these never get old welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’re counting
down our picks for the top ten timeless
movie gags me oh I’m sorry I didn’t hear
you over the big machine that was gonna
rip you into little pieces for this list
we’re taking a look at gags that keep
getting recycled in movies but still
haven’t lost their comedic appeal it’s
your call
the other one he’s been having fun
number 10 falling over the likes of
Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin
perfected the art of falling down back
in the silent movie era since then
audiences still get a kick out of a good
old-fashioned pratfall
of course there are numerous different
variations on the falling down gag a
character can collapse in a chair
plummet down a hole or topple over after
having one too many drinks amen
ham it no falling down may seem like a
simplistic movie gag and to some extent
it is don’t mess with me
however it also requires a certain level
of wit and timing to make people roll in
the aisles I’m sorry that people are so
jealous of me but I can’t help it that
I’m popular
oh my god number nine you missed or what
are you doing well seeing somebody take
a punch to the face can be really funny
but such physical comedy loses its
impact if the audience sees the outcome
coming from a mile away if a character
misses his or her target though he or
she will take everybody by surprise and
ultimately merit a bigger laugh this
could result in the character
accidentally hitting a hard object and
could lead him or her to strike the
wrong person causing harm to an
unsuspecting bystander we have to
establish the ground rules and the
ground rules are there are no rules as
long as we’re caught off guard this gag
is almost certain to pack a punch I’m
the wrong guy well maybe you need to
start being the right guy number eight
stuck clothing oh my god
well this is awkward whenever a
character is outside and scantily clad
you can bet that he or she ain’t gonna
hold on to his or her towel or bathrobe
for very long
no coverage help listen the character is
bound to get his or her clothing caught
in a door and hijinx will ensue in some
cases a character will be forced to tear
off an article of clothing to avoid
danger in other cases a character won’t
even think to remove his or her clothing
and will get dragged along for the ride
whenever clothing becomes stuck however
it’ll undoubtedly lead to a sticky
situation you must be all hopped up on
crack cocaine
number seven the short-tempered boss
there crap crap crap mega crab the
short-tempered boss almost always
provides a great source of comedy these
pencils more important the pen more
important this archetype comes in a wide
range of packages from police chief’s to
newspaper editors to Hollywood Big Shots
mistress Mary another beginning man
first writing yeah no matter what the
variation it’s in the hot-headed bosses
nature to spout off directives and
insults at a mile a minute scoring the
film’s funniest one-liners a nutless
monkey could do your job
assuming that the movie is rated are
several four-letter words will also
likely be in the bosses repertoire what
are you going I was going to the
bathroom I need to go well forget about
what you need and cut straight on one I
need I need you here get me on another
phone call never too far away from the
short-tempered boss is his or her
overworked assistant who is also likely
to get in on the laughs I don’t
understand why it’s so difficult to
confirm an appointment no I’m so sorry
Miranda number six misunderstood
conversation not quite know how to tell
you guys this but uh we’ll ask them dr.
Carson good news Oh found Bob and Walt
someone took him upstairs
Oh fantastic by the way the operation
was a smashing success who says that
comedy can’t be found in dramatic irony
under these circumstances two characters
will talk about something but neither
will be discussing the same subject
that’s my luck I get caught for
everything so you admit it uh yeah
guilty as charged
although nobody in the room is on the
same wavelength somehow every response
manages to match up only the audience
knows exactly what’s up how many we
talking here
hitchhikers my whole life um I don’t
know
2550 I mean who keeps track it’s often
hysterical watching two people carry on
such a misunderstood conversation
leaving us wondering how long they can
keep the dialogue going until somebody
wises up I prefer to do it standing oh
you don’t have to stand I mean it’s
sometimes that it’s quite long uh I’d
like you to be comfortable once the
truth finally does come out it goes to
show that there’s a fine line between
listening and understanding feel poetry
number five be quiet
what
what’s wrong keeping your mouth shut
isn’t as easy as it sounds
in this classic setup when our more
characters attempt to maintain a low
profile
as hard as they try to be quiet however
they just can’t restrain themselves from
laughing burping or making some sort of
distracting noise nose breathing
sometimes they don’t even realize just
how loud they’re being occasionally the
character can say face before arousing
too much suspicion but usually
everything will come tumbling down
number four they’re standing right
behind me aren’t they
some things are far too mean to say to a
person’s face lay ah that doesn’t mean
you should say it behind his or her back
though after all you never know when the
wrong person may be standing right
behind you he’s a lunatic I’m telling
you we are going into the wilderness
being led by a lunatic he’s behind me
isn’t he it’s one of the oldest gags in
the book but there’s always a clever new
spin a writer can put on it for example
instead of simply mocking someone why
not perform a whole musical number
a grander insult will mean a grander
laughs when the oblivious character
turns around to find the last person he
or she wanted to see like there’s a
ghost right behind
number three you just walked into a
closet that’s the closet if you ever
