By: DoorToShoe
About the Author:
Filed under 1122 by on Sep 2nd, 2010. 
I have always been a movie fanatic for as far back as I can remember and although I have enjoyed all genres, I especially gravitated to comedy movies for the most part. My father and I would sit watching comedy movies and laugh until it hurt and on Fridays in the summer, it was always a given that my parents would take my sister and I to the Drive-In Theater. (Does anyone remember them?) If it was a comedy, that was a double plus for us. So, for me to say that I love comedy movies would be a vast understatement and for me to make a Favorite Top 10 list is literally next to impossible. In fact, making a Top 20 would be hard enough as it is, but I am going to try anyway. I will cover groups of movies and some solo movies and then try to accomplish my feat for the evening. And although this will be my most difficult task to date, I will most definitely enjoy the memories that these movies provide to me and hopefully for you also.
The In-Laws with Peter Falk and Alan Arkin is so funny and enjoyable. The way that Falk’s character slowly gets Arkin’s character, Sheldon, involved with all of his CIA shenanigans is priceless. A definite must see for those who have never heard of this gem. “Serpentine Sheldon, serpentine!”
Let It Ride is one of the most unique comedies I have ever seen, in that, every character is nuts. I mean, in every comedy you have some normal people and then the funny ones. But this movie has no normal people. It takes place at the race track and everyone is a funny character. Richard Dreyfuss is great as Trotter, as he is with every character he portrays. What About Bob?, Moon Over Parador & The Goodbye Girl, to name a few, are terrific Dreyfuss movies.
Since I already mentioned it, What About Bob? is a classic with Dreyfuss and one of my favorites, Bill Murray. I love watching Murray drive Dreyfuss crazy ever so slowly during the course of the movie. ‘Baby Steps’. And when you speak of Bill Murray, you have to acknowledge Stripes, Groundhog Day, Ghostbusters, Scrooged and of course, Caddyshack. What a terrific cast Caddyshack had. It was Harold Ramis’ first attempt at directing and he did a fantastic job in making what is now a Golf Country Club classic that had so many memorable lines delivered by the irrepressible Rodney Dangerfield. The war between him and Ted Knight was hysterical. “Hey, who stepped on a duck?”
The Producers is a Mel Brooks masterpiece and a screenplay Oscar winner. Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder are so superb in those roles. The idea was to sell much more than 100% of a Broadway play to investors and make sure it is a flop by acquiring the worst script, ‘Springtime For Hitler’, the worst actors, director, music and anything else to assure a quick closing. This way they could keep the money without paying the investors back. But of course the play is a hit and there is no possible way they can pay everyone back, since they sold about 5000%. So they end up in jail and do they learn their lesson? Nope! They produce ‘Prisoners In Love’ and sell the warden 200%. While on the subject of Mel Brooks, how can I not list Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety, History Of The World Part 1 and another favorite, Blazing Saddles. The absolute Best Comedy Western of all time, period. Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, Mel Brooks, Slim Pickens and of course, Mongo (Alex Karas). What a blast!
The Pink Panther movies are some of the best works of the great Peter Sellers. Inspector Clouseau had to be one of the funniest bumbling fools to ever grace the silver screen. A Shot In The Dark, The Pink Panther Strikes Again and Revenge Of The Pink Panther were such great vehicles for Sellers. And on the topic of Peter Sellers, how about Being There, The Mouse That Roared and Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb. Peter Sellers plays 3 roles in this movie and makes them all so funny and memorable, a tribute to his comedic acting genius.
A Day At The Races with the Marx Brothers would make my Top 5 of all time no matter how long a list I had. I loved the Marx Brothers and this movie is one of my absolute favorites. They were so off the wall and this movie had so many incredible funny scenes. Then you have A Night At The Opera, Monkey Business, Duck Soup and Horse Feathers.
Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein was so great to watch as a kid. Here were the monsters of the times that used to scare us, Frankenstein, Dracula and The Wolfman, and now here they were in a comedy with one of the best Comedy Teams of all time. What a treat! That whole scene with Costello in the hotel room and Lon Chaney,Jr has already changed into the Wolfman. Lou didn’t know it and is so close to getting killed. A great comedy effect of anticipation.
