Word: laff
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...York's Improvisation (sister club of the Los Angeles version) and Los Angeles' Comedy Store, have for years served as a proving ground for young comics, helping launch the careers of Robin Williams, Joe Piscopo, David Letterman and dozens more. Now clubs with names like the Punch Line, Laff Stop and Funny Bone are spreading the yuks everywhere from Kalamazoo, Mich., to Ozark, Ala. At least 260 full-time comedy clubs -- ranging from posh nighteries like New York's Caroline's to converted Chinese restaurants -- are currently in operation, according to Barry Weintraub, publisher of a magazine called Comedy U.S.A...
...Vacation is not a rambunctious "laff riot" on the order of Animal House--not withstanding newspaper ads depicting Chase in a mock epic pose with Beverly D'Angelo and Christie Brinkley each gripping a leg. It is, rather, a fairly subtle and biting parody of upper-middle class middle America...
...friendly gorilla, at Talk Show Host Mike Douglas. The resulting movie is sometimes very funny. It also represents a waltz step toward popular acceptance by a performer tired of being worshiped by the few. Like former cult favorites Chevy Chase and Steve Martin, Tomlin has made a laff-a-minute movie that will offend nobody - except the comic's most ardent fans, who will buy tickets and then yell, "Sell...
...lethargic masseuse. These days, too many comedies are in the hands of writers and directors rehashing tired formulas, retyping favorite old jokes, doing the expected. Funny thing is, audiences still do the expected too: they go, and they laugh. This holiday season, moviegoers are flocking to such putative laff-riots as Popeye, Nine to Five and the quartet of movies below. Maybe people simply enjoy sharing the sound of their own laughter: it's one of the few ways Americans have left to make a joyful noise...