February 2003
Ernie vs Bert
-- Round 7 --
White Face
and Red Nose
Finishing up this month's Anthology, here's a classic sketch from the mid-70's:
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[ Ernie walks up to Bert with a pot, and tries to stick the pot on Bert's head. ]
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Ernie
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Okay, come on, Bert... now just try this on for size... There.
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Bert
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What? Ernie, no... hey, what are you, come on, Ernie, no. Stop it! Why should I put that pot on my head?
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Ernie
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Well, I tell you, Bert, you see, it's because a little while ago, I accidentally broke the cookie jar.
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Bert
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Oh, Ernie... you didn't...
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Ernie
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Mm hmm.
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Bert
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Well, all right, so you broke the cookie jar. But what has that got to do with that pot, then, huh?
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Ernie
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Well, you see, I had to put the cookies somewhere, Bert, uh...
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Bert
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Yes?
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Ernie
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Just a second, I'll show you, Bert. [ Ernie exits. ]
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Bert
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I don't understand.
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[ Ernie enters with the sugar bowl, which is full of cookies. ]
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Ernie
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See? I broke the cookie jar, so I had to put the cookies into the sugar bowl.
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Bert
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Well, yeah, Ernie, but if you put the cookies in the sugar bowl, then where'd you put the sugar?
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Ernie
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Well, I'll show you, Bert. [ Ernie exits. ]
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Bert
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You'll show me...
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[ Ernie enters, with a flowerpot full of sugar. ]
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Ernie
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Well, you see, I put the sugar in the flowerpot.
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Bert
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In the flowerpot.
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Ernie
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Mm hmm.
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Bert
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Oh, great. Just great. Well, then where did you put the flower that was growing there, huh?
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Ernie
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Oh, I'll show you, Bert. [ Ernie exits. ]
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Bert
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You're going to show me again. I don't get this.
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[ Ernie enters, with the flower in a milk bottle. ]
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Ernie
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See, I had to put the flower here into this milk bottle, see? Nicely planted, I watered it and everything.
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Bert
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ERNIE!
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Ernie
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Hmm?
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Bert
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Well, now WHERE is the MILK?
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Ernie
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Oh. Well, I'll show you, Bert. [ Ernie exits. ]
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Bert
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You're going to show me where the milk is too. Oh, Ernie...
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[ Ernie enters, with the milk in a soda bottle. ]
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Ernie
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See, I put the milk into the, uh, soda bottle.
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Bert
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Ernie. I'm trying to be patient. But where is the soda?
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Ernie
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Oh, just a second, Bert, I'll show you.
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[ Bert sighs, as Ernie exits and comes back with a fishbowl full of soda. ]
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Ernie
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It wasn't easy, but I put the soda into the, uh... fishbowl.
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Bert
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In the fishbowl?
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Ernie
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Yep.
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Bert
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Ernie, this is crazy! Now where are the fish?
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Ernie
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Oh. Well, I'll show you, Bert. [ Ernie exits. ]
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Bert
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Oh, Ernie! What are you doing now?
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[ Ernie enters, carefully holding a cowboy hat. ]
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Ernie
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Well, I'm just carrying it out here, Bert. I put the fish into the cowboy hat. You see?
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Bert
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Oh, no, Ernie... [ Bert looks into the cowboy hat, and a little stream of water shoots into his face. ] Aaaah!
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Ernie
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[ to the fish: ] Take it easy there, fella.
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Bert
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Ernie, Ernie... that is MY cowboy hat!
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Ernie
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Yeah. So?
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Bert
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But you put the fish in it! Now what am I going to wear when I want to play cowboy?
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Ernie
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Oh. Uh. Well...
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[ Ernie sticks the pot on Bert's head. ]
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Ernie
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Ride 'em, cowboy!
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[ Ernie walks away. Bert does a take to the camera with the pot on his head, sighing. ]
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Color
Commentary:
This, to my surprise, is my favorite line of this sketch: "Ernie. I'm trying to be patient."
As I've been writing about Ernie and Bert this month, the thing that's been the most surprising is how funny I think Bert is. It's easy to overlook Bert, but his deadpan responses are really fantastic. It's obvious by the time that Bert says "I'm trying to be patient" that Ernie has made an enormous mess of everything, but Bert still has some hope that somehow it can all get straightened out.
At the beginning of this month's anthology, I'd asked the question, "What kind of fight is this, anyway?" And this sketch reminded me of something I'd read about clowns a while ago, which may be an answer to that question.
The history of clowns is a little hard to pin down -- when I've tried to read
about it, it's hard for me to tell what's fact and what's legend. Some of the
clown tradition apparently comes from Italian commedia del arte, some of
it from medieval jesters, some from Punch and Judy shows, and from who knows
where else.
But this is a thing that I know: In the European clown tradition, there's two main types of clowns -- the White Face (Pierrot) clowns and the Red Nose (Auguste) clowns.
The difference between the White Face and the Red Nose is kind of slippery, but if there's a White Face/Red Nose team, it basically works like this: The Red Nose clown is the trickster. He's crude and foolish, and he'll do anything for a laugh. The White Face clown is the authority figure, the one who tries to keep control. He sets the rules for what's going on, and he tries to keep the Red Nose clown in line.
In vaudeville terms, the Red Nose is the comic and the White Face is the
straight man. That's how comedy teams work: One person tries to maintain order,
and the other one breaks all the rules. That's the conflict that makes the team
funny. Rules are being broken, the social order is being turned upside down --
and the audience gets the satisfaction of watching from a distance as the
authority figure gets mocked and duped.
White-Face Edgar Bergen tries to get Red-Nose Charlie McCarthy to stop being so rude. White-Face George Burns instructs his partner, "Say goodnight, Gracie," and Red-Nose Gracie says, "Goodnight, Gracie." Abbott is White-Face, Costello is Red-Nose. Ricky is White-Face, Lucy is Red-Nose. All the big comic fights are between one character trying to keep control while the other character disrupts it.
So here, in this sketch, Bert is hoping that somehow he can travel through
Ernie's looking-glass system to get back to some kind of sense. Where's the
sugar? Where's the fish? Behind these questions is the suggestion that if he can
just understand the system, he can make it right again. Of course, he just ends
up with a pot on his head.
Bert's the older brother, the parent, the square -- and he's got about as close to a White Face as a colorful Sesame Street Muppet can get. Ernie's the trickster, the disrupter -- and he's even got the clown's Red Nose. I don't know if Henson and the puppet builders were specifically thinking in clown terms when they designed Ernie and Bert, but it's quite a coincidence if they weren't.
So, what kind of fight is this? The answer, as best I can figure it, is that it's a comedy fight. In fact... it's the comedy fight. Ride 'em, cowboy!
Aug/Sept 2002 -- The Road to Hollywood
July 2002 -- The Decline and Fall of Gorch, part two: The Fall
June 2002 -- The Decline and Fall of Gorch, part one: The Decline
April 2002 -- April Frog's Day
March 2002 -- The Muppets Take Madison Avenue
February 2002 -- Kermit and Piggy : That Magnificent Hankering
January 2002 -- Off the Street
December 2001 -- It Feels Like Christmas
November 2001 -- Muppets: 1, Host: 0