Sleeper is a great Woody Allen movie. The premise was he was revived 200 years after being frozen cryogenically. The results were as funny as you would expect from an early Woody Allen movie. Let me also give tribute to Bananas, Annie Hall, What’s New Pussycat?, Play It Again Sam, Take The Money And Run and Everything You Always Wanted To Know About *** (But Were Afraid To Ask).
Monty Python And The Holy Grail is a true classic with so many funny and out of the ordinary scenes. I especially loved the scene with the sword fight at the bridge and the loser has his limbs sliced off one by one and yet keeps insisting that he is winning the battle. Even when he is just a torso on the ground he states, “So we’ll call it draw then?” Let’s also throw in Monty Python’s Life Of Brian and Monty Python’s Meaning Of Life. On the side, I must mention that if you ever have the time to see a play on Broadway, then by all means go see Spamalot. I laughed the whole entire play and you don’t even have to be a Monty Python fan to laugh your fool head off, as I did.
It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World was the first comedy movie of it’s kind. It was the first movie with an all star cast like that. Anyone who was anybody in comedy at that time wanted to be in that movie, even if it was just a small cameo appearance. If you weren’t in that movie, you weren’t on the comedy map, so to speak. One of the great comedy premises for a movie and an absolute amazing cast of actors, headed by Spencer Tracy. A must see for any generation.
The Nutty Professor and The Errand Boy are terrific comedy performances by Jerry Lewis. I know the word genius is used a lot but Mr. Lewis certainly proves that he is in those two classics. The Nutty Professor remake with Eddie Murphy was fantastic too. A virtual tour de force comedy performance by him with all of his family characters. Plus, I must mention two movies with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis together to complete his work: The Stooge and The Caddy. “Whose you’re little whosie? Whose you’re turtle dove?”
Now I would like to write about some comedy movies of more recent times. There’s Something About Mary is hysterical with so many unique scenes that have never been done before, and in comedy that is extremely hard to do. The scene with Matt Dillon and the dog is one of my most favorite scenes of all time. I literally fell out of my chair laughing at that one. He accidentally kills the dog and tries to resuscitate him by giving him an electric jolt with the live wire from a nearby table lamp. Ben Stiller has really made a name for himself in the business, which makes sense knowing that his parents are Jerry Stiller and Ann Meara. And when talking about Ben you must mention Meet The Parents, Meet The Fockers and Night At The Museum.
Analyze That with Billy Crystal and Robert DeNiro was great and though it was a sequel to Analyze This, I loved it even more. The scene when DeNiro comes down to the Shiva with his robe open and nothing on underneath was hysterical. “Hey, who do you have to f*#k around here to get some bacon? Not you I hope.” Mr. DeNiro, as everyone knows, is a tremendous serious actor, but he delivers comedy equally as well, as he did in Midnight Run with Charles Grodin. They were supposed to make a sequel for that but never did. I wish they had. Other Billy Crystal movies I have loved are City Slickers 1 & 2, Mr. Saturday Night and When Harry Met Sally.
Liar, Liar with Jim Carrey is terrific. But of course, I love Carrey in everything. He is so animated, rubbery faced and one of my favorite comedic actors. I love the outtakes at the end of the movie also. They really show his improvisational abilities well. Then there is Bruce Almighty, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas and Me, Myself & Irene.
My Cousin Vinny is a well written and wonderfully acted comedy movie with Joe Pesci, Fred Gwynne and Marisa Tomei. In fact, Miss Tomei won an Oscar for her role. The chemistry between the three of them on screen was terrific, as were all of the courtroom scenes. In the words of the judge, “What’s a yute?”
Something’s Gotta Give was very funny with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton. What a great script. I think it should have won an Oscar for Best Screenplay. Of course, you can never go wrong with Jack in the movie. He has such a great face. Even in the horror flick, The Shining, he makes me laugh. The Witches Of Eastwick, Terms Of Endearment, As Good As It Gets, Batman and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and so many more are such an amazing body of work.
