The late American *comedian Andy Kaufman was a devotee of Transcendental Meditation.
(*He never referred to himself as a comedian. He called himself a “Song & Dance Man.”)
At a TM gathering on May 5, 1971, Andy questioned Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (the guy The Beatles were entranced with) about comedy.
According to the account in LOST IN THE FUNHOUSE: THE LIFE AND MIND OF ANDY KAUFMAN, Maharishi explained that what a comedian does is “akin to building two walls side by side and leaving a space in between. The mere presence of those two walls then creates a contrast based on an awareness of the space.”
Now, I don’t meditate. I have enough trouble concentrating on anything, much less on nothing.
When I came upon that message, I was prepared to scoff at whatever Maharishi offered as an explanation of comedy.
But doggone if that guy didn’t nail it.
The impact of the humor occurs in the spaces between the words.
One of comedy’s key elements is surprise.
In radio advertising, the question is not, “Can we surprise the audience?”
The question is, “Can we make the audience want to experience that radio commercial for the 20th or 30th time by making them anticipate the surprise each time?”
