Sometimes, it’s about volume: throwing so many ridiculous gags at the screen that the overall effect leaves you gasping for air in between the belly laughs. Equally, it could be a sense of fearlessness, of noting the likely scruples of audiences and critics and just telling their subversive jokes anyway (see: Mel Brooks’ entire CV). It might be the way they’ve aged, deepening in pathos with every passing decade in ways their creators never imagined (see: Chaplin’s The Great Dictator ). What makes a great comedy? It could be the joke-laden script (obvs), performances that have comic timing down to a fine art, or the perfect chemistry of a vintage double act.
