From a lecture at University of Calgary in Performance in Film and Videogames.

1. COMEDY and a Full Arch of Experience

2. The Comic Character
• His/her desire against forces of antagonism is
marked by a blind obsession.
• Crackling wits such as Moliere, Shakespeare,
Wilde, Chaplin assigned characters a
“humour” – fixations that the protagonists do
not see.

3. Jeff Bridges as The Dude
The Big Lebowski 1998
Cohen Brothers, Writer/Directors)
Genre: COMEDY
Dude Lebowski, mistaken for a
millionaire Lebowski, seeks
restitution for his ruined rug and
enlists his bowling buddies to help
get it back.” (From IMDB)
Costars: John Goodman, Julianne
Moore, Steve Buscemi, Philip
Seymore Hoffman, John Turturro.

4. WATCH FOR:
• Does the Dude make a full character arch? Does he become
changed/more powerful after a hero’s journey?
• Does Dude have an interesting and complex subtext?
• Can we analyze Dude as he pursues desire against forces of
antagonism? Does he have a blind obsession?
• Does “Electronic Encoding” ie camera, lights, sound,
enhance the performance.
• Do the writers leave room for/love the character?
• Can we detect improv? How about blind obsessions?
NO
NO
YES
MAYBE
YES
Y Y
YES

5. John Cleese as Archie Leach
A Fish Called Wanda, 1998
Cleese/Crichton, Writer/Directors)
Genre: COMEDY
“A comedy about Sex, Murder, and
Seafood.” Characters team up to
commit armed robbery, then try to
doublecross each other for the loot.”
Ensemble: John Cleese, Jamie Lee
Curtis, Michael Palin, Kevin Kline

6. WATCH FOR:
• Does Archie make a full character arch? Does he
change/become more powerful after a hero’s journey?
How/When?
• Does Archie have an interesting and complex backstory?
• Can we analyze Archie as he pursues desire against forces of
antagonism? What is his blind obsession? Other characters?
• Do the writers leave room for/love the character?
• Can we detect improv? Electronic encoding?
• See signs as per the Pressure Cooker of Cultural Codes?