Dear Reader Letter

I know it’s not quite at 1000 yet I ran out of stuff definitely not my best work at all just check I

guess to make sure this is kinda the idea we were supposed to write about I was so confused so

and I am not going to get offended so correct away.

Lauren Darnell

RC 1000

Emily Kane

12 September 2019

“The Machine” True or False?

Comedy is a professional entertainment intended to make people laugh by the use of

jokes and satirical sketches. It needs certain essential elements in order for the comedian to

portray their joke in a sense that the audience feels as though they can relate. The most important

elements are surprise because the best humor is unexpected, sophistication meaning the jokes are

thought out, the comedian in a sense controls the joke. Lastly, truth because if the joke is not true

to some extent and completely non-relevant it is not as funny. The overall goal of comedy is to

relate to another and cause them to feel emotions. In Bert Kreischers stand-up comedy show

“The Machine” he uses many elements of exaggeration to make the audience question his ethos

and draw the question do we as the audience believe this story? Commented [1]: This is honestly one of the best
introduction paragraphs I have ever read. The
beginning really draws the reader into the overall
In the piece “The Machine” one could say there are many rhetorical devices used but theme of what comedy is to explain further in a direct
way how comedy and rhetorical appeals coexist which
mainly Ethos. Ethos is a device used to appeal to the audience by portraying one’s ethical indirectly affects your thesis, love it! The thesis is really
put together, I can tell already what you are about to
focus upon.
character and credibility. The purpose of ethos is to make the audience in this case feel as though

there is truth to the story. A question that is raised while listening to Kreischers story is do we as
the audience really believe that this happened. He tells a story of him while in college going on a

school trip to Russia and going to Mafia during his time there. As the audience listens it comes

across as a very funny story told with lots of details but as the viewer goes back and really thinks

about what is being said it becomes a bit of an unbelievable story.
Exaggeration if often used in comedy because it makes the story more enjoyable along
with entertaining, it increases the drama. The audience picks up many times Kreischers
Commented [2]: Reading this the first time, I was like
wait what is happening but very well put on the
rhetorical appeal of Ethos overall. Maybe tying together
the explanation with more details could accentuate the
overall focus on ethos here.

exaggerations and false claims. The first example is when his Russian teacher told him he had to

do no work at all, and she would pass him with a C if he stayed in her class. Now yes, some

teachers may be more lenient and nicer towards workloads, but it is hard to believe that a teacher

would pass a student for not completing any assignments. We as an audience can assume that

this statement was an exaggeration. Another instance is where he says he has taken four

semesters of Russian and had failed to learn a single word. Yes, he may not know a lot of the

language, but someone cannot sit through two years of a language and not pick up a single word.

Next his teacher tells him that if he attends this trip, he can get a minor in Russian, which he

claims he cannot speak, read, write, nor understand the language. Clearly, this is lie because you

have to have some knowledge of your minor. Commented [3]: Is "If" supposed to be "is" in the first
sentence? The focus on exaggeration is really nice to
read about since comedy needs to exaggerate
As Kreischer continues his story by stating that the school paid the mafia off to protect somethings, some more than others, to get the humor
out of the explanation.
them. The Mafia is organized crime in Russia, so somehow when one thinks about it, it is highly

unlikely a school would pay the Mafia to keep them safe. As they continue their trip, he goes on

explaining how he got involved with them. The next point in question was when him and his

class were on the train and he rode first class with the guys. He tells the audience that while on

the train all the workers came and “paid their respects” including the conductor giving him the

stars and stripes off his uniform. Of course, everyone laughs but this bit is extremely
unbelievable. As the story continues, he explained how he robbed they robbed the train which

there is no doubt that someone would rob a train without any of the passengers noticing.
Pathos is eliciting emotions in the audience. Kreischers uses this device when he
compares robbing a train to cheating on his wife. I don’t technically think that those should be
Commented [4]: Is this a continuation with the overall
explanation of why comedians use exaggeration here?
This paragraph really helps the focus stay intuned with
evidence but might want to include some references to
the thesis statement as well to keep a balance.

compared to each other as he said it in almost an unsensitive way. Here I believe is the craziest

part. After they supposedly robbed the train, they spoke to an officer who pulled him aside and

says, “I hear you are the machine” and they get in absolutely no trouble.
The audience for this particular piece I says would range from high school level and older
as there is vulgar language and references to alcohol. Another point to bring up is what him
Commented [5]: This may be one of the few examples
of pathos in the argument but defiantly impacts the
argument on what type of humor Kreischer's is trying to
achieve here. Maybe try to add more here or keep it
the same, just an idea.

having no shirt on adds to the piece? Him not wearing a shirt adds a sense of humor and almost a

hobo slum look that already makes the audience laugh while looking at him. I think that the

argument he is making is nothing matters in Russia clearly, he did not get in trouble by any of his

actions. His argument would well supported if this were a true story however evidence and many

exaggerations proves that this is an untrue story. It would be so unlikely for a school to even let

this behavior occur in the first place. Again, the cultural message that seems to be portrayed is

that in Russia no one cares. Bert Kreischers did deliver this story in a quite a humorous manner

by using his voice, interacting with the crowd, his whole appearance and way he carried himself

were quite hysterical. The audience however can conclude from the lack of ethos presented that

this was an untrue story. Commented [6]: Be careful asking the reader questions
within the argument. This conclusion defiantly
concludes well the thesis of the paper and completes
the paragraph with references to the thesis to win over
the reader of the argument. Awesome, love this paper!