Life of Brian is effing BRILLIANT! Definitely included among my top 10 all-time favorite movie comedies!
I can prove it for you, man. I've been acting and directing for the stage for more than 20 years. Worked on dozens of comedies. One might expect that some individual audience members would laugh out loud at some lines, and some would laugh at others, ultimately averaging out the responses from night to night, right?
But that ain't the way it works AT ALL. I'm sure that anyone else on here who works in the theatre will back me up on this.
Each collective audience behaves like a unique organism. It's the most astonishing phenomenon. One night, the whole audience will roar at every line, and the next night you can hear a pin drop. Same exact show; same exact performances.
I can't explain this phenomenon, other than to say that, clearly, humans unconsciously respond with a group mentality to the subtlest cues from those around us. After performances on quiet nights I've asked audience members what they thought of the show, and typically got the same positive responses as on the loud audience nights. For whatever reason, they just didn't express their appreciation audibly.
I also know a few people who always laugh out loud when they're at a show, regardless of what the rest of the audience is doing. Invariably, they have the rest of the crowd going by the end of the first act. As actors, we ADORE these folks!
That is fascinating.
One of the greatest of cinematic achievements, ain't it?
