Once George starts trying to guess the price of the jacket, Jerry remains silent, almost fading into the background as George gets louder and crazier. At all times, though, everything he did or didn’t do was in service of his co-stars, and the show as a whole.įor example, watch this scene from the season two episode “The Jacket”… Oftentimes, Jerry would just watch with a big smile on his face, delighting in his friends’ tomfoolery along with the audience. Jerry allowed them to take the spotlight as they schemed, connived, ranted or just stumbled all over the place, getting the more traditional laughs while the ostensible star of the show simply observed, waiting until the act was over to make a sarcastic comment, if he even commented at all. His humor was much different from that of silly Kramer, angry George or vindictive Elaine. On the revolutionary sitcom that bore his name, Jerry Seinfeld, while very funny, was the voice of reason (more or less) in the quartet of oddballs at the center of the show. The very best example of the straight man, though, and someone who I think rivals Bud Abbott as the best of all time, is Jerry Seinfeld. In more recent times – particularly on television – the straight man has often been poorly executed, resulting in watered-down set pieces and ruined jokes.
Bud Abbott is probably the most famous straight man in history, and he was a genius of the art form, managing not only to set up Lou Costello’s wacky antics but to be funny in his own right without stepping over his legendary partner.
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This is true, at least, at the best of times when performed improperly, the straight man can suck the life out of a joke or series of jokes and ruin what could have been a hilarious moment. The straight man is the unsung hero of comedy, the guy who forgoes getting the best laughs in order to set up his co-stars for the show-stopping gags, elevating the scene or sketch while seeming to be background noise.
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