Straight man (stock character)
The straight man is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When their comedy partner behaves eccentrically, the straight man's response ranges from aplomb to outrage, or from patience to frustration. They make their partner look all the more ridiculous by being completely serious.
In Vaudeville, the straight man's name usually appeared first and he usually received 60% of the take. This helped take the sting out of not being the laugh-getter and helped ensure the straight man's loyalty to the team.[1] The role is still found today in sitcoms. In the manzai comedy of Japan, the straight man is called tsukkomi.
Examples
- Dean Martin of Martin and Lewis
- Martin Crane of Frasier
- Gromit of Wallace and Gromit
- Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper in Two and a Half Men
- Cheryl Hines as Cheryl David in Curb Your Enthusiasm
- Oliver Hardy of Laurel and Hardy
- Bud Abbott of Abbott and Costello
- Shinpachi Shimura in Gintama
- George Burns of Burns and Allen
- Andy Griffith (as Sheriff Andy Taylor) of The Andy Griffith Show
- Julian of Trailer Park Boys
- Zeppo Marx of the Marx Brothers
- Sadie Marks (as Mary Livingstone) on The Jack Benny Program
- Andy Lee of Hamish and Andy
- Dick Smothers of The Smothers Brothers
- Stewart Lee of Lee and Herring
- Ernie Wise of Morecambe and Wise
- Marco Diaz of Star vs. the Forces of Evil
- Mary Tyler Moore (as Mary Richards) in The Mary Tyler Moore Show [2]
- Bob Newhart (as Dr. Robert Hartley) in The Bob Newhart Show
- Richard Deacon (as Mel Cooley) in The Dick Van Dyke Show
- Jerry Seinfeld in Seinfeld
- Mike Grady as Ken Mills in Citizen Smith
- Dermot Morgan as Father Ted Crilly in Father Ted
- Roger Barkley of Lohman and Barkely
- Jason Bateman (as Michael Bluth) in Arrested Development [3]
- Martin Freeman (as Tim Canterbury) in The Office (UK TV series)
- John Krasinski (as Jim Halpert) in The Office (U.S. TV series)
- Bob Balaban in Waiting for Guffman
- Johnny Galecki (as Leonard Hofstadter) and Kaley Cuoco (as Penny) in The Big Bang Theory
- Josh Radnor (as Ted Mosby) in How I Met Your Mother
- Mickey Mouse in eponymous film and television series
- Rodney Trotter and Herman Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce in Only Fools and Horses
- Kermit the Frog and Rowlf the Dog in The Muppet Show
- Porky Pig in Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies
- James May in Top Gear
- Mike Judge as Hank Hill in King of the Hill
- Joel McHale (as Jeff Winger) in Community
- Both Rashida Jones (as Ann Perkins) and Adam Scott (as Ben Wyatt) in Parks and Recreation
- Mark Duplass (as Pete Eckhart) in The League[4]
- Scott Adsit (as Pete Hornberger) in 30 Rock
- Clive Swift (as Richard Bucket) in Keeping Up Appearances
- Ron Landry of Hudson & Landry
- Hannibal Buress of The Eric Andre Show
- Andre Braugher as Captain Ray Holt in Brooklyn Nine-Nine
- Tetsu Kikuchi of The Pete Show
- Simon Bird (as Will McKenzie) in The Inbetweeners
- Bert and Prairie Dawn of Sesame Street
- Gary Sandy (as Andy Travis) in WKRP in Cincinnati
- Chester Lauck (as Lum Edwards) in Lum and Abner
- Audrey Meadows (as Alice Kramden) in The Honeymooners
- Patricia Heaton (as Debra Barone) in Everybody Loves Raymond
- Rito Yuuki of To Love-Ru
- Cornfed of Duckman
- Doraemon in Doraemon
- Belldandy and Keiichi Morisato in Oh My Goddess!
- Dan Rowan of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
- David Mitchell as Mark Corrigan in Peep Show
- Alex Karpovsky as Raymond "Ray" Ploshansky in Girls
- Brian Griffin of Family Guy
- Squidward Tentacles of Spongebob Squarepants
- Stan Marsh and Kyle Broflovski of South Park
- Frylock of Aqua Teen Hunger Force
- Diane Nguyen of BoJack Horseman
- Kurogane of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
- Gaby Dunn of Just Between Us
- Steve Blackman of the World Wrestling Federation
See also
References
- ↑ Nachman, Gerald (1998). Raised on Radio, p. 36. Pantheon Books, New York. ISBN 037540287X.
- ↑ "TV: 10 All-Time Greatest". Entertainment Weekly.
- ↑ "Arrested Development Review". Entertainment Weekly.
- ↑ Hanno, Alex. "Four seasons in, ‘The League’ still scores big". TD Review.
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