Alan Alda: 'Through The Wisecracks'

Source:Venus- the great comedic actor and comedian Alan Alda, as U.S. Army Captain Benjamin Hawkeye Pierce, from CBS's MASH.

"M*A*S*H - Season 11 Episode 5 - WHO KNEW

Hawkeye gives a serious eulogy for new nurse Millie Carpenter, who we never see and no one really knows. She is killed overnight by a land mine after a date with him.

This episode is written by Elias Davis and David Pollock and is one of nine episodes directed by the late Harry Morgan (Col. Potter). I love how they replace the laugh track with the singing and chirping of birds.

PSALM 23

A Psalm of David.

THE LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever." 

From Venus 

"Alan Alda was the leader of the wise cracks, I think we can all agree on that.

Yet, from time to time, he would turn from "shallow cut up" to "deep personal reflection".  We often remember the quick one liners, so let's take a walk into the serious side of the Hawkeye character." 

From MASH Fans 

“They say with age come wisdom so therefore I don’t have wrinkles, I have wise cracks!!”

 

Source:Spice of Life- great quote about sarcasm.

From Spice of Life

MASH, is my favorite sitcom of all-time, because of the writing and Alan Alda is one my favorite comedic actors of all-time. But also because of the writing, they could find humor everywhere and it was humor that you hadn’t heard before. Which is my style of humor. They would see a situation, or somebody and right away spontaneously find the humor in it. Rather than borrowing a line from someone, or something else. 

A lot of the sitcoms and movies today, they find something that works like in a focus group and they repeat over and over, in show after show and movie after movie. So you wind up hearing the same lines on the street, because they heard those lines on some show, or movie they just saw. Rather than thinking for them self. Hollywood’s gotten lazy with its humor, so the people on the street have gotten lazy with there’s. That’s just not me, my humor is spontaneous, off the cuff, from my own brain, rather than someone else’s.

If you were to classify my sense of humor, I would tell it's Captain Benjamin Hawkeye Pierce. Not saying I'm as funny as either Hawkeye or Alan Alda (I'll let you decide for yourself) but that's my sense of humor. I see things and try to look for the funny side of them, even if they're really serious and even dangerous. Not to make fun of people or bad situations and try to make them seen less serious than they are, but to try to show people the funny side of a person or situation. And to let people know that it's not the end or the world can we or you can get through this. 

Not every situation deserves or should have a funny side, but without humor, I'm not sure life is worth living, because there's so much bullshit that we all have to live with and if we can't make fun of it, we might as well all check into mental institutions or look for the nearest bridge to jump off. 

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