Scene: Man climbs atop hot-air balloon, moored near fairground. Balloon un-tethers and takes to the sky.
So begins comedic magic, at least in theory. The theory presumes that such a promising premise, executed by Buster Keaton, can only soar. And why not? The man could build a gag out of any situation; the more static, the less animated, the more limited, the better. Surely a balloon basket would be Keaton’s ultimate creative outlet—slung as it is beneath a fragile airbag, at the mercy of weather, birds, planes, leaking pouches of sand; all of them posing lethal consequences. A man in a balloon must do anything to keep aloft—anything—and that means The Balloonatic could have gone anywhere Keaton wished. So why does it only go down?