Stir Crazy with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor is absolutely hysterical and their chemistry together was wonderful to watch. They did a few more movies together and they delivered some belly laughs also. Another You, Silver Streak and See No Evil, Hear No Evil.
My honorable mentions, which would definitely make it to my list if I did a Top 100, are Used Cars, Tommy Boy, Lady In Red, Airplane, Weekend At Bernies, Hooper, Smokey and The Bandit, Animal House, Home Alone 1 & 2, Evil Roy Slade, The ***** Gun Movies, Repossessed, Fire Sale, The Road Movies with Bob Hope & Bing Crosby, Carry On Teacher, Arthur, 10, Cheech & Chong’s Up In Smoke, Clifford, Meatballs, The Jerk, The Court Jester, The Inspector General, The Birdcage, Neighbors, Porky’s, My Favorite Year, Night Shift, *** Wee’s Big Adventure, Seems Like Old Times, Easy Money, Back To School, Kentucky Fried Movie, Bachelor Party, Forrest Gump, Toy Story, Chums At Oxford, Police Academy, Trading Places, 48 Hours, Cheech & Chong’s Nice Dreams, Start The Revolution Without Me, Gremlins, Lost In America, Defending Your Life, Modern Romance, The Scout, Cat Ballou, Back To The Future, Clue, Beverly Hills Cop, Weird Science, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Fletch, The Golden Child, Crocodile Dundee, Tootsie, Soapdish, A Fish Called Wanda, Good Morning Viet Nam, Coming To America, Mrs. Doubtfire, Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Edward Scissorhands & Buck Privates.
Whew! As you can see, I pretty much named almost every darn comedy movie ever made but there are so many that I love and I could write about them for a year and not make a dent. And yet, I know that somehow I still may have forgotten some. Anyway, here it finally is:
My Favorite Top 10 Comedy Movies
1. The Producers
2. It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
3. A Day At The Races
4. Blazing Saddles
5. Monty Python’s The Holy Grail
6. Liar, Liar
7. The Return Of The Pink Panther
8. There’s Something About Mary
9. Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein
10. The In-Laws
Here is my next 10 if I would have made the list a Top 20:
11. The Errand Boy
12. What About Bob?
13. Analyze That
14. Dr. Strangelove
15. Stir Crazy
16. The Nutty Professor (Both Versions)
17. Sleeper
18. Caddyshack
19. Let It Ride
20. My Cousin Vinny
Well, if I left off something that you would have liked to see on this list…tough. You try to narrow down your favorite genre to a Top 10 and see how far you get. This was definitely the hardest list I ever had to write and the only good thing about it is this: any other Top 10 list I ever write will seem so easy by comparison! Once again, thanks for reading from THE COMEDY TORNADO!!
By: Paul Venier
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Filed under Arts And Entertainment by on Sep 2nd, 2010.
By: Kae
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Filed under 1118 by on Sep 2nd, 2010.
Tips For A Successful Corporate Comedy Event
The corporate comedy event can transform the usual dull banquet or holiday party a huge success. While it can be a challenge to entertain your corporate officers and staff with a comedy show it can also be a great way to break down barriers with in the organization.
The number one thing to do is to book the right act. The comic should have vast experience with corporate comedy events. You don’t want some armature just learning comedy to do it while your reputation is at stake. The comic should understand that this is not a comedy club gig and they need to keep it clean. Again get a professional that is used to working clean. Their promo pack should include a list of past events and performances. If this list is only comedy clubs with no other corporate or cruse ship appearances listed be careful. A good agent or booker can help find you someone experienced in this specific type venue.
Once you have the right act picked out it is time to consider some other things that will help allow the comic to be at his or her very best.
Good sound and lights are a must. The funniest comic in the world will get nothing if they can not be heard. Good light is also important. A riser or stage will allow better sight lines for the audience is also helpful but not required.
If dinner is also part of the evening it is best to have dinner concluded prior to the start of the entertainment. The clearing of dishes and noise associated with it will detract form the show.
