Straight Man and Wise Guy: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Oftentimes, this will involve one bringing up a topic of discussion, only to have the other interrupt, correct, or otherwise play foil to him. Traditionally the Straight Man brings up a serious topic and the Wise Guy riffs on it, but sometimes the Wise Guy brings up a loony topic, the Straight Man objects to its lunacy, and the Wise Guy riffs on ''that''. The point is for the Straight Man to "set up" a situation which the Wise Guy can joke about.

 

* [[Abbott and Costello]], the classic American comedic duo played off of this almost exclusively.

* In ''[[Family Guy]]'', it's Brian and Stewie. Also happens with Brian and Peter, but not as often.

* [[George Burns]] and Gracie Allen used a variant: Straight Man And The Ditz.

* Rowan and Martin also used this in a straightforward way. Dan Rowan was the straight man; Dick Martin, the Wise Guy.

* In the [[Marx Brothers]] movies, Groucho was always the Wise Guy; whoever he was talking to (except for Chico) would be his Straight Man (or in Margaret Dumont's case, Straight Woman).

* [[Kevin Smith]]'s [[Those Two Guys|Jay and Silent Bob]].

* [[Blue Beetle]] and [[Booster Gold]], although that's really more of a "wise guy and wise guy" duo.

* [[Kenan and Kel]]

* Morecambe (Wise guy) and Wise (Straight man)

* Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet in Belgian series ''Dag Sinterklaasje''

** [[Servile Snarker|Except Alfred]], who serves as a more snarky version of the wise guy to Master Bruce and is quite possibly one of the only level heads in Gotham.

* Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner, especially in their legendary "2,000 year old man" routine, which involved a news reporter (Reiner, the straight man) interviewing a Jewish fellow who happened to be 2,000 years old (Brooks, the wise guy.) This routine was actually created on the fly; the two spontaneously came up with it at a party.

* On ''[[The Muppet Show]]'', [[Statler and Waldorf]] unintentionally play the Wise Guy to Fozzie's Straight Man. It's the only reason that Fozzie's act is funny.

** And Kermit was the [[Straight Man]] to the rest of the cast's general zaniness, although he was often the [[Deadpan Snarker]] too.

* ''MASH'', which had one wise guy (mostly Alan Alda) for every straight-man (or woman).

* Of course [[Perfect Strangers|Balki and Larry]] deserve to be listed here, [[Catch Phrase|don't be ridiculous]].

* Shawn and Gus! Or Shawn and Juliet. Or Shawn and Lasseter. Or Shawn and his dad. Or Shawn and pretty much any other character on [[Psych]].

* Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic on ESPN Radio's ''Mike & Mike in the Morning'' show.

* [[Pinky and The Brain]], with Pinky as the Wise Guy and The Brain as the Straight Man.

* Walter is the Costello to Tiren's Abbott in [[Dubious Company]]. Also occasionally, Mary and Leeroy are the wise guys to Sue and Sal respectively.

** Though, strictly speaking, he's not a [[Bi the Way|straight]] [[Incredibly Lame Pun|man]].

* ''Everyone'' and everyone else at various points in ''[[Dragon Age]]: Origins''. That the entire cast is composed of [[Deadpan Snarker|sarcastic people]] doesn't help. [[Player Character|The Warden]] and [[Deadpan Snarker|Alistair]] is probably the most notable example.

* KyleJCrb is the [[Straight Man]] to Liontamer's Wise Guy on the video game music podcast [[Nitro Game Injection]].

* In ''[[Tiger and Bunny]]'', Barnaby serves as the [[Straight Man]] to Kotetsu's Wise Guy.

* Andy Griffith and Don Knotts were like this in [[The Andy Griffith Show]]. Andy's Andy Taylor was the straight man and Knotts' Barney was the wise guy. Although it was originally to be the other way around.

* [[Wallace and Gromit]], notable in that the Straight Man (Gromit) is completely mute and only expresses himself through pantomime. Their exchanges are usually along the lines of:

'''Gromit:''' ''([[Silent Snarker|rolls eyes]])'' }}

'''Bart:''' Yeah, except their dad wasn't waiting in the car reading Archie comics. }}

 

[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]

[[Category:Duo Tropes]]