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The Demise of Physical Comedy
- b0rsuk 7y agoIn a way, physical comedy still exists, but it's not official. The popularity of "instant karma" gifs or subreddit, youtube pranks, freak accidents. I think the last great slapstick actor was Jackie Chan though. I mean the need is there, but no one caters to it.
- microtherion 7y agoYes. For the longest time I did not watch any "martial arts" movies, because I was not interested in people fighting. But Jackie Chan's movies are really primarily physical comedy: https://youtu.be/0ZFr4uiR5x0 https://youtu.be/0ZFr4uiR5x0
- WalterBright 7y agoJackie Chan's "fight" scenes are actually dances. If you watch carefully, you'll realize that they are choreographed to metronome precision. Next time you watch one, try tapping your feet to the moves. You'll see :-)
- mopsi 7y agoIndeed! There is a great video essay about Jackie Chan's style (and how it differs from standard Hollywood action movies) on "Every Frame a Painting" Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1PCtIaM_GQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1PCtIaM_GQ
- Sophistifunk 7y agoAlso anything with Sammo Hung
- pdonis 7y ago> If you watch carefully, you'll realize that they are choreographed to metronome precision. In the one in Shanghai Nights, they didn't even leave it to your imagination, the whole scene was choreographed to Singin' in the Rain.
- Fricken 7y agoI love Jackie Chan, but I don't recall laughing at any of his jokes. Mostly I'm amazed at the creativity and athleticism of Jackie and his stunt team. I miss the days when stuntmen got top billing. Harold Lloyd, Douglas Fairbanks, Errol Flynn and Buster Keaton were all awesome. The talking heads have made it illegal to be a great stunt performer in Hollywood. If you're into that kind of thing you need to get a Red Bull sponsorship, join the Cirque du Soleil, or take up skateboarding.
- wmichelin 7y agoWould you consider Jackass to be a different category?
- vharuck 7y agoI don't know if Jackass was slapstick. The only parts I remember finding funny weren't the stunts. The stunts were more about shock, going over the top, and showing the real outcomes.
- naringas 7y agoI think part of the issue is the cost of those kinds of movies. I heard Jackie Chan talk about in an interview. All those great funny stunts aren't really due to anyone's amazing talent. They would just shoot as many takes as they had to. And that's just more expensive.
- b0rsuk 7y agoThis might be the reason behind the disappearance of professional physical comedy. I mean, practical (special) effects have largely disappeared too because computer (special) effects are usually cheaper. Slapstick requires not just a sense of humor but also fitness and real effort. I didn't get the impression Jackie said there wasn't talent. Talent is part of the equation, but yes, he openly stated it still took a lot of tries to get right. Most of his movies feature failed tries at the end to give you an idea.
- gowld 7y agoThere isn't enough film in the world to get a good take of me doing what Jackie Chan does.
- notadoc 7y agoStaged slapstick doesn't have the same appeal to a generation accustomed to people recording others doing stupid things with their cell phone, which is the new physical comedy (even though many of those viral clips are staged too). The demise of comedy in general is a much more pertinent issue. Political correctness and outrage culture has hobbled the ability to confront hard subjects through humor.
- Broken_Hippo 7y agoDo you really need to make fun of someone disadvantaged to have comedy? Do folks not approach things like rape and discrimation and dealing with American cops with comedy? Have you not seen the bit by.. Josh Johnson? ... where he accidentally catfishes the KKK? Or watched Frankie Boyle? Or the Mash Report? It is pretty obvious there is plenty of comedy out there that approaches difficult and tough subjects through humor. Society is becoming less tolerant of racism and sexism and homophobia and things like that - you know, the political correctness of it. If your comedy includes making fun of men for being too "gay" or women for being too manly... sure, political correctness has caused a demise in your sort of humor, and good riddance.
- aantix 7y agoIn order to confront truths, you're going to risk being offensive. There are plenty of logical inconsistencies, fallacies, half-truths, that every social tribe adopts that need a mirror to reveal their ridiculousness. Some may only be observed as an outsider from the group. This is the service comedy has always provided. We are humans. We are fallible.
