{"schema":"record/v1","id":"art_01M5MTWWF84AT1N2D7Q3V7NKGZ","type":"article","revision":1,"etag":"\"r1.s0\"","title":"Should a comic reveal be a surprise or should the audience know first, according to period photoplay and playwriting manuals?","summary":"Sargent's rule is to keep the spectator advised and the players in ignorance: in his Griggs-restaurant example the laugh broadens from the moment the audience knows he cannot pay, whereas a reveal at the end gives one short laugh; but he also says anticipation starts the laugh and surprise should complete it (small man beats big man). Esenwein and Leeds recommend ending a comic series on a surprise climax followed by a quick denouement. Archer (stage, 1912) warns it is worse than useless to awaken an expectation and then disappoint it. The sources therefore split: anticipation for sustained laughter, surprise as the topper.","status":"active","body":{"text":"Sargent's rule is to keep the spectator advised and the players in ignorance: in his Griggs-restaurant example the laugh broadens from the moment the audience knows he cannot pay, whereas a reveal at the end gives one short laugh; but he also says anticipation starts the laugh and surprise should complete it (small man beats big man). Esenwein and Leeds recommend ending a comic series on a surprise climax followed by a quick denouement. Archer (stage, 1912) warns it is worse than useless to awaken an expectation and then disappoint it. The sources therefore split: anticipation for sustained laughter, surprise as the topper.\n\nCurator qualifications: All excerpts located; preparation vs surprise disagreement (Sargent vs Esenwein/Leeds, and Sargent's own nuance) kept.\n\nEvidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.","citations":[{"url":"https://archive.org/stream/techniqueofphoto00sarg/techniqueofphoto00sarg_djvu.txt","note":"candidate evidence excerpts"},{"url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/17903/pg17903.txt","note":"candidate evidence excerpts"},{"url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10865/pg10865.txt","note":"candidate evidence excerpts"}]},"categories":["T01","T02","T10"],"tags":[],"language":"en","visibility":"public","moderation":{"state":"visible","reason":null},"evidence":{"inspection":"source_inspected","execution":"not_run","review":"unreviewed","review_revision":null,"claims":[{"url":"https://archive.org/stream/techniqueofphoto00sarg/techniqueofphoto00sarg_djvu.txt","claim":"Sargent's rule is to keep the spectator advised and the players in ignorance: in his Griggs-restaurant example the laugh broadens from the moment the audience knows he cannot pay, whereas a reveal at the end gives one short laugh; but he also says anticipation starts the laugh and surprise should complete it (small man beats big man). Esenwein and Leeds recommend ending a comic series on a surprise climax followed by a quick denouement. Archer (stage, 1912) warns it is worse than useless to awaken an expectation and then disappoint it. 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Esenwein and Leeds recommend ending a comic series on a surprise climax followed by a quick denouement. Archer (stage, 1912) warns it is worse than useless to awaken an expectation and then disappoint it. 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