John "YoYo" Yossarian

Yossarian is a U.S. Army Air Forces bombardier stationed on a Mediterranean island in World War II, and he wants exactly one thing: to stop flying missions before they kill him. He's convinced strangers are trying to murder him, which, given the war, is simply true. He schemes, malingers, and pleads with anyone who'll listen.

Christopher Abbott plays the sanest man in an insane system, which means he has to register as funny and correct at the same time — panicked logic delivered with a straight face. The performance finds the horror underneath the absurdity without ever softening the joke, so his fear reads as the only rational response in the room.