What makes the three stooges funny

They understand. But no. It's a bit soul-crushing, really. As a result. There's always been something sadly pedestrian yet smugly superior about Curly-philia. He is by far the most popular Stooge by any measure I've seen, but despite because of? These people are wrong. On one level I get it: Curly is the seemingly obvious choice.

He was bald, fat, and childish and made funny noises. And of the roughly shorts that the Stooges did for Columbia Pictures over 23 years, Shemp was in only 76, all of which were produced between and , when the Stooges were middle-aged. Valid criteria, but also comedy gimmes. Shemp just brought so much more to the table, both on and off the screen. Let me count the ways.

He was the oldest and first Stooge. His name was later Anglicized to Samuel, then shortened to Sam, which his mother's heavy Litvak accent reproduced as "Shemp. He was the only Stooge to have a successful solo career. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters theatlantic. Skip to content. Sign in My Account Subscribe. The Atlantic Crossword.

The Print Edition. Latest Issue Past Issues. Only through November Try subscriber newsletters for free. Link Copied. Boys Can Like 'Titanic,' Too. Designing 'The Hunger Games'. The original three who performed with Healy were Moe, Shemp and Larry.

At one point, Shemp left the group to pursue his own solo comedy gig. The lineup fluctuated thereafter. Shemp returned when Curly suffered a debilitating stroke. He agreed to step in to keep the act going but only wanted to commit temporary. Curly was never able to return and Shemp remained a Stooge until his unexpected death in Although Shemp died in of a heart attack, the Stooges still owed Columbia four films, so Joe Palma was hired to replace Shemp -- sort of.

Using existing footage and new scenes filmed that showed Palma from the back, the 3 Stooges were able to satisfy their Columbia contract; Palma's stand-in performances earned him the distinction of being the "fake Shemp. The Joe DeRita era was a rebirth for the Stooges, who'd found a new audience thanks to television.

The old shorts, originally shown in movie theaters, turned out to be very popular TV programming, and all were aired frequently. Even if Bryan didn't like the movie it would be for the right reasons, not because of a disconnect with Stooge humor.

I ended up seeing the movie as well, and I actually liked it a lot. So did Bryan. I'm going to throw in my thoughts after his. What does it mean to be a Stoogemaniac? Are you into Curly and Shemp? How about Joe Besser? Could you accept three new fellas as the stooges? This last question has plagued me for the last few months as I was gearing up to see the new film by the Farrelly Brothers.

I was still nervous entering the theater yesterday. Once the movie began I was already laughing hard and continued to do so until the end credits finished. I saw it with a theater full of children. They also loved it.

It is the funniest movie I have seen in a really long time. Slapstick has been sadly absent from comedies for more than a decade. To see grown men fall down again is something to stand up and cheer about. I hate them. This film is ninety minutes long and has some truly great comedy bits. My favorite scene in the film has the stooges doing an elaborate series of slaps, tumbles, and pokes all on a stage.

It is very similar to those moments of violence and comedy in the Sammo Hung or Jackie Chan comedies of the eighties. The bit goes on for a few minutes. The actors perform it beautifully. A ballet of knuckleheads. Here is a Hollywood film in that features multiple vaudeville routines. That is an amazing thing.