1

I am having difficulty resolving humor from seriousness in this case and need some help.

After about 05:00 in Leslie Nielsen Monologue: Serious Actor - Saturday Night Live (Season 14, aired 02/18/89):

Everybody thinks I’m a comedian but that’s not quite true. A comedian is someone who says funny things, a comic is someone who says things funny. I’m neither. I’m someone who says unfunny things. I say unfunny things in an unfunny way, and somehow it seems to end up funny.

Question: Is Leslie Nielsen's distinction between a comedian and a comic actually insightful, or is he just telling a joke here? I'm confused because he claims that he says things that are unfunny (as opposed to telling jokes) so I'm wondering if even though it seems flippant if there might be a real difference between "saying funny things" and "saying things funny".

I turned to Wikidiff's What is the difference between comedian and comic? but I am afraid that this itself is a joke:

Comedian is a related term of comic.

As nouns the difference between comedian and comic is that comedian is an entertainer who performs in a humorous manner, especially by telling jokes while comic is a comedian.

The top answer to Quora's What is the difference between a comic and a comedian? is

The terms are often used interchangeably and in fact, are usually defined in terms of each other, but the generally accepted difference among those in the comedy world is that "comic" refers to someone who does live, solo, stand-up comedy, while "comedian" can refer to someone who might do stand-up but might also do improv or sketch comedy. The implied difference is that comics are comics, but comedians are often actors.

which definitely seems different than Nielsen's distinction, but I don't know if it contradicts or is compatible with it.

Improve this question
4
  • This question might be more suited for english.stackexchange.com . However, there could be a difference: one could say a funny joke in such way that it won't be funny or say something mundane in a funny way (i.e. with exaggerated stutter, accent or intonation). Leslie Nielsen was funny because he was saying mundane things in a deadpan serious way in situations that was making his comments funny. – Yasskier Mar 14 at 21:04
  • @Yasskier No I don't think that the question that I have asked: "Is Leslie Nielsen's distinction... actually insightful, or is he just telling a joke...?" would be considered on-topic in English SE. A different but related question might be, but not this one. – uhoh Mar 14 at 22:59
  • 3
    I think Roger Ebert mentioned a few times that for a character in a film to be funny, they should NOT know that they are being funny. That last description fits Nielsen's characters perfectly. So a comic actor is someone who can play those characters well, while a comedian is someone who tells jokes. – magarnicle Mar 14 at 23:19
  • @magarnicle I find that very helpful and insightful, that's just the "Aha!" that I'm looking for, thanks! – uhoh Mar 14 at 23:28
5

Roger Ebert in a review of The Naked Gun 33 1/3:

It would be fatal to the movie if [Neilsen] ever betrayed the slightest suggestion that [he knew] funny things are going on.

He doesn't know that his double entendres are double entendres, which makes them funny. So, broadly, a comic actor is someone who can play comedic characters well, while a comedian is someone who tells jokes.

It's not a hard line between the two, though; there are stand-up comedians who create characters for their jokes, and movie characters who know they are being funny.

Improve this answer
3
  • Thanks for your answer! To "...actually insightful, or is he just telling a joke here?" do you have any thoughts? – uhoh Mar 16 at 0:19
  • 1
    I think he is somewhat describing what's in my answer while being a bit self-deprecating. As an actor he isn't Jim Carrey, he's very deadpan, which he's characterising as "unfunny". – magarnicle Mar 16 at 0:44
  • Nielsen is also famous as a very serious dramatic actor. His comic chops are typically in direct contrast of this, which ofc makes it golden. – morbo Mar 22 at 9:47
1

I'd describe a comedian as someone who tells jokes, and a comic as someone who could make you laugh without telling jokes. Like, you laughed at John Ritter's reactions to his roommates on Three's Company (did I just date myself?), and that would make him a Comic. You laugh at George Carlin's Seven Words You Can't Say On TV, and he's a Comedian. So there is a distinction, even though they're somewhat similar.

As far as what Nielsen said about himself, he's right. He's a deadpan actor. He says farcical things with a straight face, as if he's telling a simple story, yet we laugh at the absurdity of the story. That sort of puts him right on the line of Comic and Comedian, and simultaneously makes him both and neither.

Improve this answer
1
  • Thanks for your answer! To "...actually insightful, or is he just telling a joke here?" do you have any thoughts? – uhoh Mar 16 at 23:48

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .