Dick Van Dyke Conference (DVDC)

Finalists: Monty Python and the Holy Grail / National Lampoon’s Animal House

Okay, after my last post, you all have a pretty good handle on how this goes. The DVDC is for comedies, and we’ve got two of the best matched up here.

Now between the two, which is the better COMEDY? The most interesting thing is that one (Animal House) is the granddaddy of “slobs vs. snobs” humor, while the other (Holy Grail) is the epitome of surrealistic British humor.

Animal House is much more conventional humor: John Belushi mugging for the camera…the sweet goofiness of Katy and Boone…the impotent evil of Dean Wormer…moments of nakedness…dead horses…etc. It’s highly quotable, which serves its longevity as a comedy for the ages.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail is much more weird humor. Killer Rabbits…dead animators…a castle of Peril…flesh wounds…three-headed knights…etc…etc. It’s so quotable, it’s entered a realm (for me anyway) where a lot of it SHOULDN’T be quoted anymore, because Nerds have quoted it to death. It’s probably the #1 Nerd movie of all time, and we have burnt out SO many once-viable quotes…sigh.

Anyway, I digress. This is another tough one, but I’m going with National Lampoon’s Animal House. This is because I believe Animal House is a bit more accessible than Holy Grail, comedy-wise.

So, Animal House moves on with an automatic bid, but I’m pretty sure we’ll see Holy Grail again.