want to lighten the mood after a serious
moment be walked into a closet gag is
known to put a smile on anyone’s face
any value here this will typically occur
as two characters engage in a squabble
and one of them reaches his or her
breaking point unable to look at the
other party member any longer they storm
off through what appears to be an exit
with all due respect mr. president who’s
going to stop me well if you go through
that door the United States Secret
Service that’s my private office oh you
have to go out that door over there
after that whatever dramatic effect
their departure might have had is
substituted by laughter
number two slow-mo some scenes are so
priceless that you want to slow them
down to savor the moment no matter how
many times we see the slow-mo gag it
always manages to crack us up
slow-motion is that it’s funniest when a
character is suffering great physical
pain whether he or she is enduring a car
crash getting shot or blowing up this
allows us to see all of the suffering in
great detail elevating the scene to
another level of hilarity it also never
hurts to throw in a drawn-out no for
good measure
before we unveil our top pick here are
some honorable mentions see how it gets
bigger start the fire but the feat of
going start the fire I make the pizza
kids are old yo I’m you know what I got
challenged well this is the this is the
female form and they have focused on the
breasts which are used primarily to feed
young infants and and also in foreplay
right number one the bad disguise
my name is hawk Mae I’m the terrorist
the bad disguise is a gag so timeless
that it’s practically an antique whether
it’s a man dressing as a woman a woman
dressing as a man or two people stacked
on top of each other in a trench coat
bad disguises can make leeway for
various comedic possibilities you really
think you could get away with this I did
actually yes every new recruit must have
a physical the more effortless and
outlandish the disguise is the greater
the laughs although everybody in the
audience can see through these
paper-thin get-ups the people on screen
are inexplicably taken for complete
fools that only adds to the comedy
though leading to even more shenanigans
do you agree with our list what’s your
favorite timeless movie gag
for more entertaining top 10s published
every day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com my wife
watchmojo.com and today we’re counting
down our picks for the top ten timeless
movie gags me oh I’m sorry I didn’t hear
you over the big machine that was gonna
rip you into little pieces for this list
we’re taking a look at gags that keep
getting recycled in movies but still
haven’t lost their comedic appeal it’s
your call
the other one he’s been having fun
number 10 falling over the likes of
Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin
perfected the art of falling down back
in the silent movie era since then
audiences still get a kick out of a good
old-fashioned pratfall
of course there are numerous different
variations on the falling down gag a
character can collapse in a chair
plummet down a hole or topple over after
having one too many drinks amen
ham it no falling down may seem like a
simplistic movie gag and to some extent
it is don’t mess with me
however it also requires a certain level
of wit and timing to make people roll in
the aisles I’m sorry that people are so
jealous of me but I can’t help it that
I’m popular
oh my god number nine you missed or what
are you doing well seeing somebody take
a punch to the face can be really funny
but such physical comedy loses its
impact if the audience sees the outcome
coming from a mile away if a character
misses his or her target though he or
she will take everybody by surprise and
ultimately merit a bigger laugh this
could result in the character
accidentally hitting a hard object and
could lead him or her to strike the
wrong person causing harm to an
unsuspecting bystander we have to
establish the ground rules and the
ground rules are there are no rules as
long as we’re caught off guard this gag
is almost certain to pack a punch I’m
the wrong guy well maybe you need to
start being the right guy number eight
stuck clothing oh my god
well this is awkward whenever a
character is outside and scantily clad
you can bet that he or she ain’t gonna
hold on to his or her towel or bathrobe
for very long
no coverage help listen the character is
bound to get his or her clothing caught
in a door and hijinx will ensue in some
cases a character will be forced to tear
off an article of clothing to avoid
danger in other cases a character won’t
even think to remove his or her clothing
and will get dragged along for the ride
whenever clothing becomes stuck however
it’ll undoubtedly lead to a sticky
situation you must be all hopped up on
crack cocaine
number seven the short-tempered boss
there crap crap crap mega crab the
short-tempered boss almost always
provides a great source of comedy these
pencils more important the pen more
important this archetype comes in a wide
range of packages from police chief’s to
newspaper editors to Hollywood Big Shots
mistress Mary another beginning man
first writing yeah no matter what the
variation it’s in the hot-headed bosses
nature to spout off directives and
insults at a mile a minute scoring the
film’s funniest one-liners a nutless
monkey could do your job
assuming that the movie is rated are
several four-letter words will also
likely be in the bosses repertoire what
are you going I was going to the
bathroom I need to go well forget about
what you need and cut straight on one I
need I need you here get me on another
phone call never too far away from the
short-tempered boss is his or her
overworked assistant who is also likely
to get in on the laughs I don’t
understand why it’s so difficult to
confirm an appointment no I’m so sorry
Miranda number six misunderstood
conversation not quite know how to tell
you guys this but uh we’ll ask them dr.
