Even the most casual observer of pop culture must be able to agree that we live in a golden age of filthy, insane comedy. Bruno has more of the same maniacal button-pushing as Borat (even if, to Bruno's detriment, it feels like more of the same), and past years have seen everything from the sticky biology of There's Something About Mary to the puppet-porn of Team America: World Police, from Sex and the City's digestive disasters to American Pie's re-interpretation of the phrase "dessert lover." And some of this stuff works, and some of it does not. But what separates the success of one over-the-top comedy from the failure of another? I know that analyzing comedy is as Mark Twain said, like dissecting a frog -- not much fun, and you kill the subject -- but still, with Bruno about to blow minds at theaters all across America, it might be a good time to step back and look at what makes one joke a flailing failure and another an jaw-dropping moment of true hilarity in the world of extreme laughs. ...
1) Leave Something to the Imagination
Much of modern extreme comedy is all about the shock reaction -- "I can't believe they went there!" -- but, it's interesting to note, a lot of those "I can't believe they went there" moments ring the bell and run away from the door before it opens. There's plenty of moments in Bruno where the worst of the worst is blacked out by on-screen censorship-shapes -- which not only helps the film hang on to an R rating by the skin of its teeth (or rather, frankly, other parts) but also lets you fill in the blanks -- and your imagination is capable of coming up with things far more startling and shocking than even Bruno mastermind Sacha Baron Cohen. But it's not just imagination's power that keeps some modern shock comedy more restrained than you might think; laughter's a matter of degrees, and it's worth noting that there are plenty of recent 'scandalous' comedies (The Sweetest Thing, Good Luck Chuck, My Best Friend's Girl) that go so far over the top they fall apart. There's an old saying among comedy writers: "If it bends, it's funny; if it breaks, it isn't." Successful shock comedy isn’t about breaking taboos, but, often, about bending them -- and knowing when to stop.
2) Big Ideas = Bigger Laughs
Plenty of shock comedies fall apart because they're just there to shock -- they don't really have a larger idea motivating them. To me, the classic example is Blazing Saddles -- full of shocking jokes and risky stuff, but all of which work because they're making a bigger point about race in American and American movies. (Don't forget, Blazing Saddles was, in part, written by Richard Pryor -- who was no stranger to turning big, troubling topics into big laughs.) That logic -- although it feels weird applying "logic" to something as irrational as comedy -- also applies to why I find Borat to be better than Bruno. Borat's got a great journey across America, as a foreign observer takes in the American way; while Bruno has a American journey, it's not quite as compelling -- probably because while Bruno wants to be famous, Borat kinda, sorta, wants to understand America. (And abduct Pamela Anderson, but, you know, too much nobility of spirit kills comedy like Black Flag kills bugs.) Team America: World Police isn't just a crazy mish-mosh of marionette murder and puppet perversion; it's a great commentary on how action movies simplify real-world crises and challenges and how intellectually shabby most big-budget action films are. (I'm amazed no one's put Team America: World Police dialogue over the G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra trailer, actually. ...)
3) Funny is its Own Excuse
And, as ever when it comes to comedy, the breaching of the above rules -- and any rules -- all works out fine when the joke that breaks them gets a laugh. Like I said above, comedy's not rational, and a good laugh is its own defense. Why is it that The Sweetest Thing leaves me cold but I've actually laughed at There's Something About Mary? Why is it that I get bored by the American Pie films but think EuroTrip is hilarious? How is it that I still laugh at South Park but I've never so much as chortled at Family Guy? I don't know, really -- and I suspect you have your own quirks when it comes to what makes you laugh and what doesn’t. There are plenty of reasons as to why big-screen comedies seem to be getting more and more shocking - which boil down to either "We're being more honest" or "Civilization is falling apart" -- but the great thing about laughter is that it's the rare occasion when reason takes a break.
(What modern extreme comedies make you laugh, and which ones make you shudder? And why do you think comedies are trying harder and harder to push our buttons?)
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