Here are some lists that I have compiled which show many of my favourite things in comedy.
THE FUNNIEST THINGS I HAVE EVER SEEN
1: Tommy Cooper: Ventriloquist on a Boat
This is perhaps the funniest thing I have ever seen on television, or anything. In fact, I might have to take a break whilst writing this to stop myself from laughing. Tommy Cooper, the fez-wearing comic magician, is an entertainer on a small cruise ship. Due to the strong winds, the waves are pushing the boat (or in this case, the stage) from side to side. In these conditions, Tommy Cooper has to perform a ventriloquist act, with disastrous results.
Beautifully and meticulously constructed like all his other routines, the whole set-up is a truly astonishing piece of farce, timed to perfection by the magnificent and much-missed Mr Cooper. The amount of things that go "wrong" in this sketch are insurmountable and back-breakingly funny. All I say is watch it. You will laugh. And if you don't, you're an idiot.
2: Red Dwarf: The Underpants Scene (Series 3, Polymorph)
If you're a lifelong Red Dwarf fan like me, you may as well stop reading this now. As far as I can see, enough has been said for you lot. However, for the uninitaited, I will explain. Dave Lister (Craig Charles, the young scouse black feller, in case you didn't know) is eating a special curry he has prepared for himself, when one of his sausages leap up and strangles him (yes, sausage). Eventually, he loosens the sausage and it escapes under a table. Lister chases after it, but it vanishes. What he doesn't know is that this sausage is in fact the Polymorph of the title, which has the ability to morph into any other shape it wishes. Panic-stricken, he puts on a pair of underpants and gets ready to leave the room, when the underpants start to shrink. He scream to Kryten (the robot servant) for help. What occurs here is an extraordinary example of male bonding which brings the relationship of these two characters to new levels.
This is easily one of the best episodes Grant and Naylor ever wrote. The episode itself had great gags, a strong storyline and bags of suspense, but this gag in particular was a stand-out. Indeed, the audience laughed so much, that the actors either had to shout, or wait for the laughter to die down in order to get their lines in. To perfectly round off the scene, Rimmer enters, witnesses the obscene act, and quips, "Well, I can't say I'm totally shocked."
3: Tommy Cooper: "Twas New Year's Eve at Joe's Bar..."
Another Tommy Cooper routine. Shows just how funny he was. This routine involves him reciting a poem, putting on different hats to act out each of the characters. Due to the amount of hats he has to wear, confusion inevitably ensues.
Another fine example of Cooper's masterful timing and delivery. Everything is executed beautifully to get the biggest laughs possible. The way he tells the story, the way he put the hats on, and the way he gets things wrong are all perfectly orchestrated. Now, enough blabbing, go and watch it!
4: Father Ted: "Sorry Ted, I just remembered. 'Aliens' is on after the news" (Series 2, Tentacles of Doom)
The specific part I'm referring to is the moment Father Dougal (Ardal O'Hanlon) inadvertedly screams, but I will explain the scene nevertheless. Father Ted and Dougal are looking after three bishops who have come to promote Craggy Island's local wonder, the Holy Stone of Clonrichert, to a Class 2 relic. One of the bishops is fiddling around with a Buckaroo set, which springs upwards, giving one of the other bishops a small fright. He explains that he had a minor heart attack the year before, and informs Ted not to do anything sudden. At this exact moment, Father Dougal, lets out a rip-roaring scream, remembering that 'Aliens' is on after the news.
I am literally laughing whilst writing this. The scream is so unexpected, and Ardal O' Hanlon's timing and delivery of the scream is so sublime, that I just fall about laughing, even when I know it's coming. This literally proves that Father Dougal truly is one of the great sitcom idiots.
5: Back to the Future: Marty McFly plays Johnny B. Goode at the 'Enchantment Under the Sea' dance.
My all-time favourite movie features a terrific laugh-out-loud gag where Marty (Michael J. Fox) plays a storming version of Chuck Berry's rock classic 'Johnny B. Goode' at his parent's school dance. This being the mid-1950's, the sound is quite new to them, but it soon gets the crowd going (don't forget to check the gag where the backing band's lead singer phones up his cousin). Marty is doing great, but being a child of the 80's, he eventually goes over the top, kicks the speaker over, and produces a heavy metal sound of Eddie Van Halen proportions. These kids obviously have never heard of Eddie Van Halen, so it's all a bit too much for them. Once he finishes, the crowd look at him with a deafening silence. The icing on the cake comes when Marty jokes about the cultural difference: 'I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it.' Needless to say, classic.
6: Da Best of Ali G: Wales
There are so many sketches from the legendary satirical character Ali G that I love, but this one sticks in my mind. He visits the land of Wales, a word that, when suggested, would "probably make you think of the fish with the biggest dick in the ocean". But, as Ali G explains, "it is also a country, that is just 200 miles away from Britain".
There are so many classic moments in this sketch. Ali G's duet with Welsh choir singers, an attempt to learn some Welsh, but my favourite is the mining sequence. Ali G visits an old Welsh mine, "which is where the Wales people used to live underground." In the mine, he asks his guide if "millions of years ago, miners used to live down here before they became human beings." He also asks about the myths of strange creatures that used to live in the mines, such as "a dog, with the head of an ant, that could fly." As well as that, some "racialist" tension is stirred, when Ali G sees a picture of miners, most of which are black. Well, they've got black faces anyway.
