They Talk Funny: Word Play and Comedy Multiple Choice Quiz | Celebrities

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In 1968, Johnny Carson, host of "The Tonight Show", and actor Jack Webb performed a comedy sketch using alliteration. "The Copper Clapper Caper" also spoofed a usually serious television show that Webb starred in from 1951-1959 and from 1967-1970. What was the name of that show?

Answer: Dragnet

Jack Webb created, produced, and starred in "Dragnet". The police crime drama began as a radio show in 1949 before becoming a TV show. Webb starred as the always serious Sergeant Joe Friday. Webb performed the "Copper Clapper Caper" in character as Joe Friday. That contrast, along with the word play used by Carson and Webb, made the sketch one that continues to be enjoyed today.

2. A "malapropism" is an incorrect use of a word in place of a similar-sounding word. Which famous playwright uses two malapropisms in the quote, "Our watch, sir, have indeed comprehended two auspicious persons"?

Answer: William Shakespeare

"Malapropism" is derived from the French word "malapropos," meaning "being improper or inappropriate." The word comes from a character named Mrs. Malaprop. She appears in the 1775 play, "The Rivals", written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Mrs. Malaprop was a humorous character who often used incorrect words in her dialogue. This form of word play is often used for comedic effect.

Shakespeare humorously uses this technique in the above quote that appears in the play, "Much Ado About Nothing". However, sometimes it is used mistakenly. For example, after losing a boxing match, Mike Tyson reportedly said, "I might just fade into Bolivian." In the correct answer the two malapropisms were "comprehended", which should have been "apprehended", and "auspicious", which should have been "suspicious".

3. Consonance is a literary device that repeats a consonant sound several times in a sequence of words. In the movie "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls", Ventura is seen running through a village carrying a sacred bat while shouting the bat's name, "Shikaka". But a confused Ace is shouting, "Shikasha! Shish kebab, Shawshank Redemption, Chi-Ca-Go!" What scared comedian uses consonance in this funny scene?

Answer: Jim Carrey

Consonance occurs when sounds, not letters, are repeated. For example, the "f" sound is repeated in the sentence, "Tiffany fought tougher at first", although it uses different letters. Consonance also differs from alliteration in that the repeated consonant sounds can appear in the middle or at the end of words.

In an alliteration the repeated sounds are at the beginning of each word in the group. Jim Carrey appeared in two "Ace Ventura" movies. He played the role of a private detective who specialized in finding and rescuing missing animals.

4. What witty US Founding Father used a pun when he reportedly said, "We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately", after signing the Declaration of Independence?

Answer: Benjamin Franklin

Puns use multiple definitions of words, idioms and/or similar sounds to create a funny statement. One of my favorite examples is when Colin Mochrie on a 2003 episode of "Who's Line is it Anyway" was describing the tragic death of Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer. Rudolph was killed when he ran into a jet airplane. Mochrie, playing the part of a news reporter, summed up the tragedy with the "punny" phrase, "The reindeer in Spain was hit mainly by the plane."

In this quote, Franklin used "hang" as a pun by contrasting the literal meaning of the word, the risk of execution, with the figurative meaning, which is the need to stay united during their revolutionary move.

5. In this late-night TV show, Carnac the Magnificent would hold up an envelope and guess the answer to a question sealed in the envelope. In one show he held up the envelope, and divined the answer as "Sis Boom Bah". Carnac opened the envelope and read the "question", "Describe the sound made when a sheep explodes." Who was this late-night host who often used word play in his comic routines?

Answer: Johnny Carson

This joke was considered one of the funniest moments in "The Tonight Show" history. Carson considered it the second funniest moment on the show. Sidekick Ed McMahon said the joke caused the longest laugh in the show's history. Carson hosted "The Tonight Show" from 1962-1992.

6. Homophones or intentionally misspelled words are also used in humorous word play. In 2013 an animal, with deformed hind legs, was taken to a Florida veterinarian's office to be euthanized. Instead the vet adopted and designed a "wheelchair" for the animal. Over time, the now mobile animal became an internet sensation. He was named Chris P. Bacon. From his name can you guess what kind of animal he was?

