I lived a couple dreams over the last 10 days, don’t mean to brag. Last Wednesday I went to see two of my favorite Charlie Chaplin movies on the big screen in West Hollywood. They are “A Dog’s Life” and “The Kid”. It was a packed house. The line was all the way down the block. They had to start late because there weren’t enough seats. When they finally started “A Dog’s Life”, it was without score, making it a brutally silent film. I was nervous. Will he survive without music? But as soon as Charlie so much as appeared on screen, people started laughing. And kept laughing. Soon I began wondering if a score actually hampered the experience. They did get the technicality worked out and soon music was flowing, but Charlie proved he didn’t need it. 90 years later and he was still selling out theaters and still bringing down the house. I left the theater with a reinforced opinion that nobody has been Chaplin’s equal.
Then today I saw Abbott and Costello’s “Hold That Ghost” at the Alex Theater in Glendale. HTG ranks as my second favorite A&C movie all time behind only “Who Done It”. Apparently their ghost comedy was previewed at the Alex in 1941, making the experience that much cooler. Since the Alex does things like they used to, we were treated to a cartoon and “news reel” before the feature. The cartoon was basically Warner Bro’s take on Abbott and Costello called “A Tale of Two Kitties”. Mixing Abbott and Costello with cats? I’m there! Then they showed home video footage of the comedy duo at their houses and playing sports and things like that. You don’t know how much this effected me. Let me take you back to one night in the summer of 1996… Nickelodeon was having an Abbott and Costello marathon, and I stayed up – get this – all night. I watched 8+ hours of non-stop Abbott and Costello. Fast forward another 4 years and where was I? On stage in front of hundreds of people with friend Andrew performing “Who’s On First” and other routines. We did radio too. I am a man of many obsessions, and if I made a chart of my most intense through the years it would look like this:
- Calvin and Hobbes (92 – present)
- Basketball (94 – present)
- Abbott and Costello (96, 00-02)
- Charlie Chaplin (02 – present)
- Jim Carrey/Steve Martin (95-97/03-07 respectively)
Those of you that know me know that means I must have been an insufferable fan. For perspective, my math teacher wrote on my report card: “Kyle is, above all, a devout Abbott and Costello enthusiast.” Why would he write that, do you ask? Maybe it was my insistence on performing 7 x 13 =28 in class.
So how did Abbott and Costello hold up after all these years? Is that even a question? I haven’t heard more laughter in a theater since… well… ever? I seriously can’t think of a movie I’ve ever seen that got as consistent and hard laughter.
And then I realized: that’s why I do this. That’s the hope, that after 40, 50, 100 years they can play your stuff in a theater and get the same laughs. Guess how much Charlie Chaplin has aged? The answer is he’s still ahead of our time. He might have messed around and gone William Shakespeare on us for all we know. In 300 years, cinema could be dead but “The Kid” still be admired. And if “Hold That Ghost” got more laughter in 1941 they must have had to take out an insurance policy. They both brought the gift of laughter to humanity, and their legacies live on. Somebody slap me out of it now!
Just got done out-lining my big web-series/feature film. And I gotta silent film myself coming out soon! Will it be as good as “The Kid”? Let’s put it this way, after you see my comedy, you’re gonna be asking yourself, “Charlie who?”
That's right. I'm coming for you, Charlie.
