Mark Twain was one of the Southwestern humorists who were dubbed "literary comedians,"" and included George Horatio Derby (John Phoenix), Charles Farrar Browne (Artemus Ward), and David Ross Locke Petroleum Nasby (Crisler The Comedy of Mark Twain). These names may have been prominent back in the mid-nineteenth century, but are seldom recognized today. Mark Twain mastered the techniques employed by these literary comedians, and elevated them to a higher level. He instinctively realized that humor could not be haphazard, but rather, had to have a specific target, whether it could be "poking fun- at himself or others (Crisler The Comedy of Mark Twain). However, while literary comedians commonly used misspellings and poor grammar in the name of humor, Twain refused to indulge in what he regarded as a cheap' laugh (Crisler The Comedy of Mark Twain). He did, though, employ the literary device of using a "simpleton- or buffoonish character in such works as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Innocents Abroad and Roughing It (Crisler The Comedy of Mark Twain).
In terms of specific techniques, Mark Twain proved to be the master of exaggeration, understatement, and anticlimax (or the twisting of a cliché for humorous effect) (Crisler The Comedy of Mark Twain). Exaggeration was a way of enlarging a story "beyond the bounds of truth- (Crisler The Comedy of Mark Twain). Twain would employ exaggeration not only in his lectures and essays, but in the internal situations of his novels. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, there were tall tales' which were referred to as stretchers. As "Huck- explained, "You don't know about me, without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but that ain't no matter. That book.
was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was.
things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth I never seen anybody but lied, one time or another, without it was Aunt Polly, or the widow, or maybe Mary.
