Does anyone else not "get" the Marx Brothers?

[NightTrain]

Over the years, I've tried on numerous occasions to get into the Marx Brothers. But none of their films have ever made me so much as crack a smile. Meanwhile, the people around me were laughing hysterically! I wonder why the Marx Brothers don't tickle my funny bone?

On the other hand, I've seen reruns of "You Bet Your Life," the TV game show that Groucho Marx hosted in the 1950s. And I gotta say, his ad-libs had me on the floor!

Example:

GROUCHO: How many children do you have?
CONTESTANT: Nine.
GROUCHO: Why so many?
CONTESTANT: Because I like my wife!
GROUCHO: I like my cigar, but I take it out once in a while.

[Maple]

1. There's nothing to 'get'

It's just slapstick humor.

You prefer the verbal kind.

[mitchum]

7. Groucho isn't verbal humor???!!!

[Sting]

2. I don't get them either...

just like I don't get Dennis Miller's humor. :boring:

[Rocinante]

3. I was never a fan

but I love W.C.Fields movies.

[lynndew2]

4. Once I shot an elephant in my pajamas

How he got in my pajamas I'll never know.

I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception.

They are funny too some and an aquired humor to others..

[Interrobang]

5. Me! Me!

As a special treat, one of my "extended programme" teachers showed us "Duck Soup" once. Everyone was killing themselves laughing, and I was sitting there going, "Huh?! What's going on?"

I do like verbal humour, though... :)

[Cocoa]

6. try smoking marijuana beforehand

seriously, it might help you get it. It's worth a try, because the Marx Brothers are genius.

[mitchum]

8. Maybe you're just anti-semitic

JOKE! JOKE! JOKE!

[cosmicdot]

9. I saw 'A Night at the Opera' on a big screen back in the 70s

... the stateroom scene is a riot ... especially when the Margaret Dumont character shows up ...

Escapism from the real world: the Depression. Rich people in gowns and tuxedos with hardly a care in the world get punked (anarchy) by the antics of the Marx Brothers ... to think these were stage plays ... a night in a theatre with the Marx Brothers crawling around must have been hilarious.

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA
STATEROOM SCENE

Groucho Marx
Otis B. Driftwood

Chico Marx
Fiorello

Harpo Marx
Tomasso

Margaret Dumont
Mrs. Claypool

Kitty Carlisle
Rosa Castaldi




Driftwood finishes ordering from the steward and steps back into his cabin, closing the door.

Driftwood: Well that's fine. If that steward is deaf and dumb, he'll never know you're in here.

Fiorello: Why sure, that's all right...
(A knock on the door)

Driftwood: Yes?

Chambermaid: We've come to make up your room.

Fiorello: Are those my hard boiled eggs?

Driftwood: I can't tell until they get in the room. Come on in, girls, and leave all hope behind. But you've gotta work fast 'cause you've gotta get out in ten minutes...

Fiorello: Hey, Tomasso. Wake up. They're gonna fix the beds...
Driftwood (to the chambermaids): Say, I'd like two pillows on that bed there, huh?

(As the chambermaids struggle to get to the beds, Tomasso in his semi-conscious state begins to drape himself over the chambermaids.)

Driftwood (to Fiorello) Hey, there's a slight misunderstanding here. I said the girls had to work fast - not your friend.

Fiorello: He's still asleep...

Driftwood: You know he does better asleep than I do awake?

Fiorello: Yeah, he always sleeps that way. Now he's half asleep.

Driftwood: Yes, he's half asleep and half nelson...
(A knock at the door)

Driftwood: Yes?

Engineer: I'm the engineer. I'm here to turn off the heat.

Driftwood: Well, you can start right in on him.

Fiorello: Wake up, Tomasso... Tomasso, we're a gonna eat soon...

Driftwood: You know, if it wasn't for Gottlieb, I wouldn't have got this room? (a knock on the door) Just hold him there a second...

Manicurist: Did you want a manicure?

Driftwood: No, come on in! I hadn't planned on a manicure, but I think on a journey like this, you ought to have every convenience you can get... (Tomasso's foot gets in the way of the manicurist). Hey, listen, I'm getting the manicure. Get out of here, will ya?

Manicurist: Did you want your nails long or short?

Driftwood: You'd better make 'em short. It's getting kind of crowded in here. I don't know. This isn't the way I pictured an ocean voyage. I always visualized sitting in a steamer chair with a steward bringing me bouillon. You couldn't get any bouillon in here unless they brought it in through a keyhole.
(A knock at the door)

Engineer's assistant: I'm the engineer's assistant.

Driftwood: You know, I had a premonition you were going to show up. The engineer's right over there in the corner. You can chop your way right through... Say, is it my imagination or is it getting crowded in here?

Fiorello: I've got plenty of room...
(A knock at the door)

Driftwood: Yes?

Woman: Is my Aunt Minnie in here?

Driftwood: Well, you can come in and prowl around if you wanna. If she isn't in here, you can probably find somebody just as good...

Woman: Well, can I use your phone?

Driftwood: Use the phone?! I'll lay ya even money you can't get in the room! This boat will be in New York before you can get to that phone...
(A knock at the door)

Cleaning lady: I came to mop up.

Driftwood: Just the woman I'm looking for. Come right ahead. You'll have to start on the ceiling. It's the only place that isn't being occupied... (knock at the door) Tell Aunt Minnie to send up a bigger room, too, will ya? (knocking again)

Steward: Stewards...

Driftwood: Ah, come right in!

Fiorello: Hey, Tomasso, the food! The food!

Driftwood: I've been waiting all afternoon for you stewards...

(The stewards crowd into the room as Tomasso dives onto the trays in his semi-conscious state. The next visitor is none other than Mrs. Claypool, who after knocking on the door, finds the cabin suddenly bursting open as people cascade into the ship's hallway.)



Hooray for Captain Spaulding!

I could stay a week or two ... I could stay the summer through ... but, I'm telling you ... I must be going ...

[Diogenes2]

12. You don't get the Marx Brothers?

Maybe you need to adjust your satellite dish.

Groucho, for one, is all funny all the time. Absolutely magnificent. Dennis Miller doesn't even figure in there. He is a non-entity in the history of comedy.

[cosmicdot]

13. I get them and love them.

:)

[thebigidea]

10. Duck Soup is damn relevant

I shamelessly skewered the "War Song" here:

http://www.terminalproduct.com/onwardtowar.rm

Groucho should be studied closely. His books are a great read, the biographies are interesting as well.

[Fovea]

11. If you liked the show, get up tomorrow morning and tell all your friends

If you didn't like the show, don't get up!

Their humor is often tangential.

"Then you get to the viaduct..."
"Vy a Duck? vhya no Chicken?"

They can be very physical, Harpo particularly.

But really, try them all again. They are by turns
antic and amazingly subtle.