This is going to be an odd question because I’m not entirely sure its a “thing” and even if it is, there may not be a name for it.
For people who watch the TSwJL (current version, not previous iterations), during the opening monologue, there are occasions where Jay goes on a quick joke-telling-spree punctuated by the band giving rimshots and playing a tune to accompany it. I can’t access Youtube right now, but its a famous “showbiz-y” tune, I think you’d recognize it when you hear it.
Anyway, the jokes are usually done not because they are especially good, but because he does them quickly and it sort of builds up I guess. He knows they are silly, some of them are just puns, but its mostly the rapidity of the jokes that makes them funny, not their quality.
When this happens, however, there is one band member, I can’t tell who, that doesn’t play any instrument during the segment. He is always doing something like adjusting his tie, looking around, and generally looking like he’s trying to be inconspicuous, like you would act if you slipped and fell while in public and had to get up and adjust your clothes embarrassingly. WTF is that guy doing? Is there a name for what he does? The camera almost never focuses on him, he’s always just in the background, but I’m guessing that’s designed too. I get the impression he’s acting like he’s telling the joke and embarrassed about them too, so that explains the tie/hat adjusting, the looking around. But is there a name/explanation for that thing he does?? This has bothered me for some time, I feel I should know this somehow…