Episode 2 — Minisode: Comedy

[JulyDiaz 2797]

On this week’s minisode, Jack O’Brien & Michael Swaim discuss how comedy ages, the idea of a comedy vanishing point in culture, and the connection between comedy & the Flynn effect.

[wolfhaley 18]

Good points made. I'm 21 and trying to get into old comedy greats can be offputting at times because I don't always understand the references or the context of it. Wayne's World is a movie that I've seen probably 100 times as a kid on VHS and it was something that made total sense to me. When my mom first tried to show me old SNL, Blues Brothers, or Monty Python I didn't get it at all. We would watch John Belushi movies and she'd laugh so hard at anything he did. I didn't see what was so funny but she said with him it's all little movements in his face or an awkward way he was walking, kind of like a subtle physical comedy. I paid more attention after that and it makes sense to me now.

[NickPalladino 5]

Interesting. But you seem to blame any dislike of comedy as a result of differences in generation. It could just be your personal sense of humor is different. I think specifically you kept mentioning physical comedy as examples of things you don't "get" but maybe physical comedy isn't for you. I can't stand most musical comedy. So any stuff like that no matter how early I don't like.

 

Also I don't think SCTV is that great.

[PuncturedJesus 354]

I was born in 1985 and I love a lot of those things that were dismissed as being generational. Maybe it's because I was exposed to them at a very young age? I like Stripes just fine but I don't love it and I didn't first see it until 2007.

 

Oldest comedy I personally find funny? I like Buster Keaton a whole heck of a lot.

[pdxsean 241]

I remember the first time I heard the Barton Fink joke, I thought it was funny because I knew it was a "boring" movie. Then years later, after seeing it, I heard the joke again and it was WAY more funny. I can only imagine their disappointment, then confusion, then serious wtf feeling of watching that movie when they were expecting sex and more straightforward horror.

 

I've always felt guilty that I don't like Stripes and Animal House, I'm glad you brought that up. On the other hand, I love The Jerk which is basically the same era. I'd say Vacation and Fletch are the early movies on the "consistently funny" scale for me, and I was born in 1972.

[Johnny Unusual 525]

Good episode. Yeah, I never felt much towards Belushi, except that though his style wasn't my own, he was clearly far more talented than his brother. I think generation is a factor, but not the only factor. There's cultural effects and just personal stuff. But things change with the culture and some kinds of humour or elements of those kinds of humour don't carry over. Or they carry over so much that their influence is hidden after it becomes part of the background.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

I've always found the first half of "Stripes" to be pretty great, while the post-boot camp stuff kind of lost my interest, which is sort of like "Full Metal Jacket". ALSO hilarious.

[Johnny Unusual 525]

Same. The ridiculous RV stuff feels more police academy. If it ended when Bill Murray brought them out, then it would have been better. Bill Murray also greatly improve Meatballs. Watched that for the first time recently. Cute, but the best parts are with Murray and the boy he befriends. Also, the final race is surprisingly well done, in the way it focuses on the heavy breathing and the camera work doesn't feel like the usual still camera work I expect in a Reitman film.

[Bob Drillboids 181]

I gotta go with "The Little Rascals" as being the oldest comedy material that I find genuinely funny. Amongst influential classic comedy, I can't believe nobody's brought up "The Three Stooges" yet. Personally, I find it insufferable, but I've got a lot of friends with great taste who think it's absolutely hysterical.

[Bob Drillboids 181]

Speaking of which, great joke from Dr. Katz:

 

Andy Kindler: Dr. Katz, I've just discovered why women don't like The Three Stooges.

Dr. Katz: Why's that, Andy?

Andy Kindler: They're not funny.