The two actors involved in this scene quickly became very
frustrated. They couldn’t keep the scene going. Actor A had
made a joke — and a rather clever one (“I’m rather attached to
it”) — but the scene itself wasn’t funny. So John-stone stopped
them and pointed out the problem. Actor A had violated the
rule of agreement. His partner had made a suggestion, and he
had turned it down. He had said, “You can’t do that, Doctor.”
So the two started again, only this time with a renewed
commitment to agreeing:
A: Augh!
B: Whatever is it, man?
A: It’s my leg, Doctor.
B: This looks nasty. I shall have to amputate.
A: It’s the one you amputated last time, Doctor.
B: You mean you’ve got a pain in your wooden leg?
A: Yes, Doctor.
B: You know what this means?
A: Not woodworm, Doctor!
B: Yes. We’ll have to remove it before it spreads to the rest of