Deadpan is not so much a type of joke as a mode of delivery, a manner of address to an audience that often provokes nervous laughter. What makes deadpan feel so off, so destabilizing, so dryly funny?

Dry humor can be a useful tool for a filmmaker, but there are several directors who stand out by pushing it to its limits. Deadpan comedy is defined by its inherent lack of emotion. Often, this is a ...