Professor Popinjay's Compendium of Perspicacity

A Non-review by Professor Popinjay

I do enjoy a good documentary, especially when someone actually put some effort into it and didn’t just slap some ancient found-footage owned by no one together for a quick buck; or stick two crappy documentaries together to make a single somewhat attractive mega-crappy documentary. I’m looking at you Funny World of Lucy- Five VHS Collector Series! More like garbage collector series! Haha! See what I did there?

100 Funniest Moments of the 20th Century is less documentary, more of just a showcase of old comedians and actors doing their thing. There’s SOME info rattled off for each example but it’s neither comprehensive nor overly verbose, pretty much just a small introduction to segue from one celebrity to another. Very palatable and inoffensive.

This is a concise way to familiarize yourself with some great old comedy bits from the old masters without having to sift through hours upon hours of poorly-maintained scratchy black and white footage of guys slapping each other or having to endure the mind-numbingly boring improvisations of that little turd, Charlie Chaplin.

Each bit presented holds up well for a modern audience. It’s not a bunch of enigmatic humor based on issues of propriety no one understands anymore. This isn’t three hours of ladies acting aghast because some “gentleman” dared remove his jacket without a chaperone present. It’s also not three hours of Johnny Knoxville super-gluing Bam Margera’s family together. In a word, these videos are ACTUALLY FUNNY. These are all the gems piled into a nifty 3 VHS set.

I’m sure you’re not all going to run right out and find you a copy but hey, if you happen to find the copy I donated to the second-hand store, now you know you’ll get your money’s worth. Cheers!