Andy Samberg And Camp Humour
There's something innately campy about the humour of Andy
Samberg's SNL-saving digital shorts and his humour in general.
It's the sort of awkward, weird, nerdy white-guy shtick that
only gets funnier as the awkwardness level increases. At camp,
my friend Jeff and I recalled a very strange girl that we once
met at a youth retreat who went to a hip, trendy Ottawa
megachurch called the Met. When Jeff asked the girl (who
seemed to be very scattered - looking at people over her glasses
and not making eye contact) if she liked the programs that
the Met had to offer, the girl replied (after a long pause)
"...yeahhh - The Met rulessss!" and went back to eating.
The whole moment wreaked of this shoulder shrugging, head-
shake that makes the viewer say '...What?' with an overall
sense of dumbfoundedness. (For years afterward, in any odd
situation, Jeff would often stare blankly at people and say
'The Met rulessss' and then leave.)
This is the sort of humour Samberg relies on - heavy tones of
awkwardness that makes your skin itch and your eyes roll.
I have to admit that I love that style - and I'm glad for
Samberg's success. I am. His Digital Short entitled 'I Threw
It On The Ground' is one of the funniest/weirdest sketches
I have ever seen. If you've never seen 'Hot Rod' and you're
hot and heavy for that style of comic delivery, I highly
recommend it. Bring your silly hat.
The downside is (much like camp, itself), this humour can
only last for so long before it gets old. It has be kept fresh,
worked at and experimented with constantly.
You go, Samberg. You are an amalgam of many bunkmates
from many summers spent at a camp.
