My Biggest Influence

My biggest influence on my work would definitively have to be all of the creators of the television show Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia. These people include Rob McElhenny, Charlie Day, and Glenn Howerton. They inspire me because their comedy meshes perfectly with the kind of creative person I am. In my work I always try and push the limits and do and say things in my work that shock people.This is exactly how Its Sunny in Philadelphia is. They will make jokes about anything from putting babies in tanning beds to rape and abortion. One of the styles of work they use is tension and release. This link will show you some examples of their uses of tension and release and just a little about the creators themselves. My favorite use of tension and release in this clip is the one with Dee interviewing the "white boys" about their dancing. She is obviously being an extremely awkward character and it is almost unbearably to listen to her....then she gets blasted in the face with a volleyball and the tension is released and it turns into a hilarious scene. The next concept the creators of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia use well is text and subtext. They use this a lot mainly with the plot of their shows. Such as the episode "The Gang Solves the Gas Crisis". The main point of this show is that the Gang is trying to make money off of the gas crisis by, buying gas storing it and then later selling it once gas prices have raised. The the main text is that the Gang is trying to raise money. Then the subtext is that they are actually making a mockery of how expensive gas prices are becoming. The show uses this technique numerous times concerning different popular issues within America. Not only do they cover the gas crisis but they talk about the overall economy in an episode, the abortion debate, they discuss religion, and much more. When the shows talks about these highly debatable issues they usually always use text and subtext to convey it through their work. This benefits them by it makes the issues less serious so you do not focus on the negative sides of the issues as much, but see the humor in them. The last method I will discuss is contrast and affinity. Just like the other methods this method is used multiple times throughout the many seasons of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia. One of the more interesting uses of contrast and affinity is through one of the main characters "Mac". Most of the time Mac is portrayed as a strong tough guy in the gang. He always wears muscle shirts does karate and works out. He even buys a samurai sword in one episode because he considers himself the bars main security. Then other times they make Mac very sensitive and almost as a child whenever he is with his father or talking to someone he looks up to. Such as his infamous letter to Chase Utley. Overall Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia uses many great methods within their work, which makes their show so good.