Classic Comedy Collection

[equanimus]

Generally I prefer wit over slapstick, thus prefer Vivek over Vadivelu.

Needless to say why I abhor Goundamni

NOV,
I guess it'd not be of much help if you access Goundamani as a comedian in the classical sense, as someone in the lineage of comedians like Nagesh, going by the number of jokes per minute, so to say. His jokes are all over the place, and never in the lines. Goundamani works outside the plot, outside the scene and outside the character he is playing. His persona overarches everything else. Total irreverence, brutal sarcasm and outright contempt for all the characters alike. The artistic bankruptcy of the filmmakers of his heyday worked so damn well for him. They just couldn't exercise any control over him and he always played the same character, someone who's out there to mock at everything within the frame.

But wait, his humour is not of the spoof kind at all. He's not a stand-in for the audience retroactively mocking at the film. He's simply on his own trip. innaikku kAlaila pArththa oru comedy scene. From 'Sethupathi IPS'.

Senthil: "nAn ungaLa adichchA makkaL Eththukka mAttAngaNNEn."
Goundamani: "dEi, avanunga EththukkuttA enna, EththukkalainnA enna dA?"

This is the sort of spirit he carried in his comedies.

Personally, I enjoy him the most when he's right in the middle of the film mocking at it! He simply obliterates every bit of self-righteousness in the film ("yOv, thirudan 'nnA, ungaLukku enna avvaLavu eLakkAramA pOchchA? engaLukkum mAnam mAriyAththA, sUdu sUlAyudham, vekka vElAyudham ellAmE irukkuyyA."), sometimes actively advocating against the very existence of a film like that.

But then, he's in the film... Many a time, it works like a searing inside-critique of the film itself. Remember his hilarious retorts to Vijayakumar who wears his nErmai on his sleeve in 'Walter Vetrivel'?