- notadoc 7y agoUnfortunately there is historical precedent to comedic intolerance. Royalty would occasionally have their court jesters put to death, for example.
- Broken_Hippo 7y agoI specifically mentioned Frankie Boyle because folks tend to find him offensive. He also hosts a show talking about serious-ish topics, generally in a funny tone. The others were just comedic takes on more serious stuff. But really, they were examples of comedy that the person claimed was hobbled as a result of political correctness - and I don't see it as the case at all. Comedy simply isn't what it was 30 years ago, but at the same time... comedy isn't what it was 50 years ago either.
- css 7y agoThis article focuses wholly on the death-related or injury-related aspects of physical comedy and none of the others, for example the excellent use of a non-functional set in The Play that Goes Wrong (which The New Yorker reviews quite highly [0]). [0] https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-play-that-goes-wrong-is-quite-good https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-play-that...
- jfengel 7y agoIndeed, physical comedy is alive and well in the theater. It may be that physical comedy has a better impact in theater, where it's live, and they're taking the (apparent) risks right in front of you. On film, modern wire work enables a lot of great action, but undercuts the immediacy of it. Jackie Chan did amazing physical comedy on film, because you knew that he was taking Harold Lloyd-type risks. Physical comedy in the theater is a bit like stage magic: it's practiced carefully and controlled so that they can do it safely every single time. Professional wrestling is also a kind of live physical comedy, taking much bigger risks than any actor would do (and way more than the actors' unions would tolerate).
- vangale 7y agoI love this video from "Every Frame a Painting" which also mourns the loss of physical comedy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FOzD4Sfgag https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FOzD4Sfgag
- coldtea 7y agoWell, there he mourns visual comedy, which is not exactly the same (you can have visual comedy without physical comedy -- well, aside from the performer doing its thing). Visual comedy could be made in the editing, backgrounds, etc (as in many examples given in the video) even if the actors don't do physical comedy at all.
- hencq 7y agoTrue of course, though the video does have some examples of physical comedy as well; no 7 in his list for example. Personally I love this example from Hot Stuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30kUNex1cuI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30kUNex1cuI
- carapace 7y ago> a new Harold Lloyd is unthinkable because physical comedy depends on the proximity and possibility of death I don't agree with that. Gwyneth Paltrow is amazing at physical comedy. I can't remember the movie but there's a scene where she's getting out of a cab and she just falls over and it's friggin' hilarious. No death in sight. Certainly death, properly appreciated, is funny. The only thing more absurd than death is sex. The reason physical comedy is so physically dangerous is that, generally, it's only funny if you go for it and that naturally causes injuries. Like playing football, or WWE wrestling. Half-assing it isn't going to be entertaining.
- synlatexc 7y agoSeconded. To me physical comedy is about physicality: the body, its gestures and movements. Can it involve pain or the possibility of death? Sure, but that's not essential. I was always a fan of John Ritter in Three's Company. He'd flail about in every episode, almost falling or tripping or just making crazy expressions with his face.
- nkrisc 7y agoI find Jackie Chan's physical comedy to be superb. It also doubles as incredible fight scenes. His fight scenes and stunts are riddled with humor.
- QuesnayJr 7y agoKaitlin Olson did a very funny pratfall on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia that ends with her running full-speed into the door of a taxi. Part of what makes it funny is that it's so real, but she had to regularly see a chiropractor after that.
- XorNot 7y agoWhile I believe she may have suffered genuine impairment, chiropractors are charlatans who's entire business model is signing you up for a recurring treatment plan. They are not physiotherapists, who actually practice useful rehabilitation.
- galago 7y agoChris Farley as Matt Foley on Halloween: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LyqPdZjQTY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LyqPdZjQTY I think the ending of this sketch is a kind of masterpiece.
- bytematic 7y agoThe first thing I did on OP's article is ctrl+f "chris farley"
- krustyburger 7y agoMichael Richards really tarnished his legacy post-Seinfeld, but his physical comedy on that show was also top-notch.
- DrFunke 7y agoWhat does his legacy post-Seinfeld have to do with physical comedy, other than to virtue-signal?
