List of Crap 128, Top 50 Slapstick Comedians and Teams

[stethacantus]

Bite me, I love Tommy Boy, it's great dumb fun, one of those 'pick-me-up when I'm down' types of movie.

There is a big difference between a movie being a good comedy and a movie being a bad comedy that the comedians in it save.  Animal House is an example of a good comedy. If you were to change it's cast you would still get laughs. Same thing with Airplane. Most of the Abbott & Costello films are examples of bad comedies. Take out Abbott and Costello and the Romcom part is the worst. A&C saved those movies by bringing in their own routines, throwing in ad libs,  and generally making their dismal lines funny. You have to ask yourself if Tommy Boy would still be funny if someone else was in the lead role. Was it funny without Farley and Spade, or was it funny because of them?

This all sounds like a case FOR them being a good comedy team. Elevating an otherwise average project.

No?

First of all, you need a director and/or producer who will allow the comedians to deviate from the script. A good example of this is Abbott and Costello. Universal allowed them to improvise lines and other stuff wile shooting scenes. M.G.M. didn't.  That is why the M.G.M. films made at the same time as the Universal films are a lot less funny.  I have no idea if they allowed Farley and Spade to improvise their own humor during shooting, allowed them to suggest gags to be added to the scripts, had gags in the scripts they had previously done on SNL, or were handed scripts that were complete turds and somehow made bad gags funny.  I can tell you this. If Garry Marshall had forced Robin Williams to stick to the script that was written for Happy Days, there would be no Mork & Mindy, and we wouldn't even know who Robin Williams is.    As for being a team, that would only happen if you could get both Farley and Spade to continue wanting to be in the same film. Maybe one or both want a solo career. Cheech & Chong were a very successful comedy team until Cheech decided he wanted a solo career. There are other hurtles for a Farley/Spade film team. Maybe when a film is offered one or the other doesn't want to be in it because they don't like the script, don't like the director, don't like the producer, don't like he co-stars, don't like the money being offered  or don't like the concept. Also, you need producers who want a team.  A producer may be thinking Farley is the funny one, so just cast Farley in a comedy and you won't need to pay Spade.

[Cyrusso]

I for one am shocked that Monty Python didn't catch the top spot.

[Charles Castle]

Bite me, I love Tommy Boy, it's great dumb fun, one of those 'pick-me-up when I'm down' types of movie.

There is a big difference between a movie being a good comedy and a movie being a bad comedy that the comedians in it save.  Animal House is an example of a good comedy. If you were to change it's cast you would still get laughs. Same thing with Airplane. Most of the Abbott & Costello films are examples of bad comedies. Take out Abbott and Costello and the Romcom part is the worst. A&C saved those movies by bringing in their own routines, throwing in ad libs,  and generally making their dismal lines funny. You have to ask yourself if Tommy Boy would still be funny if someone else was in the lead role. Was it funny without Farley and Spade, or was it funny because of them?

This all sounds like a case FOR them being a good comedy team. Elevating an otherwise average project.

No?

First of all, you need a director and/or producer who will allow the comedians to deviate from the script. A good example of this is Abbott and Costello. Universal allowed them to improvise lines and other stuff wile shooting scenes. M.G.M. didn't.  That is why the M.G.M. films made at the same time as the Universal films are a lot less funny.  I have no idea if they allowed Farley and Spade to improvise their own humor during shooting, allowed them to suggest gags to be added to the scripts, had gags in the scripts they had previously done on SNL, or were handed scripts that were complete turds and somehow made bad gags funny.  I can tell you this. If Garry Marshall had forced Robin Williams to stick to the script that was written for Happy Days, there would be no Mork & Mindy, and we wouldn't even know who Robin Williams is.    As for being a team, that would only happen if you could get both Farley and Spade to continue wanting to be in the same film. Maybe one or both want a solo career. Cheech & Chong were a very successful comedy team until Cheech decided he wanted a solo career. There are other hurtles for a Farley/Spade film team. Maybe when a film is offered one or the other doesn't want to be in it because they don't like the script, don't like the director, don't like the producer, don't like he co-stars, don't like the money being offered  or don't like the concept. Also, you need producers who want a team.  A producer may be thinking Farley is the funny one, so just cast Farley in a comedy and you won't need to pay Spade.

What do factors outside of Farley/Spade have to do with whether they are a good comedy team? If a production was middling, and they elevated it, that is not evidence of them not being a good comedy team.

Do you think there is an objective way of determining these things?

[stethacantus]

What do factors outside of Farley/Spade have to do with whether they are a good comedy team? If a production was middling, and they elevated it, that is not evidence of them not being a good comedy team.

Do you think there is an objective way of determining these things?

I have never said that they aren't a good comedy team. I am just pointing out that it doesn't really matter if they make a good team unless they actually become a team. Otherwise you get something like Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder who were only occasionally in the same film, and not something like Abbott and Costello.

