Callback (comedy)
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A callback, in terms of comedy, is a joke which refers to one previously told in the set. The second joke is often presented in a different context than the one which was used in the initial joke. Callbacks are usually used at or near the end of a set, as the aim is to create the biggest laugh at the end of a comic set. The main principle behind the callback is to make the audience feel a sense of familiarity with the subject matter, as well as with the comedian. It helps to create audience rapport. When the second joke is told, it induces a feeling similar to that of being told a personal or in-joke.
Example: In his monologue Dress to Kill, comedian Eddie Izzard goes into a non sequitur about Engelbert Humperdinck
His parents were not Mr. and Mrs. Humperdinck. They never said, "What shall we call our son so he does not get the shit kicked out of him at school?" “We shall call him Engelbert!"... No, his name was Gerry Dorsey, and he released songs as Gerry Dorsey... And then his managers, obviously, said, "We're going to change your name, Gerry! It's the name that's the problem." And his name changed from Gerry Dorsey to Engelbert Humperdinck. I mean, I just wanted to be in the room when they were working that one through. ... And it worked! But he's dead now, you hear that? Yeah, today, on CNN. ... It's not true, heh. ( exhales ) No, it is true. Yeah, he was L.A. Something happened. ... No, it is true. No, he was in a car in L.A. driving along and something hit him or something like that. No no, no, he's all right, he's all right! He's fine! He's cooking, he's jumping, he's doing his thing in L.A. - he's absolutely fine. [1]
Much later, after moving on to other topics, Izzard is telling a story about having his masculinity impugned by his first sex partner:
It was… fucked me off, I tell you. But she's dead now, so... No, she isn't... No, she was in L.A., in a car, with Engelbert Humperdinck, and... [2]
The joke gets a bigger laugh because it calls back to his earlier confusion about whether Engelbert Humperdinck was dead, as well as drawing on his earlier claim that Humperdinck's name is ridiculous to make his own failure with the woman seem more humiliating.
[edit] Television
In television, the term callback has come to mean a joke or line that refers to a previous episode (or sometimes, in rare cases, movies). Particularly in earlier sitcoms - though even until the early 1990s - callbacks were rare and often frowned upon by networks, because they threaten to isolate a viewer who is new to the series, or who missed episodes. Seinfeld was one of the first sitcoms to regularly use callbacks in its scripts, although on a level which would often be missed or disregarded by viewers. More recently, Arrested Development has become well-known by fans for its regular use of callbacks throughout all of its episodes. Of course, the line between a callback and simple continuity can sometimes be ambiguous. The opening sequence of the season nineteen premiere of The Simpsons callsback to the events in the movie.
