Buster Keaton and the Gem-cutters

The beauty of Keaton's comedy is that the gags were round. What do I mean by that? They fit perfectly into the reality or sur-reality that his character lived in. Sure, in the beginning, Keaton just went for the laugh like a killer on a spree. But by the time he hit features, it was extremely important that his gags were anchored in his character's reality. A great example of this is that by the time he does Seven Chances, he's no longer wearing slap-shoes. The young man was a viable bachelor looking for a bride, not a clown looking for places to insert laughs. A great example of this is The General. All of the laughs had to be in the context of the Civil War, the train chase, and the character's recapture of his kidnapped girlfriend. It works. The laughs seem real. We can relate. Many times Keaton would say his leading ladies were only props, but in his features, they work better a fleshed out characters than any of the other great comedians features. Keaton knew how to anchor his gags in reality, not make them jagged to knock you out of it.