A good comedy?

[Shoot_Me_Now]

i'm currently writing a paper on Dumb and Dumber and wheter or not its a good comedy. (Definately is) What do you guys think are some good criteria for a good comedy. i got good jokes that aren't korny, some kind of storyline, good acting, one liners or good qoutable lines. Need about one or two more to meet the length requirement, andy help will be much appricated.

Thanks,

Shooter

[CHRIST]

mustaches a la super troopers

[Shoot_Me_Now]

mustaches a la super troopers

Haha great movie but elaborating on how mustaches make a good comedy good be problematic. Maybe i'll go with something goofy with the actor since Jim Carey has a chipped tooth in dumb and dumber.

[Cancer]

I would say some good traits in a comedy would be: Good chemistry between the actors, INTELLIGENT jokes (like things that reference major events in the past (UNLIKE Anna Nichole Smith or other celebrities) or clever jokes), variety in the jokes, music to accompany the tone and theme, no or very few cli che' jokes (such as ninjas or the like), at least a few very simple jokes such as a good pun or two, not just non-stop silliness, at least in some way original, not so outrageous that you can't get into it but not so serious that you forget you're watching a movie (in my opinion).

Well that's about all I can think of at the moment. You might not agree with all of those but those are some I think of when I think of my favorite movies.

[Shoot_Me_Now]

Nice ideas Cancer. Chemistry one is great idea.

[norm]

http://www.marx-brothers.org/

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Go5-cUBXEk"]YouTube - The Best of The Marx Brothers' Films- Part I[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycZJZY5uPh0"]YouTube - Marx Brothers - "I'll Say She Is"[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM01v_vVnbg"]YouTube - Groucho Goes to War on False Pretenses[/ame]
made great comedies

Masters at mayhem. They took any normal situation and just went at it like a tornado. Also used comedy to get away with political and social commentary.

http://www.threestooges.com/

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwirWWnzJKM"]YouTube - Stooges Pie Fight[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53xJOMgRyPA"]YouTube - The Three Stooges: Curly bakes a cake Uncivil Warriors 1935[/ame]

Very good at slapstick and could nail a one liner better then anyone else. Really did a good job making the absurd situations they got in seem believable.

Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton were both pioneers in comedy. Chaplin used humor and showed emotion at the same time. He made you care for who he was playing. Keaton made you fear for his life with his comedy. Did some amazing stunts at the time that many other still copy today.

From there you can hit Mel Brooks who's work with spoofs is amazing.

I tend to judge a lot of comedy on those above folks. When you watch their movies you'll see the laughs come easy. In Dumb and Dumber there are some good laughs, but to me more are forced then they are natural.

[/ my two cents]

[MajinTony]

"Dumb and Dumber" is more of a sight gag/physical comedy. Dumb haircuts, dog dressed vans, blind kid petting dead bird, explosive diareah, brawls at fancy parties. The story line is more of an excuse for silly things to happen on the way to the conclusion. There are a few dialogue jokes to emphasize the main character's stupidity, but for the most part the jokes come from a visual gag, i.e. getting your tongue stuck to a frozen ski lift.

To contrast that, you could look at a movie like "This is Spinal Tap." You get a ton more quotes from a movie like that ("because this one goes to eleven") because the humor comes from the interaction and banter from the cast of characters. There are one or two sight gags in it like the mini stone henge, but all the funniest moments of that movie are just the conversations themselves. The Office is a lot like that. Nothing on The Office is visually funny realy, it's mostly comentary and dialogue that gets gets me rolling.