Cuban Swimmer Got Jokes? Milcha Sanchez-Scott's Play,

Cuban Swimmer Got Jokes? Milcha Sanchez-Scott's play, "The Cuban Swimmer," contains a great deal of comedy. Although most of the humor in this play is intended by the author, some of it is not and lends itself to a form of entertainment that is somewhat unsophisticated in nature. However, most of the play is quite farcical, if not outright satirical, and therefore primarily provokes an emotional response of laughter.

Although such laughter may have been intended by the author, the overall effect of the comedic work makes it fairly difficult to lend any significant credence to its themes as being of high literary standards. One of the most entertaining parts of this dramatic work occurs in scene two when Margarita and her family garner the attention of a broadcast helicopter which is monitoring her progress in a swimming competition.

Although Margarita's family is initially flattered and delighted at the attention which they've earned, they soon lose this sentiment at what they perceive to be an insult. The results are quite hilarious, as the following quotation evidences. "Aida: Do you hear me, Eduardo? I am not simple. Abuela: Si. Aida: I am complicated. Abuela: Si, demasiada complicada.

Aida: Me and my family are not so simple." Aida's indignation at helicopter broadcaster Mel Munson's referral to her family as "simple," among other disparaging references, is quite laughable, particularly in light of the fact that she prefers to term her and her family "complicated" in an attempt to restore her dignity.

The humor in this instance comes from the understandable reaction of Aida to disprove the broadcaster, even if by doing so she must call herself the complete opposite of what hr said, which is "complicated." The irony and humor in this response is that Aida and her family are decidedly simple people, as their current endeavor (and other instances in the text) seem to indicate.

However, Sanchez-Scott's sardonic humor takes a turn for the worse in other passages in which she forgoes literary conventions of irony and satire for a degree of comedy which is considerably more base. The relationship between Aida and Eduardo, Margarita's mother and father, provides an excellent example of this digression.

Although the pair spend the majority of their time together arguing (which is very funny in its own right), they segue into a romantic interlude with a degree of crassness which readers may find disengaging, as the following quotation from scene four indicates. "Eduardo: A man can't do it when he is afraid. Aida: Liar! You did it very well. Eduardo: I did? Aida: Si. Gentle. You were so gentle and then strong…my passion for you so deep.

Standing next to you…I would ache…looking at your hands I would forget to breathe, you were irresistible." The comedic effect of this passage is considerably lessened by the crude humor of the sexual reference made by Eduardo and Aida. The intended humor is meant to be found in Eduardo's unwitting ignorance of his sexual prowess. But the digression of the comedy from.