meyer's comments and questions are for us possibly the highlight of this new show.

Their almost nightly bit is that Armison is accused by Meyers of being "a man of untruths", but exposed by Meyers after much digging and so-called research.

Meyers delivers the setups by confronting Armison with defending his ridiculous claims of having started various inventive, but truly bizarre businesses.

One such example was amusement park "Clayworld" which Fred allegedly founded and where there are no rides. At least at first.

Per Armison, the rides du jour are up to the paying customers.They are encouraged to design their favorite amusement rides which they must sculpt out of multiple piles of clay, spread throughout the park.

These "rides" allegedly include Merry Go Rounds, Ferris Wheels, and the
like -or as Fred relates in his deadpan style, "Whatever the customer prefers".

Meyers, acting as the responsible and pragmatic of the two, then uses follow-up questions like,"Aren't you concerned they may fall and hurt themself?.

Fred: "They ARE  on piles of clay, you know!"

When asked by Meyers (for the assumed benefit of interested tourists) where "Clayworld" can be found, Armisons reply is "Pretty much all over Arizona."

The routine loses much through my translation.

To attempt to explain  a joke - or a comedy routine - which I just did  - you must  first assume the listener possesses a sense of humor. Sadly, many do not.

This is clearly visual comedy and would probably not work as well on radio.

Again, what is necessary to make the routines work is the combination of  the "delay takes" mastered by both Carson and Meyers, coupled with Armison's toothy"deadpan" replies.

If dry humor and well timed deadpan reactions are your thing - hop aboard - but, as I learned long ago, they are clearly not for everyone.

It seems both are an acquired taste by the listener. I liken them to the enjoyment of sipping Single Malt Scotch, VSOP Cognac, or down here in Florida, "Piledrivers." - a combination of Vodka and Prune Juice

Despite that caveat , the early returns, at least in the Sullivan household suggest: "Carson may be back".