Buster Keaton noticed the opposite in his time. He mentioned in his autobiography that there was a silent comedian whose movies got bigger laughs than himself,

Buster Keaton noticed the opposite in his time. He mentioned in his autobiography that there was a silent comedian whose movies got bigger laughs than himself, Chaplin, or Lloyd. Lots of absurd cartoony stuff, like jumping into an empty swimming pool, then coming out of the hole with a Chinese family, or being shot out into space. Keaton noticed that guy's movies got bigger laughs, but audiences didn't remember scenes from his movies like they did for Chaplin and himself. If people remember lines from Airplane! it's not necessarily due to the absurdity. They could just be good lines. Try remembering a line from any of the Scary Movies.