'Kid Interrupts Dad' Is A Masterclass In Comedy Structure

Videos on the internet cannot get funnier than when Professor Robert Kelly's children interrupted his BBC interview on the important topic of North Korea. I love everything about this video and now I'm about to tell you with my insider knowledge as a playwright why you should too.

All writing is about structure. And that's at the heart of storytelling.

If you haven't watched the video, it's here. And to be honest even if you have, you should watch it again.

Starting Point - Exposition and Set-Up

One of the easiest ways to make an audience laugh is to take someone who is a high-status character and put them into a situation where their status is brought into question. Many comedies have examples of this type of inversion, Fawlty Towers and Dad's Army being the first few examples that spring to mind, Big Bang Theory does it quite well.

Look at this high-status person they say… then watch as we immerse them in a world where their skillset won't work.

Professor Kelly was giving an interview about South Korean elections. He's not an old hand at the BBC, but he's competent and he's ready for action. He's a high-status person operating in a serious environment.

Then his daughter enters like an absolute boss. Suddenly we have turned the world upside down.

Act One- Inciting Incident

Introducing an element of chaos into an otherwise normal situation is an excellent comedic device. The secondary 'couldn't give a shit' character is ideal for puncturing the bombastic nature of your 'straight man' protagonist. The more clueless and childlike your secondary character is, the greater the discord between your two characters will be.

Humour comes from the conflict between what the two characters are trying to achieve. This girl is Manuel from Fawlty Towers, she's Rhys Ifans in Notting Hill, she's Corporal Jones in Dad's Army.

A gentle tap to the face and a casual push into the background doesn't interrupt her flow at all. She's got her own agenda and she's sticking to it.

What we need now is a stake raise. Cue the baby.

Act Two - Rising Action

If this video was simply a girl interrupting her father and being gently rebuffed, it wouldn't follow the five-act structure. It wouldn't be a complete story worth telling. Had he just picked her up and plopped her on his lap, it would've been heartwarming but it wouldn't have been comedy.

In order for this comedy to escalate into hilarity, we have to keep adding complexities and compounding trouble for our protagonist.

Now our lead character has lost control of the situation completely but he's attempting to carry on regardless. That's further raising the comedic tension. We know how it ends, but at the time… nobody was sure what would happen next.

Three things happen almost simultaneously. The baby enters and cannot navigate properly, the daughter knocks a book off the table and we hear the sound of off-screen horror. These are all perfectly timed.

Must be time for a hilarious climax.

Act Three - The Climax

Ultimately, the climax of a narrative must resolve the question posed by the inciting incident. In this case, the inciting incident was the arrival of the daughter and what is going to happen. The climax is therefore the arrival of Professor Kelly's wife.

Character number four.

Although she is the answer to the problem presented in Act One, she continues to add to the woes of the protagonist. She attempts to do what he cannot in the current circumstances.

Her skidding in at half the speed of light is a work of art. Not only does she up the tempo of the scene she also makes things difficult for herself as she lets the door swing closed behind her.

Now we're into the falling action.

Act Four - The Falling Action

This is the direct result of the climactic moment - and in this instance, it doesn't disappoint. Both children are hoovered up with ruthless efficiency whilst the professor stares helplessly at the Universe.

Bundling two children out of the room isn't an easy task and she does an incredible job - and it's here where the comedy takes on a life of its own - as the hapless trio bump and jostle their way to the exit.

For those of you who wonder why this is so psychologically satisfying, you're getting a mirror image of the rising action. The pomp and circumstance of the daughter's entrance is all gone - the bump and thump of the baby's walker is still evident.

And of course, there are complexities. There's no order to it, this is a hasty retreat. That door has swung closed, she doesn't have enough hands.

The falling action ends when the trio reach the door.

Act Five - The Resolution

The question has been resolved but there's still more comedy to play out, almost all of it physical. The baby is bumped out whilst the daughter is slid out across the floor in a masterful piece of physical comedy.

What really pushed this into masterpiece was the coda. Once everyone is out of view - theoretically the drama is over. There is a perfect half-second pause and then Mum leans back in to close the door.

This is perfect. It begs the audience to deny reality itself and pretend it didn't happen. Normal order is restored with the closing of the door. We revert back to the serious interview and hope for the best.

At its heart, comedy is a carnival. A breaking of the mundane and serious with triviality and chaos. There is a structure to it - and this moment, captured forever on camera and then shared around the world is the best example in the modern age.

At least since 'Charlie bit my finger' - which, by the way, has exactly the same set up, escalation and resolution structure.