Charlie Plays the Straight Man

"straight person" in comedy = voice of reason.

you know when charlie is the straight man some crazy shit is happening...

suggested by @EezySeven

feel free to leave compilation ideas/suggestions in the comments :)

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keywords: mac ronald mcdonald, dennis reynolds, dee reynolds, frank reynolds, charlie day, rob mcelhenney, glenn howerton, danny devito, kaitlin olson, comedy, sitcom, montage, mashup, best moments

[josemaria]

Charlie is a wonderful character because he is the most insane member of the group and the most relatable/well adjusted of the gang at the same time

[AnthonyPosi]

"Frank you just created a 4 way intersection, if anything you made this intersection safer!" That will never get old to me 😅

[henners]

The fact that Charlie can play the straight man while torturing a leprechaun is amazing

[mrfashionguy]

You forgot "The gang Hits the Slopes" where Charlie is the only character not involved in the 80s plotline and constantly questions everything like a normal person would.

[mattcottrell]

I think it’s important that most of these are Mac and Charlie. Charlie is more likely to be a straight man with Mac bc they’ve been getting into such nonsense for so long that he absolutely had to get some sense of reason so they didn’t die.

[Loctorak]

"Charlie Work" (the one with the health inspector) was, and remains, my favourite IASIP episode without exception. Such a clever and entertaining episode with Charlie being the straight man the whole time.

(Just stop asking questions and move the god damn dumpster, dee, i swear to god...)

[TheLeadhound]

Danny literally makes no effort to make it sound like soul instead of hole and it makes me laugh every time.

[ethanbrown]

i love how when the only times charlie acts like a reasonable human being, everyone thinks he’s crazy

[Robert___]

What is so genius about Charlie being the straight man, outside of the initial subversion that you're misled to believe he's the most screwed up of them all, is although he's a selfish and egotistical gremlin just like the rest of them, the childlike innocence and vulnerability to him due to his upbringing makes it easier to get behind him or empathize with his goals than you would the others. And with him being the quintessential runt of the litter in the group with the lowest class status job literally being called "Charlie work" it means he doesn't ever feel the same unwarranted prestige the rest of them have that gives them their ridiculous narcissism, and so it creates a warped result where he inadvertently winds up being the most self-aware of them all, thus the one who finds it easiest to recognise the delusion and insanity the other four have, because that's how he's perceived and looked down on by them to begin with.

[axeylotl]

charlie playing the straight man really puts on display what sets him apart from the rest of the group, he's absolutely the most normal out of all of them. the other 4 are all too insane and too far up their own asses to change or improve, whereas Charlie probably would've been a completely normal person (or at least more normal than them) if he hadn't been huffing chemicals his whole life

[Juiceman]

I love that on the surface Charlie is the most insane and Dennis is the most normal, but as the show goes on it’s completely switched lol

[simdivya]

the best thing is scenes like 3:36 where a character saying those lines absolutely would NOT be the straight man in any other show. but this is sunny and we are all mad here

[quanicle]

i think charlie and mac are the two members of the gang who actually still have a chance of escaping the perpetual cycle of negativity that they’ve been trapped in all these years. i really feel bad for them. mac has had to repress his sexuality for his whole life and his parents both hate him, and charlie is a fatherless victim of childhood sexual abuse. those two never stood a chance at being normal, but they’re much more sympathetic and redeemable than the reynolds family is

[verisimilitone]

2:03 Artemis and Charlie clearly need more time on screen. Something about their non-verbal communication hasn't been achieved since.

[Gojeto]

I think Charlie started out at rock bottom and seeing the gang drop to his level kicks on a fight or flight mode where he has to become the rational one so he can go back to being the wildcard, it’s self preservation

[DevonRucker]

I love it when Charlie is the straigtman. It works even though they already established him as a completely different type of guy. Lol.

[travisera]

“I don’t think we are suppose to make wild assumptions about black people based on whether or not we have stuff in our pockets.” This advice changed my life.

[kennethbryant]

Charlie was the straight man in the episode where Mac, Dennis and Dee tried out for the Eagles until Frank drugged him. He yelled at the gang for arguing all the time, he made everybody go outside, he just wanted to watch the tryouts and chill with a couple of beers and he refused to put on Green Man until Frank gave him acid and even then he didn't do anything crazy but dance with the McPoyles who he normally hated.

[parryyotter]

“And then you proceed to just eat the man” is hands down my favorite Charlie as a straight man moment.

[Bruceskyy]

Charlie Work is my favorite episode of the entire series because he might be illiterate but the man can keep the bar running when he's not turning on the "Coors" sign