A few weeks ago on the Late Late Show, Craig Ferguson began inviting his guests to engage in an awkward pause with him. Awkward pauses have been somewhat de rigeur in popular culture for a number of years now. In fact, Ricky Gervais has pretty much built a career on them–and we have him to thank for such brilliant fare as The Office and even Modern Family.
But those sitcom awkward pauses were scripted, designed as responses to someone saying or doing something so bizarre that no response was even possible. Craig Ferguson, who says that being Scottish has given him a lifetime of awkward pauses, is doing something a little different. He asks his guests (most of whom are actors) to sit, silently, awkwardly with him. Never has silence been so funny.
I think the first person I saw do this with him was Adam Greenberg (a master at awkwardness). There have been many more since, including the awesome Lauren Graham, Topher Grace (another awkward man) and most recently John Cusack. With Cusack, nearly the entire interview was an awkward pause, and it was hilarious (see the clip below).
What is so entertaining about this is watching actors work with this simple stage direction and seeing how well (and how differently) they pull of this task. And of course, awkward is funny.
While you wouldn’t want every interview to be an awkward pause (I mean, we do actually want to hear what the guests have to say) ending on a pause (especially a lengthy one) has been really enjoyable.
Ferguson has been pushing the bounds of late night TV with a few different experiments (although he is the first to admit that nothing he is doing is new). A few weeks ago he closed his set to the audience and had a simple one to one conversation with actor/writer/all around awesome guy Stephen Fry. It was a sedate evening of TV, but it was also very refreshing. The two know each other and their repartee was great. They discussed all manner of things from Fry’s new book (which I can’t wait to read) to Fry’s Twitter account (and how he is perceived as a Luddite, even though he rushes out to embrace new technology–he and Douglas Adams owned the first Macs in England), to addiction and homosexuality. It was riveting. I wouldn’t want him to do that all the time either (no ass mode on that episode), but it was a great experiment.
Thanks Craig.
[…] views! posted March 28, 2010 Awkward pauses [Ass Möde] NO […]
I thought he was referring to how we sit on our asses while tweeting.
That is correct! 10 points for the Dabney team!
[…] Awkward Pauses [Ass Möde] March 2010 3 comments 4 […]
[…] Awkward pauses have become a regular feature on Craig Ferguson’s late night show. […]
[…] Awkward Pauses [Ass Möde] […]