Carson good news Oh found Bob and Walt
someone took him upstairs
Oh fantastic by the way the operation
was a smashing success who says that
comedy can’t be found in dramatic irony
under these circumstances two characters
will talk about something but neither
will be discussing the same subject
that’s my luck I get caught for
everything so you admit it uh yeah
guilty as charged
although nobody in the room is on the
same wavelength somehow every response
manages to match up only the audience
knows exactly what’s up how many we
talking here
hitchhikers my whole life um I don’t
know
2550 I mean who keeps track it’s often
hysterical watching two people carry on
such a misunderstood conversation
leaving us wondering how long they can
keep the dialogue going until somebody
wises up I prefer to do it standing oh
you don’t have to stand I mean it’s
sometimes that it’s quite long uh I’d
like you to be comfortable once the
truth finally does come out it goes to
show that there’s a fine line between
listening and understanding feel poetry
number five be quiet
what
what’s wrong keeping your mouth shut
isn’t as easy as it sounds
in this classic setup when our more
characters attempt to maintain a low
profile
as hard as they try to be quiet however
they just can’t restrain themselves from
laughing burping or making some sort of
distracting noise nose breathing
sometimes they don’t even realize just
how loud they’re being occasionally the
character can say face before arousing
too much suspicion but usually
everything will come tumbling down
number four they’re standing right
behind me aren’t they
some things are far too mean to say to a
person’s face lay ah that doesn’t mean
you should say it behind his or her back
though after all you never know when the
wrong person may be standing right
behind you he’s a lunatic I’m telling
you we are going into the wilderness
being led by a lunatic he’s behind me
isn’t he it’s one of the oldest gags in
the book but there’s always a clever new
spin a writer can put on it for example
instead of simply mocking someone why
not perform a whole musical number
a grander insult will mean a grander
laughs when the oblivious character
turns around to find the last person he
or she wanted to see like there’s a
ghost right behind
number three you just walked into a
closet that’s the closet if you ever
want to lighten the mood after a serious
moment be walked into a closet gag is
known to put a smile on anyone’s face
any value here this will typically occur
as two characters engage in a squabble
and one of them reaches his or her
breaking point unable to look at the
other party member any longer they storm
off through what appears to be an exit
with all due respect mr. president who’s
going to stop me well if you go through
that door the United States Secret
Service that’s my private office oh you
have to go out that door over there
after that whatever dramatic effect
their departure might have had is
substituted by laughter
number two slow-mo some scenes are so
priceless that you want to slow them
down to savor the moment no matter how
many times we see the slow-mo gag it
always manages to crack us up
slow-motion is that it’s funniest when a
character is suffering great physical
pain whether he or she is enduring a car
crash getting shot or blowing up this
allows us to see all of the suffering in
great detail elevating the scene to
another level of hilarity it also never
hurts to throw in a drawn-out no for
good measure
before we unveil our top pick here are
some honorable mentions see how it gets
bigger start the fire but the feat of
going start the fire I make the pizza
kids are old yo I’m you know what I got
challenged well this is the this is the
female form and they have focused on the
breasts which are used primarily to feed
young infants and and also in foreplay
right number one the bad disguise
my name is hawk Mae I’m the terrorist
the bad disguise is a gag so timeless
that it’s practically an antique whether
it’s a man dressing as a woman a woman
dressing as a man or two people stacked
on top of each other in a trench coat
bad disguises can make leeway for
various comedic possibilities you really
think you could get away with this I did
actually yes every new recruit must have
a physical the more effortless and
outlandish the disguise is the greater
the laughs although everybody in the
audience can see through these
paper-thin get-ups the people on screen
are inexplicably taken for complete
fools that only adds to the comedy
though leading to even more shenanigans
do you agree with our list what’s your
favorite timeless movie gag
for more entertaining top 10s published
every day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com my wife
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