Comedy trailers

The eternal conflict between comedy screenwriters and the guys who make trailers: Invariably the trailer will give away the four or five best jokes. Now that’s good for discerning moviegoers because you’ll know in three minutes whether this is a movie worth seeing. If the jokes in the trailer are turds in the punchbowl (or if that specific gag is featured) you know you’re only in for an hour of a half of cinematic waterboarding. But if the jokes make you laugh then maybe there are others in there you’ll find amusing too.

Also, if there is any physical comedy in the movie whatsoever you’ll see it in the trailer. Pratfalls are to comedy previews what explosions are to action films. Pratfalls are such a staple of comedy trailers that they’re included if they don’t appear in the movie. In an earlier post I talked about how my partner and I were once hired to write five funny trailer moments for a comedy that had none. They filmed our gags, built the trailer around them and never put them in the actual movie. By the way, the movie did good business.

This practice even extends to dramas. If a character trips on the way to his execution they’ll feature that in the trailer to show there are lighthearted moments in death camp flicks.

Comedy writers and producers argue that giving away the five best jokes kills the surprise and hurts the movie. But here’s the dirty little secret: Audiences laugh at the big jokes ANYWAY. Even if they know they’re coming, even if they’ve seen them ten times already, they’ll still fall out of their seats. The trailer people are right, damn it.

And in romantic comedy trailers there will always be a scene where one member of the couple sees the other naked, usually in an embarrassing situation. Now if the naked person should fall out a picture window, land in a wedding cake causing it to get all over everybody and have a hilarious quip like “That better be the little bride and groom that’s sticking up my ass” I think the studio can guarantee the biggest opening for a Mike Myers movie EVER.