Meta-dramatic Irony and Patrick Stewart

In our discussion today on child actors and the ways in which they change our view of Handke's Offending the Audience, one of the key issues is the child as a meta-dramatic statement. Having children insult the audience and perform a manifesto aimed at adult theatre-goers creates an ironic distance between the child player and the character they are playing. This often results in comedy.

In that context, I think it is interesting to consider these two clips. A similar kind of meta-dramatic irony is operating here, and the result is comedic, but instead of a child, the subject is a celebrity.

Our perception of irony and a double awareness of the illusion and reality of theatre is heightened in the Handke clip because of our assumptions about the nature of children. How is that perception altered when the illusion/reality awareness revolves around a celebrity instead? Also, these clips are pretty funny.

Youtube- Life's Too Short

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