- amriksohata 7y agoPeople are no longer satisfied by simple comedy, they don't get their kicks as easily due to faster paced life, they need more, dirty jokes etc
- d--b 7y agoMmmh, I don't know about this stunts arguments. Cartoons have had success with physical comedy for decades. Yet, everybody knew that no real coyote flew off a cliff... I think that slapstick is simply overdone. We've seen so much of it that it's just not funny anymore...
- larrik 7y agoI think Brooklyn Nine-Nine nails physical comedy for a modern era. Andy Samberg in particular has some great moments of physical comedy in it.
- chmaynard 7y agoThe article seems to have overlooked the Blue Man Group. Their schtick definitely has elements of physical comedy.
- WalterBright 7y ago> has been moralized out of existence. I don't find slapstick, pratfalls, etc., funny anymore for different reasons. It just isn't funny. But I still enjoy Laurel & Hardy, but not for the slapstick. It's more for the irrational logic the L&H characters use, which is on great display in the one where they move the piano up the stairs, and in the one where they sell Christmas trees door to door. The running gags are funny because you know what is going to happen. You know the piano is going to get destroyed (who would hire L&H to move a piano, and the sound effects as the piano gets insulted are very funny in foretelling its impending demise), but somehow that makes it even funnier. You know when Ollie steps in a puddle it'll be 5 feet deep, and the funny part isn't so much him getting wet it's his long-suffering expression looking directly into the camera when he surfaces. It makes me laugh just thinking about it. Monty Python's pratfalls aren't funny, either, but when they have a knight in armor fall down the stairs, it's not the fall that's funny, its the foley sound effect of a metal garbage can going down the stairs that's funny.
- colordrops 7y agoHave you seen any Jim Carrey movies? Mostly physical humor and some of the most gut-bustingly funny humor I've ever experienced.
- WalterBright 7y agoI confess to laughing when he ran into the jetway to board his already-departed flight, only to fall out the other end of it. Thank you, Jim, for that great laugh!
- growlist 7y agoI know it's not physical, but: 'Austria? Well g'day, mate!'
- WalterBright 7y agoNot physical comedy either, but Rodney Dangerfield's "Back to School" is so packed with great one-liners from Rodney that it needs repeated viewings. Flash Gordon (1980) has lots of physical comedy, but that isn't the real funny stuff. It's Ming's dry wit that is comedy gold. "Are your men on the right pills?"
- acollins1331 7y agoGood! Ill see videos where there are dozens of people just laughing at videos of people falling over or getting kicked in the nuts or something else painful to them... It's so cringe. When I see a video of a tree fall on someone's head I cringe and feel terrible, not laugh. People are psychopaths, maybe I'm just an empath.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- growlist 7y agoWe still have some of this in the UK: Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean), Lee Evans (There's Something About Mary).
- deanCommie 7y agoComedy is about surprise. As culture evolves, and as new ideas grow, you can mine intellectual and verbal discourse for comedy that will continue to be surprising. Can you do the same with physical comedy? Are there new boundaries or new frontiers to mine there?
- WilTimSon 7y agoI'm puzzled by this take. Just because we don't have daredevils like Buster Keaton letting houses fall on top of them doesn't mean physical comedy is dead. Someone in the thread has already pointed out Kaitlin Olson's excellent work on IASIP and I'd second her with a recommendation for The Mick. Similarly, there's the wonderful Inside No. 9, which often features great physical performances (not all episodes are comedy though.) Just because we don't see it as often doesn't mean it's dead. The trends ebb and flow but good physical comedy still exists.
- dsr_ 7y agoHere's my counterexample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkBb4FWHxhI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkBb4FWHxhI Here's where you know Bill Irwin from, depending on your age: - voice and motions for TARS in Interstellar - repeat character on Law and Order: SVU - Mr. Noodle on Sesame Street - main cast member in Legion (one of the Cary Loudermilks) Bill is proof that physical comedy is still relevant.
