No red blooded American male will ever say that he doesn't like the slapstick of the Three Stooges. Not. One. But the slapstick towards the end of Home Alone (the first one) is about the most inspired slapstick I've ever seen.
I like farce, and both overstated and understated jokes. One of my favorite lines is still, "Wait a minute, Doc. You're telling me you made a time machine...out of a DeLorean?" Silly humor can be fun if well done and without self-conscience. I think of the Canadians Wayne and Shuster when I think of that. Loved their shtick. Did you know that they were Ed Sullivan's guests more often than any other performers? It's true.
Bob Newhart gets my vote for great understated humor. His stuttering and stammering are priceless. For farcical, outlandish humor It's either Monty Python's Flying Circus or the Marx Brothers. I give Python points for the often inspired cleverness of their insanity (Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!), but the Marx Brothers get the nod on comic timing. Even though it's been done a million, jillion times, you have to see Harpo and Groucho doing the mirror gag in Duck Soup. I still laugh out loud at it. Hell, I'm laughing out loud thinking about it.
Then there's unintended humor. Look up The Room or At Long Last Love for a taste of that. Sometimes people are so serious that it becomes funny. As the then movie critic Michael Medved said, "You haven't lived until you've seen the powder room scene in At Long Last Love."
Yes, I enjoy jocularity. How about you?
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