Sir Andrew and Depression

I have been doing some research on the ties between deep-seeded depression and comedy and have come up with some links for the blog.


Depression and Comedy

I have been thinking a lot about the way in which our play is combining gut-wrenchingly sad and sweet music with all sorts of light comedy. I remembered hearing an interview with Gene Wilder about the origins of his particular style of comedy a few years back. When he was very young, Wilder was told by a doctor that, due to his mother's poor health, the only way to prolong his mother's life was to keep her laughing. The sad roots of Wilder's seemingly light comedy got me thinking about other comedians like Buster Keaton and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle who spent their lives battling serious depression and alcoholism all the while creating comedy that would outlive them for decades to come. I have attached some links to websites with information on them about what appears to be an inextricable link between deep depression and irresistible comedy. The Gene Wilder interview in particular is really interesting.

General quotes from comedians about depression: http://depressionandcreativity.org/comedy-and-depression/
Gene Wilder: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5809-2005Mar27.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2007/may/06/features.magazine37

Fatty Arbuckle: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_bio/ai_2419200032