The Banana Peel and the Fat Lady
Narendra Goidani
I will Help You Bring Out the Best in Your Teams and Business through Advising, Coaching, and Leadership Training | Board Member | Author | Speaker | Co-Founder |
Dear Friends,
The famous playwright Charles MacArthur had been brought to Hollywood to do a screenplay, but he was finding it difficult to write visual jokes.
“What’s the problem?” asked Charlie Chaplin.
“How, for example, could I make a fat lady, walking down Fifth Avenue, slip on a banana peel and still get a laugh? It’s been done a million times,” said MacArthur.
“What’s the best way to GET the laugh? Do I show first the banana peel, then the fat lady approaching, then she slips? Or do I show the fat lady first, then the banana peel, and THEN she slips?”
“Neither,” said Chaplin without a moment’s hesitation. “You show the fat lady approaching; then you show the banana peel; then you show the fat lady and the banana peel together; then she steps OVER the banana peel and disappears down a manhole.”
Now, that is incredible, isn’t it? When I read about this incident, it made me laugh for quite a few seconds. It also made me ask two questions to myself.
1) If I were in Charlie Chaplin’s place, what would I suggest to Charles MacArthur?
2) How do I introduce surprise and make people laugh?
While my mind could not think of any exciting answer to the first question, it did make me do a few creative things with friends and family.
Remember, people who can make others laugh, will always have abundant friends.
What would be your answer to the two questions my dear.
With love, prayers and exceptional wishes,
naren
Imagine, when we wake up, we are given only what we had thanked for.