Less Complaining is also a Valid Choice

The Oatmeal wins the Internet today.

I love the Oatmeal, and xkcd, and — quite frankly — improv because they distort life in an utterly true way.¹ In improv, we’re taught to go toward the danger in a scene. Why? Because in real life we spend all of our time moving away from it. The audience doesn’t want to see us make safe choices. If they wanted that, they wouldn’t have to come to the theatre. They want to see us do the things they would never do — and sometimes wish they could.

I heard an interview on NPR with Nick Galifianakis, who draws cartoons that accompany a relationship advice column.² Here’s the juicy part:

“I like to do what I call the ‘logical extreme’ of a situation,” Galifianakis tells Weekend Edition’s Scott Simon. “I try to put myself in the intimate context of the relationship and then think, ‘What is true — but often inappropriate?’”

Art is participatory. What makes something art is not how it’s made or what it is itself. Art causes some sort of reaction in the audience.³

In this case, I’m hoping it’s the sexy rumpus.

¹ Some of you have heard me talk about the difference between fact and truth. This is one of those things.

² That the column is written by his ex-wife is utterly delicious.

³ The creative process, on the other hand, is rarely about the audience. I’m talking here, though, about the results of that process.

Comments

[Rob Donoghue]

My wife is a gigantic Carolyn Hax fan, so yeah, Amazon has just received money for this good or service.