Debbie Downer

For her blog post, McKenna analyzed a skit from SNL, Debbie Downer: Disney World. This clip is very incongruous. As McKenna pointed out, you would expect everyone to be overjoyed to be at "the happiest place on earth." However Debbie Downer ironically continued to ruin the spirit with her negativity and pessimism. 

For me, the actual dialogue of this clip was not that funny. What had me laughing was the six actors barely being able to hold in their laughter. Even the actress playing Debbie Downer had to turn to the side or put her hand over her face at times. It is always interesting to see what can go wrong when these are filmed in one take, and as McKenna said, it is for the better. But why is that?

Regardless of the joke, the scene was supposed to be played out as if it were a real family enjoying their meal at Disney World. When the actors break character, it is incongruous because they are supposed to be put out by her comments, and it is unexpected because it is very rare to watch a show and see someone break character. Therefore the audience perceives it as funny. It is arguably the funniest thing about the skit because you began to expect Debbie to talk like a Downer, but you do not at all expect the actors to be unable to contain their laughter. 

Benign-violation may also play a role in the humor of breaking character. It is a violation of their job as an actor to break character and act in a way that does not follow the script. It becomes benign because you know that this sometimes happens on the show and everyone onscreen seems to be enjoying themselves and not yelling cut. Something similar can be seen in blooper reels on the "special features" portion of a dvd.