Answer: Pig

The otherwise healthy pig was taken to the doctor's farm where a wheelchair made of K'nex blocks was created. The pig gained international fame by being featured on websites, newspapers, and magazines from the US to the UK. The pig was housed in a farm that brought abused or hurt animals and at-risk teens together for mutual support.

Unfortunately, Chris P. Bacon died from injuries sustained in a barn fire in 2021.

7. This Soviet born comedian used word play when he compared American culture with Soviet culture. For example, in 2016 he famously said, "They don't play baseball in the Soviet Union because there, no one is safe". What is the name of this famous funny man?

Answer: Yakov Smirnoff

Smirnoff was born in the USSR (in what is now Ukraine) in 1951. He was a successful comedian in the Soviet Union, but came to America in 1977 to expand his career. He arrived knowing little English, but during the late 1980s he began appearing in movies.

His stand-up routine often included him playing the role of a na�ve Soviet immigrant who struggled to understand English and the US culture. He used this persona to make fun of both Soviet communism and American consumerism. He is known for his catchphrase, "America, What a Country!" He made the famous baseball quote in a 2016 TV special that aired on the US Public Broadcasting System.

8. "Is the bean dizzy?" and "The Lord is a shoving leopard" are examples of spoonerisms. A "spoonerism" is when someone transposes letters between two words in a phrase. Is it true that this form of word play is named after a clergyman named William Spooner?

Answer: Yes

William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930) was a priest for the Church of England and a tutor at New College in Oxford England. He was known for his kindness, strong work ethic, absent-mindedness, and propensity to mix up words. Although he had a reputation of often switching up the letters of words in phrases, many historians believe the number of times he did this has been exaggerated.

A lot of spoonerisms attributed to the clergyman are considered made-up by others. However, this form of word play has lasted throughout the years and is used by comedians, authors and others as a form of comedic word play. The two examples in the question, if stated correctly, would have been, "Is the dean busy?" and "The Lord is a loving Shepherd."

9. Henry Youngman's famous line, "Take my wife...please!", is an example of a form of word play where a statement has an unexpected ending. The name for this type of word play comes from a Greek word that means "against expectations". What is this figure of speech called?

Answer: Paraprosdokian

Paraprosdokians are not only used by comedians, but they are often found in literature, television, movies, and even politics. For example, on his 73rd birthday President Ronald Reagan used a paraprosdokian when he said, "And I also remember something that Thomas Jefferson once said. He said, 'We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.' And ever since he told me that, I've stopped worrying.'"

This figure of speech uses word play and timing to put the first part of the sentence in a context that is new and funny. A double entendre uses words that can have two meanings, often in a risqu�' way. The phrase comes from an old French expression. "Assonance" is the repetitive use of similar sounding vowels which is used mostly in poetry. "Alphaomega" is a made-up word featuring the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.

10. The comedy sketch "Who's on First?" is considered one of the most famous comedy routines ever performed. It uses word play to cause comedic confusion. What duo made "Who's on First?" famous?

Answer: Abbott and Costello

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello began working together in 1935, when Abbott filled in for Costello's ill partner. The duo performed on radio, television, movies and in vaudeville acts from 1935 to 1957. They first performed "Who's on First?" in vaudeville shows in the mid-1930s. The act is an adaptation of earlier routines, like "I Work on Watt Street", that used similar word play techniques.

Recordings of this routine, which talks about the roster of a fictitious baseball team, can be found in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York and in the US Library of Congress. In 1999 "Time" magazine called "Who's on First?" the greatest comedy sketch of the 20th century.

Source: Author bigwoo

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ponycargirl before going online.
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They Talk Funny: Word Play and Comedy Quiz

Word play is the clever and often amusing use of words. Techniques such as alliteration, rhyme, consonance, and more have been used for centuries by authors, actors, and comedians to make people laugh. Let's look at the funny side of word play.

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