Switcheroo
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- This article is about the comedic device. For the Price Is Right game, see Switcheroo (pricing game).
A switcheroo is a sudden unexpected variation or reversal[1] often associated with a joke (sometimes "the old switcheroo").[2]
As a comedic device, this was a favorite of Woody Allen; for a time, he used so many switcheroos that friends referred to him as "Allen Woody."[2] Some of Allen's switcheroo gags were:
- Carrying a sword on the street, in case of an attack it turned into a cane, so people would feel sorry for him
- Carrying a bullet in his breast pocket; he claimed someone once threw a Bible at him and the bullet saved his life.
Another example comes from the film The Aristocrats, wherein Wendy Liebman pulls the old switcheroo. Whereas the joke normally is narrated as a vulgar series of actions followed by the clean punch line, Liebman narrates a very aristocratic series of actions followed by a very vulgar punch line.[3][4]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ (1992) The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, p. 1816. ISBN 0-395-44895-6.
- ^ a b Kanfer, Vedi S. (Jul. 03, 1972). "Woody Allen: Rabbit Running". Time Magazine: p. 25.
- ^ Provenza, Paul (2005). The Aristocrats. Mighty Cheese Productions. IMDB tt0436078.
- ^ Video of Wendy Liebman's "Aristocrats" contribution.