- chrisdone 7y agoI think physical comedy just has a broader audience, which worked well in silent movies and thereafter. The broadness is also why it’s considered cheap and used sparingly. It’s like shouting. As Friends went on and the writing got lazier every character was shouting all the time. But a recent example of a well done pratfall I saw in a show mostly about dialog and editing was Modern Family (season 2) where Cameron turns to give his husband a kiss who pulls back (due to discomfort with public displays of affection, the theme of the episode) and Cameron overleans and falls head over heels over the back of the sofa quite roughly; he’s a big guy too. I laughed a lot partly in surprise because I basically never see a pratfall in comedy shows I like.
- clucas 7y agoYeah, using it sparingly is key. Tobias in Arrested Development would occasionally have pratfalls that always got me. And just yesterday I saw this video, where the physical comedy caught me off guard and had me laughing harder than I have in a long time: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VzwVIakdxks https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VzwVIakdxks Of course my wife was only mildly amused, and she loves Oh Hello. No accounting for taste in humor, I suppose.
- LIV2 7y ago"We shan't be telling your mother this, shan't we" I lost it when I saw that https://youtu.be/tt8Iwf_87eY https://youtu.be/tt8Iwf_87eY
- paulific 7y agoThe Monty Python custard pie lecture is also hilarious.
- yencabulator 7y agoPerfect example of great physical comedy with no risk of death.
- gerbilly 7y agoMeredith MacNeill from the Baroness Von Sketch show does a lot of physical comedy: https://www.facebook.com/cbc/videos/healthy-eating-is-simple-its-not-easy-but-its-simple-httpbitly2hsnm9m/1882889105364998/ https://www.facebook.com/cbc/videos/healthy-eating-is-simple...
- flashman 7y agoI'd argue physical comedy is more difficult than spoken comedy, because any fool can deliver a line but it takes a master to sell you a fall. Is it any wonder that physical comedy was more popular in the silent film era?
- mjpuser 7y agoI dunno, man. Delivery is a thing.
- thrower123 7y agoMy suspicion is that physical comedy is less relatable because the modern audience is less acquainted with physicality in general. Slapstick doesn't have quite have the same point if you've never given or received a slap, and making light of grievous injury and workplace accidents doesn't have the same ring when those aren't everyday facts of life.
- Kapura 7y agoHas the author of this piece never been on youtube, or worldstar, or twitter, vine, tiktok... Physical comedy still exists, the risks have just been relegated to the masses, rather than the comedian who wants to have a long career free of pain. Further, slapstick still has a lot of life in cartoons. The old Loony Tunes and Merry Melodies were chock full of physical comedy, and modern cartoons continue to carry that torch. Physical Comedy isn't in decline, it's just moved out of the mainstream.
- mc32 7y agoI do not know. If it’s out of the “main” stream then almost by definition it would be in decline. Unless the mainstream was more of a small plurality rather than a large one, which could be the case?
- austhrow743 7y agoThose things are the mainstream.
- ravenstine 7y agoThere's big a difference between actual physical comedy and watching some guy get hit in the nut sack on YouTube.
- unholythree 7y agoZach Galifianakis uses a fair amount of physical comedy. Some of the gags most likely to make me laugh in his show Baskets are physical, but it also has lots of situational humor and pathos. I think physical comedy used well can show what's funny about a character on a deeper internal level.
- mar77i 7y agoGender this, ethnicity that... I feel nothing reading that. Should I? I mean, isn't that... reinforcing isms we were striving to overcome as a society?
- gitgud 7y agoPhysical comedy is still prevalent in mainstream culture. I would argue that the best comedians use it sparingly, but they do use it. For example the show "The Trailerpark Boys" have reoccurring gags which depend on slapstick physical humour, and they always make me laugh. The slapstick comedy of the 1930's could be viewed with no context or even sound. I think it's evolved since then, the context (characters, plot, motivations) of the physical comedy matters a lot more now...
- aaron695 7y agoIf you look at developing countries they still have Physical Comedy. All that happens is as the countries education becomes more advanced the comedy becomes more abstract. Not just comedy, all forms of entertainment. Although I'd like to know if making fictional TV shows more abstract in developing countries would help push them forward. We know it pushes forward many things in a positive way.
- scarejunba 7y agoA Johnny English released last year. And there’s always Pink Panther.