Absurdist comedy

The Beautiful Pointlessness of It All: Diving into Absurdist Comedy

Okay, so you want to talk about absurdist comedy? Wonderful! It’s one of those things that feels both incredibly niche and utterly pervasive in our culture. Think Monty Python, think The Good Place, heck, even a lot of the humor on TikTok has an absurd edge these days. But what is it, really?

At its heart, absurdist comedy finds humor in the inherent meaninglessness of existence. It’s not just about silly gags (though those can certainly be present!), but about confronting the illogical nature of life – often by exaggerating it to ridiculous levels. It's a rebellion against tidy narratives and comforting explanations; it delights in disrupting expectations and leaving you wondering, "What just happened?"

Take, for example, “I Married a Strange Person!”. Now, on paper, it’s a rom-com setup – young lovers, marriage bliss… but then BAM! Suddenly one partner can conjure anything he imagines, military intervention ensues, and the whole thing spirals into glorious, chaotic madness. It's that sudden shift from the mundane to the utterly bizarre which is so key in absurdist comedy. It’s not necessarily about weaponized imagination, it's about how completely ridiculous circumstances can derail even the most ordinary lives.

You see this echoed across film history. Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times" isn’t just slapstick; it subtly mocks industrialization’s dehumanizing effect through increasingly illogical and frantic routines. Luis Buñuel, a master of the form, weaponized absurdity with films like Un Chien Andalou – remember that famous eye-slashing scene? It's deliberately shocking and nonsensical, designed to dismantle conventional storytelling and force you to question your assumptions. More recently, Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead blends horror and comedy brilliantly, using zombie chaos as a backdrop for incredibly mundane relationship anxieties – it’s absurd because it juxtaposes high stakes with profoundly human concerns.

Absurdist humor isn't always easy; sometimes you have to lean into the confusion and just go with it. But when it clicks, it can be exhilarating—a release valve for all the times we feel lost or overwhelmed by a world that doesn’t always make sense. It reminds us that maybe, just maybe, finding joy in the ridiculous is its own kind of wisdom.

So, what absurd films are you obsessed with? Let's hear them!