i just re-watched Night at the Opera, and a Day at the Races, too (PBS had them on as a double feature one night)

the marx brothers comedies are hilarious, but my favorite all time funny scene is from cheech and chongs "going up in smoke" when chong is in the back of the van- with a chick who is talking about a sexual experience-- and chong is pretty much ignoring her- he has a cramp in his leg, and starts pounding it, harder and harder to get rid of the "pins and needles" sensation.. the camera plays back and forth between what is really happening in side the van, ( two dull conversations) and what is perceived to be happening by those outside the van( wild sex)..

a good deal of humor is the sense of being "out of place" -- this can be as the essay suggests, when one group looks at another as being lower, and mocks them, or it can just be like the state room scene- there is not a single funny line-- just way too many people "out of place" . No single person does or says anything funny--in fact they all just try to go about their business.. all 20 of them in a 6 by 10 stateroom (on a boat).


my other obsession