CANDY-COLORED BOW-TIED REDEMPTION
By DAVE ITZKOFF
PLUGGING IN FAMILIAR EXAMPLES
I love it when authors find a way to plug in familiar characters or topics into their stories for comedic effect. In this case, the author introduces characters "The Pied Piper" and "Santa Clause" as examples of the how popular spectators found Pee Wee Herman.
"The Pied Piper was nowhere to be heard, and Santa Claus wouldn’t be coming to town for a few more weeks, but something irresistible had drawn a small crowd to the West Fourth Street basketball courts in Greenwich Village on a recent Thursday morning."
STATING THE FACTS THROUGH DESCRIPTION
Instead of stating the facts- ex: "On thursday morning, a crowd of middle aged men and women crowded the character Pee-Wee Herman as he acted out a skit in Manhattan. The crowd were informed of this skit from a twitter update." Instead, the author describes the situation. He paints out the scenario in descriptive language which makes it more enticing to read.
"Huddled in groups of two and three, a few dozen men and women in their 20s and 30s glanced at one another and at their smartphones, rereading the Twitter and Foursquare messages that directed them here, waiting for something to happen. Without fanfare a white van sailed up to the curb, and from it emerged a thin, 58-year-old man — wearing a gray suit, a tiny red bow tie and white loafers — who seemed as uncertain to meet his fans as they were excited to receive him. The gathering parted as he stepped onto the blacktop, picked up a basketball and made a few graceless attempts at hurling it at a hoop. “Yeah, match that,” he said snidely, to laughter."
Not only do I know what the skit was, but can picture it in my head. I can see what he is wearing, the voice he had, and the typical goofy act he put on. At the same time- I knew who the target audience crowd was, how they got there & what happened.
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