If you are having an awards presentation that should take place after the show. Many trophy stores online offer a great selection and discount pricing, but make sure you give them enough time for production and shipping.
An officer of the company should say a few words prior to the entertainment. Welcome remarks and thanks to the organizer would be appropriate. This will help people get settled and focus on the stage.
The intro for the comic should start with some credits where the audience may have seen them. The intro should always climax with the acts name. Any inside information about the company or individuals in attendance can help make the event more fun. While many of the corporate comedy acts have built in bits for this a little input is helpful.
The comic will usually do 30 to 45 minutes. Remember if the audience has just had a large meal they will start to get sleepy if they have to sit much longer than that and you still want them awake if you have awards or speeches later.
There you have done it, put together a successful corporate comedy event and you can now enjoy the positive comments from all those in attendance.
By: Mark Doyle
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Filed under Arts And Entertainment by on Sep 2nd, 2010.
By: Bryan
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Filed under Books & Authors by on Sep 2nd, 2010.
By: Samantha
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Filed under New York City by on Sep 2nd, 2010.
If you are considering a stand-up comedy career, then you are probably aware of open mic nights-where most new comedians are born (or hatched-I’m not sure).
I want to give you a few quick stand-up comedy tips that you can use now to help you prepare for your next open mic:
Stand-up Comedy Tip #1: Understand that it is your delivery that will give you the most laughter impact on stage-not how the words or sentences in your act read from a piece of paper or word processor.
However many people get completely stuck trying to write jokes the old school way instead of using some of the easier and more effective topic based techniques for developing big laugh comedy material that depend on delivery and presentation as opposed to “writing” jokes on paper.
In other words, you need to practice your stand-up comedy act extensively before an audience every sees you perform.
Stand-up Comedy Tip #2: Work out your stand-up comedy material in conversation before you take it on stage.
This is very easy to do provided that you DON’T tell anyone that you are actually delivering stand-up comedy material. I have personally worked out a ton of comedy material this way by just waiting for my turn to talk when with friends or family.
Stand-up Comedy Tip #3: Practice your stand-up comedy act extensively before you ever hit the comedy stage, keeping in mind that it is your delivery of your comedy material that will give you the most laughter power.
In order squeeze the most out of your open mic performances, you should record every single show that you do for performance evaluation-audio is fine, but video is much better.
If you are serious about commanding the stand-up comedy stage and need more information, check out the link in my resource box below.
By: Steve Roye
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Filed under Arts And Entertainment by on Sep 2nd, 2010.
By: jon w
About the Author:
Filed under Las Vegas by on Sep 2nd, 2010.
Every once in awhile I love to go out to eat, laugh, have a few drinks, and kick back at the water front in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. One of my favorite places is the Improve Comedy Club. There is every type of restaurant you could want. Every kind of shop from book stores to clothing is available in the water front. The water front offers many types of clubs for singles and couples to enjoy. There is even The Lowe’s Theatre. The atmosphere is great much to do and many places to go. The water front section of Pittsburgh will soon open riverboat gambling that is well needed. All this in one spot can end up making a great night out.
This comedy club is perfectly positioned in the right spot to get the right kind of audience. With the best comics “in my opinion” that the industry has to offer. There is a variety of talent that me, as well as the people of Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas love to come see perform. You can get something to eat there you can drink all while laughing at a famous comic. The seating is close the stage the view is great.
My wife and I have seen Bruce Bruce from BET, John Witherspoon, Adel Givens, Guy Torre and many others. The tickets were not more than $20 a piece. You can get your ticket on the website I will give you at the end of the article or at the door. The Improv is surrounded by restaurants such as Rock Bottom Brewery, Mitchell’s Fish Market, and Cucina Italiana. Some of the shops include Filene’s Basement, Barnes and Noble, Abercrombie and Fitch, and old fashioned village square full of upscale shops. You never have to be worried about what time you get there because there is a Dave and Busters right in the middle of the action and Lowe’s Theater to enjoy a movie with you partner.
