Humor: Who has the best?

[STEED]

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

The black knight (Scene)

[King Arthur music] [music stops] BLACK KNIGHT: Aaaagh! [King Arthur music] [music stops] BLACK KNIGHT: Aaagh! GREEN KNIGHT: Ooh! [King Arthur music] [music stops] [stab] BLACK KNIGHT: Aagh! GREEN KNIGHT: Oh! [King Arthur music] Ooh! Uuh. [music stops] BLACK KNIGHT: Aaaagh! [clang] BLACK KNIGHT and GREEN KNIGHT: Agh!, oh!, etc. GREEN KNIGHT: Aaaaaah! Aaaaaaaaah! [woosh] [BLACK KNIGHT kills GREEN KNIGHT] [thud] [scrape] BLACK KNIGHT: Umm! [clop clop clop] ARTHUR: You fight with the strength of many men, Sir Knight. [pause] I am Arthur, King of the Britons. [pause] I seek the finest and the bravest knights in the land to join me in my court at Camelot. [pause] You have proved yourself worthy. Will you join me? [pause] You make me sad. So be it. Come, Patsy. BLACK KNIGHT: None shall pass. ARTHUR: What? BLACK KNIGHT: None shall pass. ARTHUR: I have no quarrel with you, good Sir Knight, but I must cross this bridge. BLACK KNIGHT: Then you shall die. ARTHUR: I command you, as King of the Britons, to stand aside! BLACK KNIGHT: I move for no man. ARTHUR: So be it! ARTHUR and BLACK KNIGHT: Aaah!, hiyaah!, etc. [ARTHUR chops the BLACK KNIGHT's left arm off] ARTHUR: Now stand aside, worthy adversary. BLACK KNIGHT: 'Tis but a scratch. ARTHUR: A scratch? Your arm's off! BLACK KNIGHT: No, it isn't. ARTHUR: Well, what's that, then? BLACK KNIGHT: I've had worse. ARTHUR: You liar! BLACK KNIGHT: Come on, you pansy! [clang] Huyah! [clang] Hiyaah! [clang] Aaaaaaaah! [ARTHUR chops the BLACK KNIGHT's right arm off] ARTHUR: Victory is mine! [kneeling] We thank Thee Lord, that in Thy mer-- BLACK KNIGHT: Hah! [kick] Come on, then. ARTHUR: What? BLACK KNIGHT: Have at you! [kick] ARTHUR: Eh. You are indeed brave, Sir Knight, but the fight is mine. BLACK KNIGHT: Oh, had enough, eh? ARTHUR: Look, you stupid bastard. You've got no arms left. BLACK KNIGHT: Yes, I have. ARTHUR: Look! BLACK KNIGHT: Just a flesh wound. [kick] ARTHUR: Look, stop that. BLACK KNIGHT: Chicken! [kick] Chickennn! ARTHUR: Look, I'll have your leg. [kick] Right! [whop] [ARTHUR chops the BLACK KNIGHT's right leg off] BLACK KNIGHT: Right. I'll do you for that! ARTHUR: You'll what? BLACK KNIGHT: Come here! ARTHUR: What are you going to do, bleed on me? BLACK KNIGHT: I'm invincible! ARTHUR: You're a looney. BLACK KNIGHT: The Black Knight always triumphs! Have at you! Come on, then. [whop] [ARTHUR chops the BLACK KNIGHT's last leg off] BLACK KNIGHT: Oh? All right, we'll call it a draw. ARTHUR: Come, Patsy. BLACK KNIGHT: Oh. Oh, I see. Running away, eh? You yellow bastards! Come back here and take what's coming to you. I'll bite your legs off!





And this one


The rabbit of Caerbannog (scene)

