Thursday, December 15, 2011

Cartoon Network Series Carries On Old Comedy Traditions


Classic comedy routines have turned up a number of times on the Cartoon Network series Adventure Time. Three routines made their way into the latest episode, "Marceline's Closet."

Finn and Jake get bored waiting for their friend Marceline to get home and seek to break the monotony by playing Cloud Hunt (a variation of Hide-and-Seek). Jake hides inside Marceline's house despite the fact that he is not supposed to go into the house while Marceline is away. Finn sees Jake through the window, but Jake pretends to be Finn's reflection. This results in a variation of the famous mirror routine.


Finn goes into the house to get Jake, but Marceline arrives home suddenly and the pair rush into her closet to hide.  When Marceline opens the closet to investigate a noise, Jake crouches down and hides his face to avoid being noticed while Finn tries to squeeze himself inside a boot. 

 
Later, the two of them hide inside a coat.


Harold  Lloyd tried a lot of these same tricks to elude police in Bumping Into Broadway (1919).  At one point, Lloyd even disguised himself as a table. 


Finn never got around to the table gag, but he did try to disguise himself as a lamp by putting a lampshade on his head. 


Charlie Chaplin used the same trick to great effect in The Adventurer (1917).

 

These routines, which were used in various forms by a several different comedians, are discussed at length in two chapters of The Funny Parts - "How to Disguise Yourself as Furniture and Fool Your Friends" and "Into the Looking Glass."


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