[Charles Castle]

Assuming someone doesn't put Abbott and Costello in all 25 of their available rankings, it would make all the sense in the world to put Spade/Farley or Pryor/Wilder on a list.

[Pak-Man]

That was the challenge with this one. If you use the purest definition of Slapstick comedians, your options are fairly limited unless you're a major classic film buff. The only way I could get 25 on my list was to do a little stretching.

1. Leslie Neilson
2. The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard)
3. Jim Varney
4. Laurel and Hardy
5. Paul Reubens
6. The Marx Brothers
7. Rowan Atkinson
8. Weird Al Yankovic
9. Mel Brooks
10. Jim Carrey
11. Abbott and Costello
12. Charlie Chaplin
13. Ryan Reynolds
14. Chevy Chase
15. Jon Lovitz
16. Laurel and Hardy
17. Steve Martin
18. Robin Williams
19. Jerry Lewis
20. Carol Burnett
21. Peter Sellers
22. Chris Farley
23. Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern
24. John Candy
25. Gilligan and the Skipper

Abbot and Costello was on there twice, and I can't remember who I replaced them with.

[stethacantus]

That was the challenge with this one. If you use the purest definition of Slapstick comedians, your options are fairly limited unless you're a major classic film buff. The only way I could get 25 on my list was to do a little stretching.

1. Leslie Neilson
2. The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard)
3. Jim Varney
4. Laurel and Hardy
5. Paul Reubens
6. The Marx Brothers
7. Rowan Atkinson
8. Weird Al Yankovic
9. Mel Brooks
10. Jim Carrey
11. Abbott and Costello
12. Charlie Chaplin
13. Ryan Reynolds
14. Chevy Chase
15. Jon Lovitz
16. Laurel and Hardy
17. Steve Martin
18. Robin Williams
19. Jerry Lewis
20. Carol Burnett
21. Peter Sellers
22. Chris Farley
23. Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern
24. John Candy
25. Gilligan and the Skipper

Abbot and Costello was on there twice, and I can't remember who I replaced them with.

Actually, Abbott and Costello were on your list once, Laurel and Hardy were on your list twice, and when I PMed you about the mistake, you asked that they be replaced  at #16 with The Smother's Brothers, which was far more baffling than Penn & Teller because the only thing I ever remembered the Smother's Brothers doing is talking to each other and singing. The dumb brother says something funny and the smart brother corrects him.  Maybe they did physical comedy in their sitcom or in some movie? BTW, you were not the only person to submit a list with someone on the list twice. Can't figure out how that mistake is made as you would think the doubles would rank with the same points and would be tied for the same place where the mistake would be caught and not a ten point difference in the ranking.

[Charles Castle]

You and my mom should get together and go bowling.

[Cyrusso]

Wow Pak, I am kind of amazed you're not the biggest fan of Monty Python. 

[Pak-Man]

Wow Pak, I am kind of amazed you're not the biggest fan of Monty Python. 

I like the movies but just never got around to watching the series. I'm pretty sure I'd like it too. Just never seem to get around to it.

[RVR II]

Wow Pak, I am kind of amazed you're not the biggest fan of Monty Python. 

I like the movies but just never got around to watching the series. I'm pretty sure I'd like it too. Just never seem to get around to it.

I got the series and it's definitely worth checking out

[ColeStratton]

Here's my list:

1.   Chris Farley
2.   Peter Sellers
3.   Don Knotts
4.   The Marx Bros.
5.   Carol Burnett
6.   Robin Williams
7.   Tim Conway
8.   Jim Carrey
9.   Rowan Atkinson
10.   Steve Martin
11.   Melissa McCarthy
12.   Buster Keaton
13.   Monty Python
14.   Lucille Ball
15.   John Ritter
16.   Chevy Chase
17.   Leslie Nielson
18.   Amy Sedaris
19.   Molly Shannon
20.   Laurel & Hardy
21.   Abbott & Costello
22.   Charlie Chaplin
23.   Dick Van Dyke
24.   Jim Varney
25.   Jack Black

Also, on the Tommy Boy of it all: Farley & Spade elevate material like Black Sheep which is really bad but add a spark to it. Tommy Boy is beloved because it's also got a pretty good script -- there's a lot of inspired gags and one liners. It's elevated by them of course because they are fully clicking there, but I don't think they "saved" the movie. I also don't think that a "good comedy" film will necessarily be good with different people cast in it -- actors and comedians make the material come alive. Even the greatest script in the world won't be great with bad or miscast actors doing it. The movie itself may fair better of course than one that doesn't have a good script or director in the first place, but good on paper doesn't always translate. Back to the Future has a great script, but have you seen the Stoltz clips? Yikes. Fun list though (if hard to categorize who fits the criteria).