[clop clop clop] [whinny whinny] GALAHAD: They're nervous, sire. ARTHUR: Then we'd best leave them here and carry on on foot. Dis-mount! TIM: Behold the cave of Caerbannog! ARTHUR: Right! Keep me covered. GALAHAD: What with? ARTHUR: W-- just keep me covered. TIM: Too late! [dramatic chord] ARTHUR: What? TIM: There he is! ARTHUR: Where? TIM: There! ARTHUR: What, behind the rabbit? TIM: It is the rabbit. ARTHUR: You silly sod! TIM: What? ARTHUR: You got us all worked up! TIM: Well, that's no ordinary rabbit! ARTHUR: Ohh. TIM: That's the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on! ROBIN: You tit! I soiled my armour I was so scared! TIM: Look, that rabbit's got a vicious streak a mile wide! It's a killer! GALAHAD: Get stuffed! TIM: He'll do you up a treat, mate. GALAHAD: Oh, yeah? ROBIN: You mangy Scots git! TIM: I'm warning you! ROBIN: What's he do, nibble your bum? TIM: He's got huge, sharp-- eh-- he can leap about-- look at the bones! ARTHUR: Go on, Bors. Chop his head off! BORS: Right! Silly little bleeder. One rabbit stew comin' right up! TIM: Look! [squeak] BORS: Aaaugh! [dramatic chord] [clunk] ARTHUR: Jesus Christ! TIM: I warned you! ROBIN: I done it again! TIM: I warned you, but did you listen to me? Oh, no, you knew it all, didn't you? Oh, it's just a harmless little bunny, isn't it? Well, it's always the same. I always tell them-- ARTHUR: Oh, shut up! TIM: Do they listen to me? ARTHUR: Right! TIM: Oh, no... KNIGHTS: Charge! [squeak squeak squeak] KNIGHTS: Aaaaugh!, Aaaugh!, etc. ARTHUR: Run away! Run away! KNIGHTS: Run away! Run away!... TIM: Ha ha ha ha! Ha haw haw! Ha! Ha ha! ARTHUR: Right. How many did we lose? LAUNCELOT: Gawain. GALAHAD: Ector. ARTHUR: And Bors. That's five. GALAHAD: Three, sir. ARTHUR: Three. Three. And we'd better not risk another frontal assault. That rabbit's dynamite. ROBIN: Would it help to confuse it if we run away more? ARTHUR: Oh, shut up and go and change your armour. GALAHAD: Let us taunt it! It may become so cross that it will make a mistake. ARTHUR: Like what? GALAHAD: Well... ooh. LAUNCELOT: Have we got bows? ARTHUR: No. LAUNCELOT: We have the Holy Hand Grenade. ARTHUR: Yes, of course! The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch! 'Tis one of the sacred relics Brother Maynard carries with him. Brother Maynard! Bring up the Holy Hand Grenade! MONKS: [chanting] Pie Iesu domine, dona eis requiem. Pie Iesu domine, dona eis requiem. Pie Iesu domine, dona eis requiem. Pie Iesu domine, dona eis requiem. ARTHUR: How does it, um-- how does it work? LAUNCELOT: I know not, my liege. ARTHUR: Consult the Book of Armaments! BROTHER MAYNARD: Armaments, chapter two, verses nine to twenty-one. SECOND BROTHER: And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, 'O Lord, bless this Thy hand grenade that, with it, Thou mayest blow Thine enemies to tiny bits in Thy mercy.' And the Lord did grin, and the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals and fruit bats and large chu-- MAYNARD: Skip a bit, Brother. SECOND BROTHER: And the Lord spake, saying, 'First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then, shalt thou count to three. No more. No less. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, nor either count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then, lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it.' MAYNARD: Amen. KNIGHTS: Amen. ARTHUR: Right! One!... Two!... Five! GALAHAD: Three, sir! ARTHUR: Three! [angels sing] [boom]

[joea]

:rotfl:

The Pythons forever!!

Didn't vote cause I think to mirror CCIP it is a cultural thing you can't say one is "best" at all.

Having friends from the ex-Soviet block I can see there is a type of humour I could call "socialist" for lack of a better word. Only those older than 30-35 I would say though. Films by Kosturica, the German film "Goodby Lenin" and Soviet comedies seem to get laughs from all who lived under that system.

I have gotten used to French humour, but it really takes time.

American humour is still great, just some series tend to go on tooooo loooong (Simpsons).

[CCIP]

"Goodbye Lenin" was great, yes; it's notably different from any Soviet portrayals of the same time though and, in a way, is more effective. The Germans' perk at being funny is through showing something funny in an otherwise-depressing setting, real 'dark comedy' for all purposes.

Oh, and out of American humor, the whole batch of more adult-oriented comedy cartoons in the last decade is great (I don't need to list them, you know which ones!). I can't stand almost all live-action sitcoms, to be honest, but the animated ones are great.

I don't know if Chinese humor is solely restricted to Jackie Chan-esque stuff - I've seen some movies that were really funny in completely different ways. Even some good romantic comedies. I can't really get at the particul generalizations of the 'Chinese sense of humor', but it can be very funny.

Otherwise, there's a number of Soviet-era comedy movies that I hold dear. They'd probably seem rather cheesy and tame to those outside the culture, but there's really something warm and fuzzy about them, they're comedies with a heart.

So, Steed, everything you know about humor comes from one movie? Don't get me wrong, I love Monty Python and especially Holy Grail, but I got tired of hearing geeks quote it, oh, about 25 years ago.

In fact I voted British, mainly because of four Richard Lester movies: The Beatles' A Hard Days Night and Help!, and The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers.

The Carry On series left me a little flat, though.

A joke I heard once:
Q) What's the shortest book ever written?
A) The Complete Compendium Of German Humor.