Funniest moments in sff

[Jo Zebedee]

Branching out from an earlier conversation, wondering what scenes stand out in genre books/films/television as funny. My favourites are (in no particular order) -

Nanny Ogg having a bath. I cry with laughter at the first bong, bugger it, bash of the bath tub (Lords and ladies, anyone know?)
The Butterbug scene in Vorkosigan (A Civil Campaign). The build up to it, the whole comedy of manners around it and the pacing is fabulous.

On films, I love the 'Don't stop me now' scene in Shaun of the Dead. I also loved loads of the humour in Guardians of the Galaxy, and thought they used pacing and timing well.


And for a skit, Eddie Izzard's Death Star Canteen makes me laugh every time.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Granny infecting the vampires
(Carpe Jugulum)

Many escapades of Cohen the Barbarian or the entire Silver horde (3 books)

The truth shall make you fret
Going Postal

Most of the Discworld books
Animated Soul Music and Wierd Sisters
Film versions


Possibly it's the start of Aurian or The Heart of Myrial by Maggie Furey where the rider is lamenting what leather gear is like in the rain. I forget which. I can't remember where I put them. Or maybe someone else.

Not SFF, but in films
Better Off Dead -- throwing out perfectly good White boy
Dangerous Creatures (John Cleese)
Uncle Buck (John Candy)

 

[Alex The G and T]

Sir Terry uses a certain phrase to describe a number of different characters within several of his books.

It's not so much LOL funny; but it amuses me immensely, because it describes me perfectly. Because I do not suffer gods gladly.


"If complete and utter chaos was lightning, then he'd be the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armour and shouting 'All gods are bastards!' "

 

[Grimward]

Zelazny's the best.

While I had often said that I wanted to die in bed, what I really meant was that in my old age I wanted to be stepped on by an elephant while making love.

 

[thaddeus6th]

The moose joke in Red Dwarf X was a nice return to form.

One of my favourite episodes of comedy is from Blackadder II (Money, I think), where the baby-eating Bishop of Bath and Wells, manager of the Black Bank, is after a debt from Blackadder.

 

[Boneman]

Galaxy Quest. Nuff said. But particularly the bit where Tim Allen is trying to convince the kid to help them, using the communicators, and the kid is saying 'it's okay, I know I'm a nerd, etc' and Tim says "It's all real." and the kid says "I knew it!"

 

[Zoe Mackay]

Sir Alexander Dane: You're just going to have to figure out what it wants. What is its motivation?
Jason Nesmith: It's a rock monster. It doesn't have motivation.
Sir Alexander Dane: See, that's your problem, Jason. You were never serious about the craft.

In terms of books, the translation scene in Diana Wynne Jones' "A Tale Of Time City" always makes me cry with laughter.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

Mines a Magrat moment - now I know it is in Wyrd Sisters the play but honestly can't remember if it is in the book as well. "Anyone would just think we are old hags in green blusher."

And can I go for a really popular one - Captain Kirk covered in tribbles? And I love the I, Mudd Episode at the end when his wife droid has number 500 on her forehead.

 

[HoopyFrood]

There are parts in Scott Lynch's book that crack me up. In the first book it's at the end when all manner of shiz is going down and everyone's deciding who'll go sort it out and Locke is all "great, we'll all go, it'll be a party!" Laugh every time. And in the newest book, when Jean has been taking out Sabetha's spies so she replaces them with old women and Jean has no clue what to do!

Anything Red Dwarf. Especially anything that involves Rimmer. But also when the shape-shifting thingie goes up Lister's boxer shorts

Love the Marvel films, consistently make me laugh. Especially love the unexpected moment in Captain America when a kid gets thrown into a river by a bad guy but the kid's just all "I can swim, go after him!"

In Firefly when River pops out of her box and scares the bejesus out of Mal.

I'll keep thinking, there are many more

 

[Vince W]

Red Dwarf always makes me laugh.

That scene in Aliens when Gorman announces he's coming in, Hudson and Vasquez's comments always gets a chuckle out of me.

Of course Galaxy Quest is priceless.

The Coronetto Trilogy has a lot of laughs to offer, especially Shaun of the Dead. And Spaced.

David Jason as Rincewind.

Genre media has a lot to offer in the way of humour.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

I forgot my favourite from Torchwood:
Rhys: If you stopped and asked me what I saw in there instead of showing off round the place.
Jack: Do I show off?
Ianto: Just a bit.
Rhys: You'd know I got out by telling them I wanted a job. As a delivery man. So rather thank cock things up I found you a way to get in. But if you can't handle that Big Boy you can stuff it.
Jack: This rather homoerotic.
Gwen: Oh No.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

This is a bit from a book by one of our newer members, AmyCook, who is the wife of one of my coworkers (WordSpinner). I was reading it at lunch the other day, and laughed so hard I cried at this part. It's just so real. The book is called Edge of Instinct: Rabids Book 1.

