As I’ve been doing all month long, I’m passing a stand up set I really like and discussing why I like it so much. Today’s set is a great 2016 performance by Marina Franklin. Here’s some ways she gets me laughing:
• FACIAL EXPRESSIONS. Whether she’s looking for a man, being an angry suitor, or a giving us an “FYIIII,” Marina makes big choices with her face to indicate her mood. I laugh at the jokes Marina tells, but the faces she makes during and after are silent punchlines that further enhance the funny.
• DISARMING. There’s a reason why when someone gets us to laugh, we say they “crack us up.” I have a hard exterior that has to be “cracked” before I’ll laugh, and that’s why in the sets I like, the comedian always finds ways to endear himself or herself to the audience. Marina’s set makes edgy points (e.g., she’s a feminist who cares about her man’s pay, a bad economy hurts minorities disproportionately, and cops don’t protect black people the same way), but she gets away with it. She wins me over by first talking about her relationship troubles. Once I feel like I can relate to her, then she delivers some of her most biting material. By that point, I’m already on her side, and the smiles she consistently reveals after her satirical jabs keep making me feel like I’m in on the jokes.
• VOICES. In this set, Marina turns her ability to do different voices into big laughs. Not only do her voices make the scenes she’s portraying more vibrant and entertaining to me, she also cleverly uses Juxtaposition, placing her angry black man voice right before her naive white girl voice. The result is some of the biggest laughs in the set. In addition, by using voices, she’s able to sneak satire into the very words the characters speak. So while I’m laughing at the voice, I’m also cleverly consuming Marina’s points.
Hope you enjoyed it. Full link in comments. For more Marina, check out her podcast Friends Like Us and follow her on Instagram: @marinayfranklin