A small seafoam-green toy camper van beside a blue miniature river with reeds and stones.

Original artwork, not a still

Matt Foley

My name is Matt Foley, I'm 35, divorced, and I LIVE IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER!

— Saturday Night Live  ·  1975

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The introduction builds from a name to age and marital status, then erupts into capital letters about living in a van. That sudden change in emphasis makes the last detail dominate everything before it. The form gives an ordinary personal introduction an excessive, comic intensity.

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