Visual humor from the silent-era cinema, like other forms of humor (stand-up, sitcom, etc.), is hard to dissect because of the adage that explaining a joke ruins the joke. Like a metaphor that defines something through an oblique comparison to something else, comedy functions in this angled alignment. Therefore, in looking at what makes Buster Keaton's visual humor unique compared to his contemporaries like Chaplin and Lloyd, it’s necessary to discuss Keaton's deadpan reactions that earned him nicknames like the 'Great Stone Face'.
Buster Keaton's Comic Brilliance
Buster Keaton's Comic Brilliance
Buster Keaton's Comic Brilliance
Visual humor from the silent-era cinema, like other forms of humor (stand-up, sitcom, etc.), is hard to dissect because of the adage that explaining a joke ruins the joke. Like a metaphor that defines something through an oblique comparison to something else, comedy functions in this angled alignment. Therefore, in looking at what makes Buster Keaton's visual humor unique compared to his contemporaries like Chaplin and Lloyd, it’s necessary to discuss Keaton's deadpan reactions that earned him nicknames like the 'Great Stone Face'.