Never Again

[cabinetman]

I don't think there will ever be the entertainment in the future like I grew up with and still enjoy. Maybe it was the black and white early filming techniques, but I sure miss these guys, man were they funny.

Laurel and Hardy
Buster Keaton
Charlie Chaplin
Abbot and Costello
Marx Brothers
The Three Stooges
.

[crokett]

I will take all of them except the Three Stooges. I've watched enough of them to decide that once you've seen a few of their shows you've more or less seen them all.

I do remember in the Laurel and Hardy movie 'Chumps At Oxford' hiding behind the couch during the ghost scene in the maze. I was 3 or 4 at the time.

[RayintheUK]

I think that Laurel & Hardy moving that piano is one of the all-time greats.

That said, there are some present-day comics that appeal to my somewhat warped and cynical sense of humor, such as Lewis Black, Steve McGrew, Eddie Izzard (especially "Darth Vader in the Death Star Canteen"), Kevin Meaney and Michael McIntyre.

Ray

[Photojosh]

There is lots of great stuff from the past that beats stuff from the present. But like music and power tools, this is one of those "back in the day" things where I can't agree with my elders.

Sure, the old school guys were funny. But recent times have been a great age in comedy. SNL is up and down, but some of the up cycles (adam sandler, chris farley, norm macdonald, will ferrall) have been as funny as anything I've ever seen on TV. The Daily Show & Colbert Report have taken comedy (and news) in a direction few would have thought possible. South Park consistently comes up with hilariously scathing (and accurate) commentary on all sorts of current events and "sacred cows". Comedians like Lewis Black, Chris Rock, Brian Regan, Dave Chappelle and Jim Gaffigan are amazing at stand up comedy. And finally, the advent of web video has opened up the doors to anyone with a computer and something they think might be funny. Yeah, a lot of it is junk. But sometimes you hit gold.

Old comedy is great. But new comedy is just as great. And perhaps greater, depending on your taste.

[Uncle Cracker]

Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin were hysterical together, and the whole Carol Burnett crew. And don't forget Cheech and Chong...

[herb fellows]

For my 2 cents worth, the Marx brothers, headed up by Groucho, were way ahead of their time. The slapstick part was fun, but the intelligence of the comedy was astounding for its day. Groucho making entreaties to Margaret Dumont went so far over the top that you had to laugh, you didn't have a choice.
Not to mention 'don't leave in a huff, leave in a minute and a huff'. This may sound moronic when it is taken out of context, but the delivery was extraordinary!
Even watching the old 'You Bet your Life' shows, the one liners he came up with were truly brilliant. If Groucho had chosen to do topical political humor (as my favorite comedians do today), I think it would have been devastatingly funny.

[germdoc]

I was and am a 3 Stooges fanatic. It is a good test for presence of a "Y" chromosome--if ya love 'em, you're probably a genetic male. (Not 100% accurate, I will admit.)

I also love all the above comics, although with the exception of Charlie Chaplin I can't really get into the silent era films.

I am not really into "comedy" per se these days, though I think Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert are able to push the genre into new territory. They are definitely the best at what they do. Late night comedy pretty much maxed out when Letterman was starting out, although I find Letterman and O'Brien occasionally amusing, but certainly not cutting edge.

Personally I wish I had been around in the 60's and 70's to see (in person) Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, Andy Kaufman, George Carlin, Jonathan Winters, Bob Newhart, Woody Allen and Richard Pryor at their prime. Or to see Don Rickles and other stalwarts of the Rat Pack era when they were cooking.

[Uncle Cracker]

If you had a leather ear, a lot of the club acts and records of Redd Foxx were hysterical. Made Richard Pryor look like a Boy Scout, and definitely not for everybody. Some of you Sanford and Son devotees might already know that Redd's real last name was actually Sanford.

[Jcrawf]

A heads-up for those who may not know:
The entire series in which Bob Newhart plays a New England innkeeper (his best, I think, other than his monologues) can be watched free on Hulu.com
Jack

[Ed62]

A heads-up for those who may not know:
The entire series in which Bob Newhart plays a New England innkeeper (his best, I think, other than his monologues) can be watched free on Hulu.com
Jack

That series had the greatest finale that I can remember. He woke up in the morning, next to Susan Pleshette (his wife on a former series), and told her he had the strangest dream that he was an innkeeper in Vermont.

Ed

[LinuxRandal]

A heads-up for those who may not know:
The entire series in which Bob Newhart plays a New England innkeeper (his best, I think, other than his monologues) can be watched free on Hulu.com
Jack

I am pretty sure, there was more then one season of that, and only one season appears on Hulu.

[JoeyGee]

For my 2 cents worth, the Marx brothers, headed up by Groucho, were way ahead of their time. The slapstick part was fun, but the intelligence of the comedy was astounding for its day. Groucho making entreaties to Margaret Dumont went so far over the top that you had to laugh, you didn't have a choice.
Not to mention 'don't leave in a huff, leave in a minute and a huff'. This may sound moronic when it is taken out of context, but the delivery was extraordinary!
Even watching the old 'You Bet your Life' shows, the one liners he came up with were truly brilliant. If Groucho had chosen to do topical political humor (as my favorite comedians do today), I think it would have been devastatingly funny.

I second that. The Marx Brothers are by far my favorite. The stateroom scene in A Night at the Opera (I could be wrong on the movie) is one of the funniest scenes I have ever seen. LOML watched it once with me and asked me why it was so funny, and I really didn't know, but was shocked she didn't find it funny. I guess humor is like that. I don't see the humor in the Stooges at all. To each his own.

[Bruce Cohen]

Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin were hysterical together, and the whole Carol Burnett crew. And don't forget Cheech and Chong...

Hey Crack,

A good portion of my younger years WAS a Cheech & Chong routine.

Bruce

[sparkeyjames]

I'll take the Three Stooges and Abbot and Costello the rest I never cared for. The Stooges helped fill my childhood afternoons with a half hour of complete zaniness. My favorite memories of the Stooges are all Curly skits. I even have a Three Stooges neck tie (yes it is with Curly). The odd Abbot and Costello half hour thrown in was ok too.

[Uncle Cracker]

Hey Crack,

A good portion of my younger years WAS a Cheech & Chong routine.

Bruce

Which of them was you? (I'm guessing from your name that it was probably not "Cheech")