You can go just around the corner from the Improv to Lowe’s Cineplex and watch a movie in the big theater that serves beer so you can enjoy the movie and have a drink or two while you’re at it. The theater offers all the newest movies with stadium seating and surround sound. The Lowe’s Theater is very clean and has very polite employees.
Dave and Buster’s not only have wonderful food but it offers great gaming for all ages. You can go with your friends your partner or even your whole family. This place is for all those people who still enjoy being a kid. There is every kind of game you can imagine. When you take your kids you can take all the tickets you win and they win and get them a great prize to enjoy. If you don’t use all the ticket you keep them and use them next time. I have taken my family there a few times and it was a great fun.
I can honestly say that Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is becoming an attractive city. With the new ground breaking construction for the casino there is going to be a lot more to offer as well as having a great time. You can either win or lose some money. See me I’m a big gambler more like a risk taker that wins sometimes and loses sometimes, but either way I will have a ball. This will be the first casino in the city of Pittsburgh encase you are wondering why I’m so excited about it. My wife and I don’t travel much but we got to enjoy Atlantic City over her birthday one year, it was great. We really had a wonderful time. Now we can travel less than and hour away to enjoy our own casino.
Weekends are for the working world to enjoy because we all know that the weekend starts and ends way to quick. As soon as you get into the weekend mode it’s Sunday night and you have to go to work in the morning. Is it just me or is it that friends always want to go out and do something the weekend that you have to work? Why couldn’t they want to do something the Thursday I had off last week, no they want to do something the only Saturday I have to work that month. Then when you’re off they have to work. I wish I got paid to party like the MTV people.
That’s why the comedy clubs are so fun to me is because the more I laugh the more I feel better about life in general. I want to live a long happy life with a lot of memories. I live in a small county but I love to travel to the city every once in a while enjoy a good night out with my wife, friends, or by myself and just meet people. Before the water front development Pittsburgh was a boring city other then the Steelers winning then the city awakes.
So to sum it all up if you ever decide to travel to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania be sure to visit the water front and have a good time at the Improv comedy club. You can eat, drink, and have a great time that’s what life is all about. I don’t know how everyone else is but I feel you have to live life to the fullest.
By: Rico Porter
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Filed under Food And Drink by on Sep 2nd, 2010.
Everyone who tries to learn stand-up comedy already knows that…
One of the biggest problems most new comedians face when they are trying to learn stand-up comedy is that they can’t seem to get to the punchlines quick enough in their act.
In other words, the set-ups to the jokes are too long. Way, way too long.
This is a real problem because in order to be recognized as comedian of any mention, you must be able to command at least 4 laughs per minute for each minute you stand before an audience.
And the secret is NOT to talk faster. As a matter of fact, you absolutely don’t want to be in a hurry at all when standing in front of a comedy audience.
Please note that I said a minimum of 4 laughs per minute-headlining comedians get 6-8 laughs per minute.
Now, get ready to learn stand-up comedy from a different perspective.
Provided that you have a recording of your stand-up comedy act (audio or video) and have it transcribed on your word processor (word for word)…
You can apply the 20 word rule to get the results you want. The 20 word rule is not a hard and fast rule-it is a very flexible editing guideline that you can use now to help shorten your set-ups or identify where to add punchlines.
Here’s the simple process:
1. Use your transcribed comedy act and review your recording of that act. Make a visible mark at every point that you got laughs on your transcript.
2. Now go back and count the number of words that lead up to each laugh. If there are more than 20 words, the chances are great that you need to do some serious editing to shorten the set-up or add a punchline.
This concept applies to comedians who are employing old school joke writing techniques as well as those using the more powerful topic driven stand-up strategies.
For those who seriously want to learn stand-up comedy, it should be noted that household name headlining comedians only use 10-15 words (average) before they get to a punchline.
Again, I want to mention that the key is NOT talking faster on stage. It’s about easily structuring what you really want to say, the way you speak naturally so that you can get the maximum laughs per minute possible every minute you are on stage.
By: Steve Roye
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Filed under Writing And Speaking by on Sep 2nd, 2010.