In Roger Ebert’s review of This Is Spinal Tap, he explains how the Stonehenge gag is funny.
The audience knows the size of the Stonehenge prior to the band. We then laugh
to their reaction of the very undersized object. The order of the shots brings
about this desired effect. Now, in the most recent episode of Silicon Valley, “Binding Arbitration”,
the primary gag ends only when the credits roll. While this gag isn’t exact as
the one in Spinal Tap—i.e in how it’s
presented by the editing—I was still reminded of it. The episode felt, in the
same spirit, patient with its humor. No concern for quick and cheap laughs, but
clever.
