Internet Scams/Audience Scams

All of the attention on what makes something "funny" has me viewing my usual leisure activites with a more critical eye. On Sunday nights, HBO often has a great line up, and, for the last two weeks, part of the schedule includes Flight of the Conchords--a comedy that weaves the lives of two struggling musicians fom New Zealand (now living in New York) with samples of their music.

Last night's episode involves the duo's lack of finances; in order to pay bills, one sells his guitar. The band manager, often falling for scams, tells the pair not to worry: he has received an email from a kind Nigerian offering to take his money, invest it, and share the profits. (I think we've all had emails like this, and there are numerous articles/warnings/Dateline specials reminding internet users to consider these "spam.") The band, echoing what most audience members also likely think, says it's a scam.

Without relying too heavily on plot summary, I'll get to the point. I realized, after considering what we discussed in class about superiority and Davis's ideas on incongruity, that the "funny" aspect of the manager's internet escapade is twofold: 1) The common theme of someone getting duped by an internet scam makes the audience feel superior. I, while watching, thought, "Ha, I would NEVER do that." 2) The even funnier aspect, however, exists in the results of the internet investment: a few scenes later, the internet investor arrives at the manager's office, and his money (at least temporarily) saves the group financially. Here, the creators/actors of Flight of the Conchords are able to invert expected elements of laughter and superiority, and the audience feels (or at least I felt) duped instead!

For more on Flight of the Conchords: http://www.hbo.com/conchords/episode/index.html