(Background: MC's brother is dead, and she has been called mysteriously to a bank and given a briefcase that her brother left for her. It had a touch-pad scanner that she had to press her hand to, in order to open it, and inside was an envelope and some other things, and this note.)

"Baby Girl.
Did you enjoy the brief case bit? I found it in an abandoned military base on one of our missions and knew I had to get it for you. Technically, the print scanner is busted and it would have opened for anyone, but I thought you might get a kick outta being all James Bond-like.

Now, onto the serious stuff. If you are reading this, it means that I am dead. (I always wanted to say that...you know, except for the whole having to be dead to say it part.)

..."

 

[alchemist]

It won't work out of context, but the Star Trek film where Data gets emotions and the Enterprise crash lands on a planet. As the ship pierces the atmosphere and the horizon looms, Data goes "ohhhh s***!"

It's funny cos it's Data

 

[alchemist]

I also have to say Tyrion in GOT is hilarious. He IS the series.

 

[Vertigo]

The four rider's of the apocalypse scene from Good Omens; gets me every time I think about it! Somewhat abridged:

It did not escape their notice that all four strangers had HELL'S ANGELS on their jackets. And they looked dead dodgy as far as the Angels were concerned: too clean for a start; and none of the four looked like they'd ever broken anyone's arm just because it was Sunday afternoon and there wasn't anything good on the telly.
"You're Hell's Angels, then?" asked Big Ted, sarcastically. If there's one thing real Hell's Angels can't abide, it's weekend bikers.
The four strangers nodded.
"What chapter are you from, then?"
REVELATIONS, he said. CHAPTER SIX.
"Verses two to eight," added the boy in white, helpfully.

 

[Venusian Broon]

Going a bit back in the Pratchett oeuvre to The Light Fantastic I think I literally did piss my myself laughing at the footnote on Olaf Quimby II, a past patrician of Ankh-Morpork who

was noted for his interest in honest and accurate descriptions as well as proper standards for everything, particularly metaphor. As Patrician, he used his power to enforce laws against creative exaggeration in writing. For example, no bard was allowed to say of a hero that "all men spoke of his prowess" on pain of death; he should instead add that some people spoke ill of the hero and that still others did not know of him at all. Similarly, the phrase "her face launched a thousand ships" could only be used to describe a beautiful woman if relevant shipyard records were produced or, failing that, evidence that the woman's face resembled a champagne bottle.

As far as standardization was concerned, Quimby instituted the Ankh-Morpork Bureau of Measurements, in which is kept the standardized Blunt Stick (originally a Sharp one was on display as well, but very few things were found worse than a poke in the eye with it), the recipe for the Pie that It May be As Nice As, Two Short Planks and the stone used in the original Moss-Gathering Trials. This Bureau is maintained by the current Patrician, Lord Havelock Vetinari, on the grounds that the sort of people whose minds work like this ought to be kept busy, or they might do anything.

Quimby's reign ended when he was killed by a disgruntled poet during an experiment to test the truth of the saying "The pen is mightier than the sword". In his memory, it was amended to read: "The pen is mightier than the sword only if the sword is very small and the pen is very sharp".

 

[Mouse]

I'm reading Good Omens at the mo...

Firefly and Red Dwarf are hilarious. Guardians of the Galaxy had some funny bits. Agree about the Cornetto trilogy too. And... what else? Neverwhere made me laugh out loud - the Croup and Vandemar bits.

 

[HareBrain]

No-one mentioned Futurama yet? Most of my favourite moments involve Zap Brannigan or Zoidberg (or Bender of course).

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I did the "Arthur and the bulldozers" bit of HHGG as a humorous piece for speech tournaments in school. It took a lot of effort to stop cracking up at the "beware of the leopard" part.

Now I have to read Good Omens again.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

No-one mentioned Futurama yet? Most of my favourite moments involve Zap Brannigan or Zoidberg (or Bender of course).

Futurama is amazing, HB! At its best, I believe Futurama was as funny as any comedy ever on television. SO many LOL moments, and often clever, touching storylines (and then there is Bender!). And I love the look of this future, throughout the series. (Zap Brannigan was brilliantly silly, too!)

And from Fringe, John Noble's 'Walter Bishop' had some of the funniest, quirkiest lines I've ever heard. Wow, Noble is a truly amazing actor, one of the best out there, I think.