Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Humor

A comment I just made to Bob made me think about what's funny to me. My very favorite of all is British humor along the lines of Monty Python, Eddie Izzard, Peter Sellers, Christopher Guest, Dudley Moore & Peter Cook (Beyond the Fringe), Hugh Laurie & Stephen Fry's Jeeves & Wooster and Fry & Laurie, Blackadder, Graham Norton, Ab Fab, Billy Connelly, Craig Ferguson, Ricky Gervais, Russell Brand, Alistair Coleman aka Scaryduck, and just regular Brits with that droll, self-deprecating hilarity. Benny Hill was too over-the-top for me, but I've seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail so many times that I have most of it memorized. As Hank Azaria said when he began rehearsals for Spamalot, he's been off-book since he was 12.


Stephen Fry & Hugh Laurie as Jeeves and Wooster

I enjoy puns but am not as quick and prolific as Kim, Aled, and Rik are. They are the champs. The Most Excellent Dawn ranks right in there with them, too. Their bantering in the comments sections of their blogs is always entertaining.

Mel Brooks is hilarious, and I have watched Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights many times. The others, not so much. I'm also a big fan of William Goldman - The Princess Bride and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, especially. Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies makes me laugh when he just stands there with that expression on his face.


There are many American comedians who nearly always make me laugh (or did) - Steve Martin, Chris Rock, Richard Pryor, Martin Short, Robin Williams, Ellen DeGeneres, Carol Burnett, George Carlin, Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Dana (Jose Jiminez), Don Novello (Father Guido Sarducci), the Smothers Brothers, Tina Fey, Whoopi Goldberg, Stephen Wright, Mike Nichols & Elaine May, Bob Newhart, Paula Poundstone, Wanda Sykes, Lily Tomlin, and that's all I can think of off the top of my head other than David Dust.


Do not like: Sascha Baron Cohen, Andy Dick, Carrot Top, Gilbert Gottfried, Kathy Griffin, Howie Mandel, Pauly Shore, Ben Stiller (but liked his parents comedy duo - Stiller & Meara), and Sarah Silverman (makes me cringe). (Edit: After Miss Ginger's comment and paying more attention to her comedy, I struck out Kathy Griffin's name from this list.)

I don't like slap-stick or put-down routines that make me squirm too much. It's hard to define because some of it is funny and some just comes across as mean. The Three Stooges are much more popular with males than with females, enough so that it could be a test. As much as I love Lucy, some of those shows made me tired because of the mess that had to be cleaned up. I don't like those adolescent male movies like American Pie, Porky's, and that type because I was around that way too long teaching teenagers!

Some on my list are comedians and some are comedic actors and writers. It's not a complete list but close. I appreciate and love comedy. We use it daily in my extended family since many of us think like stand-up comedians. It's a blessing and a curse! :-)

9 comments:

Eric Arvin said...

I think it's interesting that the same guy who wrote Princess Bride also wrote Butch Cassidy...lol.

David Dust said...

Auntie Flame -

You can hardly put a little-ole blogger like me in the same company as Steve Martin and Carol Burnett!! :)

Recapping Project Runway is one thing - but Carol Burnett doing "Went with the Wind" in a dress made out of curtains (complete with curtain rod) is LEGENDARY.

But I appreciate the sentiment - you are just TOO SWEET!

Now how good are you at fixing computers?...

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Love You! Love Your Lists!!!

the dogs' mother said...

My brother, as a teenager, used to have whole skits from Monty Python memorized. (He probably still does!)

Joy said...

William Goldman is a screenwriting legend! Not only did he write those two, but also screenplays for the original Stepford Wives, All the President's Men, The Great Waldo Pepper, Marathon Man, Heat (novel and screenplay), Misery, Chaplin, Maverick, The General's Daughter, and rumor has it that he wrote most of Good Will Hunting (script doctor).

DD, you've made me laugh just as much as they have!

FP, my son and I can still do the "Penguin on the Television" routine and most of the Norwegian parrot that's only sleeping and pining for the fjords.

Joy said...

I never saw The Young Ones but will try to find it.

Miss Ginger Grant said...

I agree with you totally on all but one point! i LOVE Kathy Griffin, although I abhor the others you lumped with her! I think she is in a completely different league then that troop! She is insightful, open minded, adn hilarious! And the bitches that she depricates totally deserve it!

Joy said...

I agree with you that Kathy Griffin isn't in the same category with those others on that list. You made a good point. :-)

Unknown said...

Your power of recall is simply amazing, encyclopedic, mind blowing. It's pretty much why i don't do some of the tags. I can only come up with a couple of names for books, movies, etc. and then for a week after I do the tag other titles come to mind. you pull these together like nobody's business.
In awe-
Charlie

Joy said...

Charlie - Wikipedia's list of comedians was a helpful reminder of some I didn't recall. Google is my friend. Thanks but don't be in awe.