Medium Awareness: Difference between revisions

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* In ''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]'', the prince of Swamp Castle is about to start a musical number, and the background music begins playing, but he is immediately interrupted by his father, who demands that there shall be no singing. This gag is repeated several times, until the king is unable to interrupt and the singing number actually begins, complete with [[Crowd Song|spontaneously forming supporting chorus]]. (As you can imagine, the prince's father has even ''more'' trouble stopping the singing in ''[[Spamalot]]'', the musical based on the movie.)

** Additionally the characters in ''Spamalot'' seem to be well aware that they are in a musical, most notably when the Lady of the Lake proceeds to bitch about her lack of involvement in Act 2 in the song "The Diva's Lament".

** Technically speaking, that's not the character 'The Lady of the Lake'. That song involves her talking about her agent, and the producers, and Tony Awards, and her career, and is named 'Diva's Lament (Whatever Happened To My Part)'. And she comes out in front of a closed curtain in her dressing gown, and has to growl at the orchestra to start. It pretty clearly is intended to be The Lady of the Lake's ~~_actress_~~ 'breaking character', not The Lady herself. (The Lady of the Lake is not a 'Diva' and does not have either a 'part' or a career on Broadway.) However, later, in a scene, The Lady say she's been 'offstage'.

** Technically speaking, that's not the character 'The Lady of the Lake'. That song involves her talking about her agent, and the producers, and Tony Awards, and her career, and is named 'Diva's Lament (Whatever Happened To My Part)'. And she comes out in front of a closed curtain in her dressing gown, and has to growl at the orchestra to start. It pretty clearly is intended to be The Lady of the Lake's ''actress'' 'breaking character', not The Lady herself. (The Lady of the Lake is not a 'Diva' and does not have either a 'part' or a career on Broadway.) However, later, in a scene, The Lady say she's been 'offstage'.

*** The awareness varies by the character according to [[Rule of Funny|what's funny]]. At one point the knights are tasked with putting on a musical, and the Lady finally [[The Reveal|reveals]] to Arthur that they're in one. He finally notices the audience, which becomes key to the plot's resolution.

*** And before that point they sing a song called [[This Is the Part Where|"The Song that Goes Like This"]], which is...about the song they are currently singing.