The Foil

Before I watched wrestling, I was a fan of comedy.  I've pretty much been a fan of comedy my entire life.  Even in elementary school my parents allowed me to watch Monty Python's Flying Circus, which surprises me because a lot of its content is really not intended for small children.

Still, it took me MANY many years to realize that a comedic routine is greatly enhanced with the presence of a "foil" or a "straight man" character - the regular person placed beside the crazy one just to emphasize how much the crazy person deviates from what's normal and accepted.  Gorilla Monsoon was a PERFECT foil for Bobby "The Brain" Heenan back in the days of WWF Prime Time wrestling, and to pursue the goofy and pointless art of being a jerk in daily life, finding an adequate foil of my own was a necessary requirement.  

Fortunately I found out one of my coworkers could be a perfect foil.  Mostly because she refuses to give nonsense any kind of a foothold whatsoever, and she can immediately tell when I'm up to no good. She's far too clever to fool. There's no way I could ever be a jerk without her calling me out on it, although it has been quite fun to attempt it.  

She's a big fan of birds - peacocks and flamingos in particular - and she has a lot of flamingo decorations on her desk.  Including a crocheted flamingo my awesome wife made for her.  Well, knowing what someone admires is always a good opportunity to practice wrestling heel behavior.  All you have to do is talk bad about the cherished item or items.  So that's what I started doing and still do to this day.  In particular, I pretend the flamingos are sentient and accuse them of all kinds of ridiculous misdeeds.  I tell my coworker the flamingos were talking bad about her while she was away and things like that.  Stupid stuff nobody would EVER believe.  Then she tells me I need to go to Rusk because Rusk is a town with a mental hospital in it.  I tell her it's not ME that needs to go to Rusk.  It's the FLAMINGOS that need to go to Rusk - pretending that claim actually helps my argument in some way.  We both seem to get a good laugh out of it, and it makes a busy work day a little easier.  

A foil needs to be cooperative and willing for a heel interaction to work.  Wrestling heel humor is much different than a tasteless and mean-spirited practical joke designed to shame a victim.  With wrestling heels, the heel himself is the one that should look shameful and be the obvious target of ridicule.  And that kind of heel is exactly the type of jerk I aspire to be.

Comments

  1. theboombodyApril 16, 2026 at 4:40 PM

    I recall seeing a Jesse "The Body" Ventura interview once where he told a story about Bruno Sammartino on commentary in the old days. McMahon informed Ventura that Sammartino was no longer going to be doing commentary, and Ventura BEGGED McMahon to let Sammartino stay on. Ventura said Sammartino was a PERFECT foil, and after watching his commentary a few times I'm inclined to agree.

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