So when you think of funny romantic comedy movies, do you think more in-terms of off-beat characters or scenes?
I tend to favor ones that have creative scenes that use more normal people who end up performing comedy. Take for instance, A Fish Called Wanda. That gem came out in 1988, and has one of the funniest scenes I can remember using the two leads: John Cleese and Jamie Lee Curtis:
Funny SCENE, involving two straight laced characters, John Cleese's "Archie Leech" and Jamie Lee Curtis's "Wanda".
But many romantic comedy movies implore more of a character approach to injecting humor into their story.
Probably my favorite rom-com, comic relief characters off all-time is Joey Fusco Jr. as played by Michael Rispolli in While You Were Sleeping (1995).
A slob's version of peacocking
Now in this gem of a movie, the real focus is how Sandra Bullock's "Lucy" character will trade love interests from the unconscious guy she saved from getting run over by a train Peter as played by Peter Gallagher, and the younger brother "Jack" as played by Bill Pullman, who the Lucy character falls in love with after some memorable moments. The following scene is a wonderful showcase of how a comic relief character can inject some humor in a given scene:
This "leaning" scene, starts out as the build-up for a first kiss scene, with Jack prepping the waters and Lucy a willing reciprocant until the comedic relief shows up and changes the trajectory of momentum, which results in the moment being thwarted. The Joey Fusco Jr. character is clownish caricature of a man. The son of the supervisor of the apartment complex that Lucy is living in. But in his delusional mind, Joey Fusco Jr. is a romantic rival who wants Lucy for himself. In every scene Joey Fusco Jr. shows up in this movie, his function is comedic relief. Most, if not all, of what Lucy and Jack say in this movie is serious in nature. But the supporting character, and minor complication, that Joey Fusco Jr. is supplies a couple laughs along the way.
While You Were Sleeping is a brilliant romantic comedy. It is both romantic and funny at the same. No, Joey Fusco Jr. doesn't shoulder the burden of carrying all the comedy in this movie, but his presence definitely helps.
Another comic relief character in a rom-com movie comes from Fredy Bauer: John Candy's character from Splash (1983).
Freddy Bauer after a racketball work-out with his brother "Allan": Tom Hanks's character.
In Splash, John Candy plays a womanizing, carefree playboy who represents a family challenge to Allan once he re-discovers "Madison" the mermaid, and their love deepens. Comedy on screen comes pretty naturally to John Candy. In the movie Freddy does come around to using his free spirit to help his younger brother during his time Madison on land, but most of the time his schtick is one of comic relief.
In terms of the women's side the ledger, the first "name" that comes to mind was Mellisa McCarthy in Bridesmaids (2011). I'll go on record as saying I wasn't a fan of that movie--I thought it was very overrated--but for some people the Mellisa McCarthy character was funny. Emily Blunt was GREAT in a supporting role as Ruthie 'pigface' Drapper, who was an imposed romantic interest for "Dan" as played by Steve Carell in Dan in Real Life (2007).
In 13 Going on 30 (2004) the comic relief character is grown-up Jenna's hockey boyfriend: "Alex Carlson" as played by actor Samuel Ball. In his role Alex Carlson is really no more than a caricature stereotype: the shallow minded, star athlete. James Marsden played a similar caricature role as "Prince Edward" in the Amy Adams/Patrick Dempsey headlined movie Enchanted (2007).
Another of my favorite comic relief characters of all-time in the movies was Will Farrell's "Mugatu" from Zoolander (2001). Though technically Mugatu was the master villain in the story, since he was a caricature parody of the fashion industry gone awry, I think think it's fair to also label Mugatu as being comic relief especially when he appears on screen at one point like this:
So when writing your romantic comedy material don't forget your over-the-top, comic relief characters. I think it's best then you can have your leads actually act in comedic scenes together, but I've not always found that to be the case. Many times the comedy in romantic comedies comes from the supporting characters, for more on writing humor in scripts, check this oldie out.
Sometimes out of a bigger cast of characters, a comic relief character will emerge. Like the outspoken "Aunt Voula" as played by Andrea Martin in --
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
It can't always be --
Capstone romantic moment. Your leads have to EARN THE RIGHT to kiss. And to do that your romantic comedy plot needs to have some twists and turns to it. Your comic relief characters can help with those twist and turns that make the ultimate destination more memorable. So I advice to always be looking for zanny character to be in the lives of the main lead in your romantic comedies, as they will add a spice of LIFE to your stories and make the journey to the first kiss so much more meaningful for your audience.
P.S. Next Sunday I'm off to Florida for a week-long vacation. Hoping to get some work on then NEW, raunchy romantic comedy I'm working on. Been writing notes in a journal at break time at the day job in effort to assemble enough critical mass to pull this feat off. But in the past writing romantic comedy material has been some of the best times of my life. Right now the goal is to transfer all acquired critical mass to a preliminary outline, character roster and bio sheets. I'd like to leave for vacation with all the prep in typed out, more organized form.
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