Cast of Characters:
Nondescript Guy
Indistinctive Fellow
Scene: A featureless room at an indeterminate time.
Guy: Is Caroline that good?
Fellow: CO-raline.
Guy: Hah?
Fellow: It's pronounced “Coraline,” not “Caroline.” “Caroline” would be like the Neil Diamond song.
Guy: As opposed to a stop motion movie by Henry Selick.
Fellow: Based on a children's book written by Neil Gaiman.
Guy: OK.
[Rest.]
Fellow [epiphanic]: Ooh! Coraline/Caroline / Diamond/Gaiman. There's definitely the opportunity for a double joke in there.
Guy: Yeah, but that kind of homophonic humor seems really difficult to set up.
Fellow [calming]: Yeah. It's so situational that someone not involved in this conversation could never understand.
Guy: It could end with someone just saying “I said 'Neil Gaiman'.”
Fellow: Maybe the joke should be two people talking about how to set up the joke.
Guy: You should write it into a play, like you did with the Pythagoras thing.
Fellow: Yeah...
Guy: One guy would just become obsessed with the line “I said 'Neil Gaiman'” while the other guy kept trying to piece together the joke. And then the stage would fade to black--
Fellow: And from the darkness, a voice would say--
Guy: “I said 'Neil Gaiman'.”
Fellow: It could work.
[Rest.]
Guy [remembering]: So is Coraline any good?
Fellow: It's pretty good. Best animated film of...2009?
Guy: I should watch it then.
Fellow: Yes, you should.
[The lights fade to black.]
Guy: I said “Neil Gaiman.”
END
[NOTE: Imagine my disappointment later when I found out that Neil Gaiman's name is pronounced “Geigh-man” instead of “Guy-man.” So close...]
