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Deadpan is a form of comedic delivery in which something humorous is said or done by a person, while not exhibiting a change in emotion or facial expression.
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Origin
The term "deadpan" first emerged as an adjective or adverb in the 1920s, as a compound word combining "dead" and "pan" (a slang term for "the face"). It was first recorded as a noun in Vanity Fair in 1927; a dead pan was thus 'a face or facial expression displaying no emotion, animation, or humor'. Finally, the verb deadpan 'to speak, act, or utter in a deadpan manner; to maintain a dead pan' arose by the early 1940s, apparently as a journalistic coinage rather than a theatrical one. It must be noted that today its use is especially common in humour from the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
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Television
Conan O'Brien frequently makes use of deadpan humour, often performing an skit on his television show called "Small Talk Moment", in which he and band leader Max Weinberg exchange small talk about some random subject before Max says "This topic sure is interesting," and Conan replies with "It sure is, Max" at which point the camera switches between the two of them staring at each other in a deadpan manner.
Jack Benny and Johnny Carson were famous for their "takes," blank stares toward the camera in response (or nonresponse) to something funny that had just happened.
The characters in Fawlty Towers, in particular Basil Fawlty, say outrageously funny things completely seriously.
The members of Monty Python were known for their sincere performances of utter lunacy, and ability to stay calm in absurd settings.
Pat Paulsen spoke in a blank monotone with heavy eyelids, usually opening with, "Good evening, I'm really excited to be here."
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Film
Buster Keaton, known as the "Great Stone Face", became famous for never cracking a smile in any of his films. Strictly speaking, his was not a deadpan approach, since his face was actually very expressive. He subtly portrayed bemusement, anger, fear, and other emotions, but never smiled in a single one of his classic silents. In Go West, a cowboy forces him to smile, which he does by using his fingers to pull up the sides of his mouth. The result is a ghastly parody of a smile. Keaton also mugged, cried, laughed, and otherwise carried on in several of his earliest silent two-reelers with Fatty Arbuckle. His first smile in sound movie occurred in San Diego, I Love You (1944).
Ben Stein, a university professor in real life, found a new career as a comedy actor by exploiting the stereotype of the dull academic, often acting as a straight man.
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Stand-up comedians
Steven Wright is an American stand-up comedian whose act is filled with deadpan.
Mitch Hedberg was an American stand-up comedian known for his odd subject matter, stylistic elocution, deadpan delivery, and memorable routines that often consisted of a string of one-line non sequiturs.
Jackie Vernon caricatured the typically boring slide-projector presentation of vacation photos.
Dave Hughes, a well known Australian stand-up comedian.
Jimmy Carr, an English comedian known for his dry, sarcastic humour
Jack Dee, British Comedian who is known for his deadpan humour
Jonathan Katz, an American comedian, actor, and voice actor, is known for his deadpan, dry humor.
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Other
Mark Twain is as saying: "The humorous story is told gravely; the teller does his best to conceal the fact that he even dimly suspects that there is anything funny about it."
Gordon Strachan, the manager of the Celtic Football Club is known for his deadpan comedy in interviews.
Jack Mangan, a Podcaster and writer based in Arizona. He is the producer and host of Jack Mangan's Deadpan, which features his original deadpan comedy segments along with listener contributed elements.
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See also
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