Honest to God the first movie I ever remember seeing is The Jerk. I'm sure that I was much older at the time than I seem to remember myself--but either way I was probably still too young to be watching it. No, I was not a latch-key kid who stumbled upon this R rated Steve Martin movie on cable while my parents weren't home. I simply grew up in a house where my dad quoted his favorite movies all the time and rather than keep us in the dark--my parents allowed us to watch these movies with them.
Oddly enough my sister who was all about dresses and high heels by the age of three ended up being more interested in sports than movies, so she bonded with my dad over their love of the New York Mets. Having the attention span of a pea, I couldn't sit still for an entire inning of a ball game let alone an entire season. The comedies my dad watched however, pulled me right in. No, I couldn't understand the rules of baseball or why it was so entertaining but the punchlines of classic comedies like Animal House, Back to School, and Spaceballs were ideas I could wrap my elementary school brain around.
By the time I hit third grade my dad had introduced me to Second City, Saturday Night Live, and all of the works of Mel Brooks. Although I did briefly get caught up in that mid 90's Jonathon Taylor Thomas hysteria, my first true love was comedy. I read everything I could on the comedians of the time: John Candy, Phil Hartman, and yes even Rob Schneider. I watched hours and hours of Benny Hill and the Tracey Ullman Show In the fifth grade thanks to a brilliant monologue written by my dad, I killed at a school talent show telling funny jokes about my preteen sister.
To speed this story along, let's just say that 20 odd years later, comedy remains a huge part of my life. It's true I graduated from watching old repeats of sketch comedy shows from the 70's to immersing myself in the work of The Kids in the Hall and The State. For a brief period of time I even rode the train into Manhattan on a weekly basis to watch $5 comedy shows in the village. However, despite developing my own appreciation for what's funny, I don't think comedy would mean as much to me today if I hadn't spent that time with my dad.
Listening to him recite lines verbatim and cracking up mid-sentence helped me to understand how to tell when something is truly funny. I spent much of my childhood playing the fool in my family trying to get that reaction out of anyone who would listen to me. Some people thought I was hysterical, others thought I was weird. But honestly, when it came to funny I didn't really care if anybody else laughed as long as my dad got a kick out of it.
At a very young age my father gave me the gift of comedy and today I get to return the favor. While we do still gather around as a family to watch the grand finale of History of the World Part 1, I have taken special care to further my father's own comedic education. While some parents continue to revel in "the good old days," my dad is laughing at Stephen Lynch songs and pouring over Simon Pegg movies. If you ask him to, he can even explain to you who Michael Showalter is. In a way I guess the teacher has become the student.
I am writing this entry after having just watched Paul together. I was delighted to once again be watching my dad quote lines from a movie that he loved. This time however, sitting there giggling--each in our own way, we were enjoying the movie as equals. Tonight, delighting in the comedy before us we came together, two different generations of comedy enthusiasts simply sharing a laugh.
No comments:
Post a Comment