Greetings and salutations Hivers. Today I thought we'd do another You Should Laugh More post.

The other day, I posted Whatever it is, I'm against it, where I talked about Groucho Marx. The post received a lot of comments that were interested in Groucho, so I thought today I'd share some favorite clips of him and his brothers.

But first — our disclaimer:

Research shows that laughter is good for us—it boosts health in all kinds of ways. Yet most of us don’t laugh nearly enough. Sure, being an adult is tough, and the world can feel grim. But that’s all the more reason to bring a little joy into our day.

Smith or Smythe

Let's begin with some solo Groucho. In this clip from A Night in Casablanca he is taking the air out of a snooty couple, in an effortless way that only he could do.

What's the Password

Groucho and Chico had some wonderful scenes together. Chico always played the not-so-smart wannabe schemer. Groucho always seemed to have the upper hand going into the exchanges and would be fully confident of outsmarting poor Chico, yet things never seemed to go as he — or we — thought they would. This scene from Horse Feathers is a classic example of that.

Get Your Tutsi-Frutsi

Here Chico is trying to con Groucho in A Day at the Races.

Pickpocketing the Sheriff

Chico and Harpo often seemed to work together in the stories, with Harpo supporting Chico in his scheming. Unlike Groucho and Chico and their battle of wits gone wrong, Harpo and Chico's interactions often revolved around this chaos. Like in this clip from A Day at the Races.

Piano Scene

They first achieved their fame on Vaudeville, and Vaudeville performers were expected to do a little of everything. As they perfected their act, Chico taught himself to be a pretty masterful piano player, Harpo learned how to play the Harp, and Groucho... well, he learned how to sing well enough that he could carry a melody long enough for his wit to make you laugh. Even when the brothers moved to movies, they kept in at least a piano number and harp number.

In this scene from The Big Store, Chico is doing one of his piano numbers with some help from Harpo.

Peanuts or Lemonade

When the two of them really got going, they could cause enough insanity to frustrate anyone. As seen in this clip from Duck Soup.

The Mirror Scene

When Groucho and Harpo shared scenes, you never really knew what to expect. Harpo never spoke, so Groucho's wit was worthless, making Groucho always seem out of his element and giving Harpo the upper hand. This scene from Duck Soup is one of the most iconic in comedy history with many many comics trying their hand at it over the years. The secret behind why it works so well is that the two brothers had performed it for years on the Vaudeville circuit where they perfected it.

There ain't no Sanity Clause

Some more Groucho vs Chico, this time from A Night at the Opera.

And Two Hard Boiled Eggs

Now when the brothers got together, all bets were off and chaos was the result. As seen in this classic scene A Night at the Opera

What do you do with your old razor blades

Here Groucho is making short work of another stuffy shirt as he attempts to continue his con in A Day at the Races, this time with the brothers giving him a hand.

Well I could pick numerous more clips, but I'll leave it at that. If you enjoyed those, search YouTube for more. Ever better, go out and watch some of their movies.

Now I should warn you, their movies do often feature some singing numbers, some romantic thing from the non-comic lead. These songs were forced on the brothers by the studios and were not popular with the brothers or with audiences. Feel free to fast-forward through any singing number (unless it's one of Groucho's comedy songs).

Let me know which one got the biggest laugh — or if there’s a better scene I should’ve included.

Posted using CineTV