The perfect Saturday night for me is settling down with a curry with some funny videos. There are so many to choose from, I am spoilt for choice. My favorite genre is the romantic comedy, both golden oldies and modern ones. Basically, any rom com with Cary Grant, Rock Hudson, Jimmy Stewart or Doris Day does the trick. The best recent offering has to be When Harry Met Sally. I know they are predictable but I don’t care. In fact, it’s the very predictability that makes them so charming.
Silent, slapstick movies don’t really do it for me. I know that people collect funny videos of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Laurel and Hardy etc. but they’re not funny to me. I prefer verbal humor, the clever play on words and snappy one-liners to people falling over or getting custard pies in the face. I do recognize the skill in that sort of comedy however, and they make it look easy when it must be difficult to get the timing exactly right.
It’s not just movies that tickle my funny bone. There have been some excellent American comedy TV series of late that are thankfully available as funny videos. I still mourn the passing of Frasier and Friends, the two funniest situation comedies ever written. I like the animation series too, such as The Simpsons, Family Guy and King of the Hill. After a bad day at work or during a bout of the ‘flu, you can’t feel down watching Homer causing another nuclear explosion.
Classic comedy only comes around every so often. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon are superb in Some Like It Hot. To see them tottering around on high heels makes it one of the best funny videos around. The Pink Panther movies with Peter Sellers are also classics. More recently, A Fish Called Wanda with its fine ensemble cast is a film I can watch over and over. The cast included John Cleese and Michael Palin, of Monty Python’s Flying Circus fame. The Python films are classics too, especially Life of Brian. My funny videos collection also includes several Mel Brooks films. Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein are terrific examples of how to do a parody well.
If I’m feeling really low, I know the film that can’t fail to raise a giggle. I settle down with the popcorn and slap in Spinal Tap. The tale of a hapless heavy metal band is a work of genius. Of course, fans of the movie will know that the volume has to be turned all the way up to 11.
Tags: american comedy, charlie chaplin, classic comedy, comedy tv series, fish called wanda, mel brooks, mel brooks films, monty python, pink panther movies, situation comedies
