Planner Reads

Whether you’re a fan a Seinfeld or not, the scene above with Kramer telling the story of the rescue of the pinky toe is a classic example of how to tell a story.

As both a set piece, without any of the rest of the story or any background on the characters, it’s brilliant. And as the central scene of the episode, The Fire, it crackles with energy and drives the whole show.

I love the originality yet simplicity of the set up — a comic heckling back at the heckler at their workplace. It’s familiar yet surprising.

And the specifics of the story — a street sweeper, the pinky toe, a Cracker Jack box — seem arbitrary but they’re perfect to bring the story to life. These few, concrete details give the reader / viewer all the information needed to follow the story.

Because we’re dying for the story! A pinky toe, severed, that could, with heroic effort, be saved!

From there the script sings and the performances are outstanding.

Taken all together, like all great storytelling, the scene lives on and looms large in memory far beyond the 2:07 running time.

Even reading it is a joy.

New scene – Kramer and Jerry in Jerry’s ...