Ben Robinson
What is it that makes a comedy movie funny? Well, off the bat, I would have to say it has to be pure. I need that concentrated humour. 87% pure, laced with just enough lame to help you breathe. When I bring that comedy to my vein I want it to cut home, cut deep, make me laugh, make me weep. I want to laugh so hard that I stop being aware of the guy next to me. I want to stop worrying – if I laugh at this, will my friend judge me? In short, I want anything but a romantic comedy.
So what are the good comedy movies? In my eyes, there are certain players who own the genre. SNL Studios. You got your Mike Myers, the live action godfather of Family Guy. Adam Sandler, the perfect representation of all of our childhoods. Chris Farley, the fulfillment of that fat-man-martyr. Rob Schneider, the weirdo sycophant who made the grade by working hard. Chris Rock, the outrageous black man who, despite his energy, is clearly smarter than you. And most recently, Will Ferrell, the mediocre comedian who is famous because someone from SNL in every era has to be (see the 1994 movie It’s Pat).
Then there is the old guard: John Belushi, the Jesus Christ of the SNL star factory. Dan Aykroyd, a very good comedian who has made very good movies, yet many people don’t remember his name. Bill Murray, who gets better with age. Unofficial cast member Steve Martin, who was born old. Eddie Murphy, sellout. Chevy Chase, sellout. Billy Crystal, sellout. All of the above have made movies that are worth watching. SNL is often referred to as a university for comedy. Or maybe you have to already be funny to get into SNL. Or maybe, especially in the case of Will Ferrell, it is merely the case of a certain studio having momentum.
I also kind of consider The Kids in the Hall as part of the SNL crew. Producer of SNL, Lorne Michaels, also produced KITH. Bruce McCulloch and Mark McKinney were writers for SNL at one time, and Mark was a cast member for a season or two. Bruce directed the SNL film Superstar and Mark had a small role in it. As for Kids in the Hall, Brain Candy is the finest work of cinema ever made. The Wrong Guy starring Dave Foley was also a fine piece of work.
Then there are the other sketch breeding grounds. SCTV is the Canadian SNL. Joe Flaherty, imo, is the funniest of the SCTV alumni, though his work seems concentrated on television. Eugene Levy is probably the most successful, which is annoying, because I think he’s one of the least funny. Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis were early achievers with Strange Brew. Ghostbusters was the legacy of the Second City stage shows more than SCTV, with Harold Ramis among the cast members. Harold Ramis would go on to be the director of a lot of major comedy movies.
In Living Color gave us Jim Carrey and the Wayans family. Every member of the Wayans family is hilarious. Starting with Keenan Ivory Wayans and his movie A Low Down Dirty Shame. Ending with Marlon Wayans and the Scary Movie francise. In Living Color allowed Jim Carrey to make a transition, from monologue driven standup to the free for all style sketch humour, that was needed to develop the madness of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.
Mr Show brought us the movie Run, Ronnie, Run. Bob Odenkirk was a temporary part of the SNL team, in a similar way to Mark McKinney. David Cross deserves better than what has been given him. His parts in Arrested Development and Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind are below his talents. Jack Black got his start on Mr Show. Sara Silverman, who is not a movie star per se but probably will be eventually, also appeared on Mr Show.
Then there are the independents. I’m not quite sure where the 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad, and Walk Hard guys are from, but they are good. Ghost World was good and so was But I’m a Cheerleader. It is good that the little guy wins from time to time, because then we get people like Kevin Smith. Innovation usually comes from movies like these.
So what makes a good comedy movie? I’m not allowed to tell you. It is a secret. A good movie is like pornography. There is no scientific description that a robot mind could use to separate the good and pornographic movie from the bad and merely mildly arousing movies. I do find I can usually tell just from the commercials. Either a comedy movie is good all the way through, or it is bad all the way through.
Eat pasta. Be merry.
