I was particularly interested in Tom Gunning’s description and formative outline of the mischief gag, and I believe this formula appears in many modern comedy films today. Gunning says that although the gag is hard to define, there is a “clearly structured comic action” to it. First, the mischief gag outlines an action into two clear and distinctly defined phases: the preparatory phase, in which the device is set up, and the comic result phase, in which the resulting effect of the device occurs. Additionally, there are the necessary roles of the “rascal” who sets up the device in the first phase, and the “victim” who suffers the consequences of the device in the latter phase. The third is the mediating device, that ties the whole gag together.
A modern-day example that closely resembles the mischief gag is the show Impractical Jokers, which features four adult men who compete in challenges. In each episode, there is one ‘biggest loser’ who must endure a punishment dueled out by the other three. Already we see a resemblance between the necessary roles of “victim” and “biggest loser”, delineating the “rascal” as the three other men. In one particular punishment, the biggest loser is Q, and his punishment is to walk out in the middle of a busy baseball field and just say “No” to anything. Little does he nor the audience (both in the stands at that time and those watching the recorded episode) know that he is about to get publicly proposed to. It is clear that the mediating device used in this is the unexpected proposal and the #1 rule being he must only say “no”. The reveal of this device creates a clear distinction between the scene before the proposal, where they set up the punishment while giving little information about the impending disaster (preparatory phase), and after the proposal, where the consequences are displayed (comic result phase). It is evident that Impractical Jokers uses the same formula to create countless moments of comedy at the expense of their embarrassment, and that this formula is incredible similar to the earliest gags in film history.
I think using the example of impractical jokers is a very interesting way of showing how the mischief gag can translate into modern-day TV! I find it particularly interesting that this is able to be translated into a reality TV model. While I know that the pranks are technically set up, and the shows are written out beforehand, the pedestrian’s reactions to what the victim is doing are very important to the success of the gag and the show. So the fact that this formula is able to be used in this medium is very intriguing to me.
Impractical Jokers is a great modern day example of media featuring the mischief gag. I think that each of the pranks throughout the show, not just the final punishment, could be argued to be mischief gags as they follow the format of the preparatory phase (the other jokers telling the joker wearing an earpiece what to say or do) and the comic result (the joker wearing the earpiece following instructions and embarrassing himself).