Metahumour is one of my favourite forms of comedy, and I thought something worth writing about given its increase in popularity of late, and when it works for me, and when it doesn't. Metahumour, at least in the context I refer to it, is humour based around the acknowledgement of the fiction of the joke.
A great example of this can be found in the 21 Jump Street movie, where the captain character points out that they've resurrected the 'Jump Street program' from the eighties because nobody in the police department has any original ideas anymore. Of course, this is a blatant joke based around the fact that the movie is a remake of an old 80s TV show, something frequently done in Hollywood where there are very few original concepts.
The thing that makes these gags work, and makes me love them so much, is that they can also work within the world of the film (or setting) itself. It's not as obvious as breaking the fourth wall (it doesn't actually establish the world the characters are in as fictional), it just makes a reference that has an additional meaning to the audience.
Sometimes, this can be pushed, and it tends to ruin the joke slightly to me. For example, there's a brilliant joke that gets slightly ruined in the credits of 22 Jump Street (spoilers, obviously, if you haven't seen it) where after a series of fake trailers for the idea the franchise keeps running, Jonah Hill is swapped out for Seth Rogan, referencing the idea of the cast eventually being recast. This is really funny, particularly since the two actors work on similar projects (sometimes the same project), clearly know each other and have similar comedy styles. But the joke then is ruined because they constantly reference how he 'looks different', and have the characters on screen discuss the change subtly (like they think you can't hear). To me, that joke would work a lot better if it played as a real trailer, without heavy referencing to what had actually happened. It'd be more subtle, but frankly it's so obvious anyway subtlety isn't needed.
That's not to say that sometimes breaking the fourth wall can't make something hilarious, it just needs to be done in the right context. One of my favourite movies for the use of metahumour is Black Dynamite, because it's supposed to be a terribly made movie. There's almost two characters played by everybody in that film, the character of the movie, and the actor playing them in this terrible 70s movie. They often break character without becoming the true actors themselves, and it makes it even funnier. Possibly my favourite fourth wall breaking gag of all time comes in that movie, when in one fight scene one of the heroes accidently strikes the gigantic guy he's fighting, and you can see the actor becomes furious. One very dodgy cut later, and the fight continues, but against a completely different extra. Immediately there's a whole story of what happened off camera, and the joke becomes utterly hilarious.
But it's a dangerous weapon, metahumour. It can be funny, but you need it in the right context. In a movie designed to be a bad movie, breaking the fourth wall works. In a comedy where you're expected to at least buy in to the world, it's better to lean on the references. And of course, it's easy to over do it. I'm a massive fan of Doctor Who, but in the last few series there's been a tendency to seriously over-egg the joke of having characters actually ask the Doctor 'Doctor who?' as a question, including having thousands of Daleks chanting 'DOC-TOR WHO!?' over and over again, or having Matt Smith giggle and make somebody ask him it several times because he 'likes the sound of it'. Things like this just don't work. Doctor Who is a comical show, but it also expects you to take its universe seriously, the humour stems from the characters behaving in comical ways and the way the universe can contain anything, not from obvious comedy jokes like this, and not only does it take you out of the experience, but it's not even a funny joke.
So I love metahumour when its done well, but it really does need to be used sparingly, in the right context, and to most crucially of all, actually be funny. I know that seems kind of obvious, but since its one of my favourite comedy styles, I thought it was worth looking at some examples, and, well, I needed something to post!
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