Comedy is Hard and That's Why It's Worth It: Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone Talk About Their Comedic Lives
Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone are the gold standard, power comedy-couple-husband-and-wife duo. They have worked together countless times to create hilarious and entertaining productions. And even with critical accaim for comedies on the decline, they have made it very clear that they are not going anywhere.
Comedy is harder to make than drama. While it would make sense to assume that comedy is made up of the,fun, friends-fooling-around, random, whatever-happens energy that appears on the screen, it is, in fact, the opposite.
Intensive work, deep thought, and massive talent need to go into creating what will then translate into humor on the screen. That is something that McCarthy and Falcone reflected on in their exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
Falcone pointed out:
"People think comedies are easier to make, but I've hung around with some of the funniest people on this planet, the Maya Rudolphs and Kristen Wiigs. All these talented people, and there's not a one of them who hasn't bombed. That's how hard it is."
Furthermore, not all jokes are for all people. McCarthy quickly added:
"You could tell a joke in a room of 100 people, and maybe 25 love it. Fifteen don't get it. Eight are weirdly offended for reasons you had no intentions of. We don't want to discount dramas at all, but it seems like there's less questioning of it."
The budgets given to comedies by production companies seems to be getting smaller and smaller, but that will not make this team waver from their intended path. In fact, they recognize the importance of comedy now more than ever.
Falcone pointed out:
There are a lot of dramas about the workplace out right now, and something that Melissa and I talk about a lot is that it's not very critically popular to do comedy these days. Obviously, some of our stuff is better received than others, and we'd love to be a hit with the critics.
"But regardless, we believe it is so important in these dark times to be able to watch something that will take you to a nice place for 30 minutes or two hours. It's something Melissa and I are deeply committed to."
We are so glad that they are up for this challenge! Read the full interview here.
