100 Best Comedy Movies - Contributors Lists - F-G

Find out what our contributors’ top ten funny films are, featuring Stewart Francis and Christopher Green

Linked title denotes top 100 placing

Keith Farnan

In his solo tours, Irish comic Keith Farnan has used his comedy to tackle tough subjects including racism, prostitution and the death penalty. Quite the opposite from his slot on sparkly stand-up series ‘Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow’. See Keith Farnan live.

‘I Went Down’ is a lo-fi and really funny Irish indie film with Brendan Gleeson and Peter McDonald. ‘Only Human’ is a Spanish comedy take on ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ about an Israeli family and a Palestinian in-law. Nobody’s seen it. Everyone should.

Pete Firman

Pete Firman is a master magician and cheeky comedian. He’s performed on ‘Comedy Rocks with Jason Manford’ and ‘Derren Brown’s 3D Magic Spectacular’ and was a regular member of the ‘Monkey Magic’ and ‘Dirty Tricks’ teams on TV. See Pete Firman live.

Paul Fleckney

Paul Fleckney is the editor of comedy website London Is Funny (londonisfunny.com).

If, like me, you enjoy doing Werner Herzog impressions around the house for your own entertainment, you'll know that when it comes to watching his films, they become inadvertently hilarious. When I saw ‘Cave’, I certainly wasn't the only one enjoying it on this level.

Jessica Fostekew

Jessica has recently performed her debut solo comedy show, ‘Luxury Tramp’, at the Edinburgh Fringe, directed by Time Out’s very own editor Tim Arthur. See Jessica Fostekew live.

‘Team America: World Police’ is funny on more levels than any film I've seen: physically, the gag-dense writing and the satire that bites nationalism, Hollywood, pretention and hypocrisy. It is genius. ‘I promise you, I will never die.’

Deborah Frances-White

Deborah Frances-White is a stand-up comedian, corporate speaker and screenwriter. Her show, ‘How To Get Almost Anyone To Want To Sleep With You’, plays regularly at the Leicester Square Theatre.

City Lights is Chaplin absolutely at the peak of his powers, rejecting dialogue at the dawn of the talkies to put together what is probably his masterwork. Unhampered by the cumbersome satirical ambitions of ‘Modern Times’ or ‘The Great Dictator’, this is a beautifully simple story on which Chaplin hangs some of his finest slapstick work. Its reputation for cloying sentimentality is rather undeserved. The ending, it’s true, will not move those made of granite, but the movie earns the right to give us an emotional coda by paving the way with any number of hysterical comedy routines.

Stewart Francis

Canadian stand-up Stewart Francis has made a name for himself on the British circuit for his slick, sharp one-liners following appearances on ‘Live at the Apollo’, ‘Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow’ and ‘Mock the Week’.

1. The Naked Gun (David Zucker, 1988)
2. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, 1975)
3. The Party (Blake Edwards, 1968)
4. Airplane! (Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, 1980)
5. Take the Money and Run (Woody Allen, 1969)
6. The Jerk (Carl Reiner, 1979)
7. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask (Woody Allen, 1972)
8. Dumb and Dumber (Peter Farrelly, 1994)
9. The Seven Year Itch (Billy Wilder, 1955)
10. Bowfinger (Frank Oz, 1999)

It’s surely the ‘The Naked Gun’ – Leslie Nielsen is the best deadpan comedian ever. And it’s the second best acting performance of O.J. Simpson’s life.

Henry Ginsberg

Henry Ginsberg first tried stand-up in 2005 and since then has reached the finals of Laughing Horse, Leicester Square and FHM new act competitions. He also runs regular Piccadilly club, the ‘Absolutely Free Comedy Night’. See Henry Ginsberg live.

1. The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)
2. Love and Death (Woody Allen, 1975)
3. Modern Times (Charles Chaplin, 1936)
4. The Castle (Rob Sitch, 1997)
5. This Is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner, 1984)
6. Jour de Fete (Jacques Tati, 1949)
7. Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 1933)
8. Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)
9. Sherlock Jr. (Buster Keaton, 1924)
10. History of the World Part 1 (Mel Brooks, 1981)

If you've only seen Chaplin's short films on TV and can't quite work out what people see in him, sit down and watch ‘Modern Times’ in its entirety. Once you've finished, there's no excuse for not acknowledging his genius. And ‘History of the World’ is easily Mel Brooks' most underrated film. Dom DeLuise's performance as Nero never fails to make me laugh.’

Janey Godley

Janey Godley is a stand-up comedian, author and former Scotsman columnist. She’s performed multiple solo shows, including an off-Broadway run, and is a regular on Radio 4’s ‘Just a Minute’.

