American Cornball: A Laffopedic Guide to the Formerly Funny
Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2015 7:40 pm
This tome, by Christopher Miller, looks at over 200 comedy staples and tropes whose common denominator is that they are totally obsolete by today's standards (tho I dare say not by the standards of the SCM). Miller looks at the origins of jokes about mothers-in-law, fat people, anvils, exploding cigars, hammers, rolling pins, baldness, etc. The only trope that Miller misses is the time-honored explorers/missionaries in the cannibals' cauldron which enjoyed a 30-year run from the 30s to the 60s. Miller ties many of these gags to their film roots, tho he seems to think that The Three Stooges invented visual comedy. For example, in his section on pianos several examples of The Stooges' encounters are given, but no mention of Laurel & Hardy's' Music Box, let alone Chaplin's His Musical Career. But these caveats aside, I highly recommend this book. It makes for great bathroom reading since one entry lasts about as long as... Well, never mind.
http://www.amazon.com/American-Cornball ... n+cornball
http://www.amazon.com/American-Cornball ... n+cornball