Comedy is a genre that celebrates and subverts expectations. The fleeting nature of humour, with its specificity and unpredictability, makes laughter hard to keep to itself. Asking “what’s funny?” is the same as asking “what’s nice?” Despite some people sense of humor is missingcomedy is in the mindset that for every person there is a joke that resonates with them. Laughter is a nuanced emotion; it conceals and emphasizes sorrow and joy, strife and triumph, tragedy and comedy, equally.
Comedians think on their feet. They go for a walk and see where the clue is in the sand. Once they know where that line is drawn, they know when to step over it and enter new territory. The narrators unleash thoughtful and entertaining rhetoric that goes beyond mere performance. They imbue the audience with a whiff of life’s inevitable truths. With some reluctance to be a complete cut-up, these performances show a depth that transcends the label of comedian.
10/10 Mike Myers – Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
After Mike Mines headbanged and sang along to “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Wayne’s world, it was fateful irony and comedy to see him turn down Queen in their biopic. His character, Ray Foster, is a fictional manager of the EMI music label, based on EMI chief Roy Featherstone. The conflict in the film was that the self-titled song was too long for a single, but Featherstone enjoyed Queen’s music and released “Bohemian Rhapsody” as their first single. In the movie, Queen walked away from the executive, when in reality the band worked with EMI their entire career. Myers played a convincingly skeptical and dismissive businessman for comedic and dramatic effect.
9/10 Bill Burr – The King of Staten Island (2020)
The contrarian comedian Bill Burr uses his anger to play a firefighter and pseudo-father figure to college dropout Scott Carlin (Pete Davidson). He tries to give Scott direction after learning that he got his own son a tattoo. Burr’s anger is justified as it overflows in every scene from his childhood. The tough love also shines through in his performance.
8/10 don rickles – casino (1995)
mr. Warmth brings a disarming spell to the floor of his casino. As casino manager Billy Sherbert, Don Rickels doesn’t throw jokes your way, but he does talk you into submission nicely. Rickles is a seasoned professional and has the same attitude he would The tonight show. He is a consummate classic among the mafia-run casinos in Las Vegas from the late 1960s to the early 1980s.
7/10 Steve Martin – Planes, Trains and Cars (1987)
Steve Martin plays the straight man well in this Thanksgiving road trip movie. He is the jaded advertising executive Neal Page, whose travel plans are constantly changing, delayed and cumbersome. He runs into shower curtain ring and chatterbox salesman Del Griffith (John Candy) at the airport who initially took his cab ride. The two travel together until a frustrated, nomadic Neal berates a front desk clerk. Martin has made heartfelt and gritty moments all the better next to Candy’s character’s lovable idiot.
6/10 Rodney Dangerfield – Back to School (1986)
Rodney Dangerfield learns his lesson and learns life lessons in this generational comedy drama. Dangerfield attends college with his son, who plans to drop out to prove he can work for and earn a traditional education. As a successful businessman in the film, Dangerfield buys his way to success, causing controversy among the students and school staff. Gradually he understands the moral of the story: he cannot buy education or happiness.
5/10 Charlie Chaplin – The Great Dictator (1940)
In his first film with sound, Charlie Chaplin delivers one of cinema’s most famous speeches. He denounced Adolf Hitler, rebuked fascism, denounced prejudice, and poetically and ironically drove his audience to help, not hurt, each other. A powerful demonstration of writing and acting enabled Chaplin to play the silenced minority (Jewish barber) and the ruthlessly ranting but honest dictator (Adenoid Hynkel).
4/10 Will Ferrell – Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
Will Ferrell is known for his eccentric roles and over-devotion to his characters, as in Eleven and The other guys. His deadpan, idiotic, anger-fueled sense of humor are switches you can’t turn off. When it comes to drama, Ferrell has a modest and unassuming delivery. In Stranger than fiction, he plays a fictional character who realizes that his author will kill him. Breaking the fourth wall, he confronts his creator in an existential climax that celebrates the ordinary comings and goings of life. Ferrell’s subtle desperation and endearing desperation is unexpected for the funny man. Another serious role of his can be seen Everything must go where he loses his job and wife, forcing him to sell his possessions.
3/10 Jim Carrey – The Truman Show (1998)
The Truman Show warned us about the dangers of reality TV and treating moving media or social media as reality. Jim Carey undermines the temptation to fall into character by wanting more beyond oneself and one’s environment. The social science fiction shows how people build their identities around characters, masks and escapism, at the expense of who they are without them.
2/10 George Carlin – The Excellent Adventure of Bill & Ted (1989)
Every spoken word of George Caroline was measured as music. He cared about his performances because they made you laugh once and think twice. The sternness, sincerity and silly performance of his roles are all comically subtle and dramatically gripping. Carlin plays Rufus, a citizen of a utopian society built on the music and philosophy of Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) in the year 2688. Carlin always spoke with posterity in mind when he criticized the present moment. His characters in it Dogma, Scary movie 3and Jay and Silent Bob strike back are no different.
1/10 robin williams – goodwill hunt (1997)
The most unbridled genius on a comedy stage with the most sensitive soul, Robin Williams was lightning, thunder and rain in the entertainment world. He wore his heart on his sleeve and his philosophy in his shoes. Countless performances prove Williams’ range of emotion and intellect, but his level-headed act as Dr. Sean Maguire gets to the truth like no other.