Whether or not ‘The Room’ was intentionally funny is a hot debate. The cast say it was not, the writer-director-star says it was. Tommy Wiseau’s bizarre and frankly mental romance/drama/thriller has become a cult classic with fans flocking to see it in small independent cinemas across the States and the UK. ‘The Room’ has become an experience and rite of passage rather than just a bad film. So grab your plastic cutlery and prepare to laugh at – or with – a film so bad or funny that you couldn’t write it.

Stuart Goldsmith

A former street performer, Stuart Goldsmith is a comedian and actor who recently appeared as a contestant on ITV’s reality stand-up show ‘Show Me the Funny’. See Stuart Goldsmith live.

‘You're all individuals!’ ‘Yes! We are all individuals!’ ‘I’m not,’ is the best joke ever recorded on film. ‘Life of Brian’ wrote, ripped up, stamped on and ate the book when it comes to comedy. Hilarious, intelligent, thought-provoking, childish and timeless.

Tom Goodliffe

Former accountant Tom Goodliffe is a stand-up comedian who took his debut solo show ‘The Good Liffe’ to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2011. See Tom Goodliffe live.

I chose ‘Four Lions’ just ahead of fellow Britcoms ‘Shaun of the Dead’ and ‘Life of Brian’ simply because it's the most I've ever laughed in a cinema. It's a brilliantly funny farce with courage, wit and compassion. Three words produced the single biggest laugh I've ever heard in a movie theatre: I won't spoil it for you but it involved cheese.

Boothby Graffoe

Guitar-plucking comic and musician Boothby Graffoe has had five series on Radio 4 and has supported The Barenaked Ladies on tour. He is a Time Out Award winner and Perrier Award nominee

1. Evil Town (Edward Collins, Larry Spiegel, 1987)
2. Team America:World Police (Trey Parker, 2004)
3. Flying Deuces (A. Edward Sutherland, 1939)
4. Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993)
5. Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004)
6. The Scarlet Pumpernickle (Chuck Jones, 1950)
7. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Trey Parker, 1999)
8. Flesh Gordon (Michael Benveniste, Howard Ziehm, 1974)
9. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, 1975)
10. End Of Days (Peter Hyams, 1999)

‘End of Days’ is a combination of Arnold Schwarzenoodle trying to be serious and a huge budget. Arnold realises he must die if the devil is to be defeated. A re-enactment of the American war on drugs, only with an ending. And ‘Evil Town’ is a subtle combination of the best intentions and a low budget. When the evil Dr Schaeffer introduces Teddy, his most successful subject, I challenge anyone to not to laugh out loud.

Stephen Grant

Stephen Grant is an award-winning comedian and regular MC at the Krater Comedy Club in Brighton. His fourth live DVD is due to be released this year. See Stephen Grant live.

‘The Mask’ is my favourite Jim Carrey film because the plot suits his huge overacting. By having this multiple personality of The Mask, he can overdo it without annoying the viewer. Much.

Christopher Green

Christopher Green is better known as country singer Tina C or music hall R&B pensioner Ida Barr. He’s also performed with Duckie, La Clique and Office Party, as well as on the BBC.

I have included my favourite American comedies but most of my list are British films, mainly Ealing Comedies. I love anything where cheerful Cockneys defy the odds to triumph and posh actresses play charladies. The sheer inventiveness and subversion of ‘Kind Hearts and Coronets’ and ‘Passport To Pimlico’ have me going back time after time. Special mention must also go to ‘Harold and Maude’, which I watch regularly. It makes me cry every time and laugh a lot, particularly at the uptight mother reacting to her perpetually suicidal son. Not fertile soil for comedy, you might have thought. Ruth Gordon breaks my heart with the joy of her performance, especially when she sings Cat Stevens at the piano.

Matt Green

Matt Green has been a stand-up comedian since 2003. He is regular MC at the 99 Club Islington and has appeared in ‘Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace’, ‘Extras’ and Radio 4 comedy drama ‘Inspector Steine’. See Matt Green live.

Although by no means perfect, ‘Zoolander’ is a film I can watch again and again because it is packed with brilliant jokes. Will Ferrell’s performance as the evil fashion designer is priceless: his scenes with Ben Stiller’s Zoolander always make me laugh. ‘The centre has to be at least... three times bigger than this!’

Richard Griffiths

Richard Griffiths’s finest role came as the tragic Uncle Monty in ‘Withnail & I’. He’s also been seen recently in the Harry Potter series. His next film is Martin Scorsese’s ‘Hugo’, due in 2012.

1. The General (Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton, 1926)
2. Twentieth Century (Howard Hawks, 1934)
3. Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959)
4. The Paleface (Norman Z McLeod, 1948)
5. The Italian Job (Peter Collinson, 1969)
6. Monty Python's Life of Brian (Terry Jones, 1979)
7. The Front (Martin Ritt, 1976)
8. Being There (Hal Ashby, 1979)
9. Airplane! (Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, 1980)
10. Blazing Saddles (Mel Brooks, 1974)

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