best buffyverse comedic talents?

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goldenboy

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Had you guys discussed this recently? I don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of lines and episodes like some of you. I think virtually all the buffyverse actors had great comic timing and comic instincts. They had better skills in that regard than may sitcom stars. Obviously, it's a combination of the actor, the writers and the character.

Xander comes immediately to mind of course. He and Chandler Bing seem like separated twins to me at times. Nicholas Brendon"”great physical comic skills, then ranging all the way to subtle, sarcastic wit. Well paired with the wit and delivery of Emma Caulfield.

Whachyall think? Who were your faves and why?
 
Emma Caulfield, but half of her comedy is straight from the authors. I mean some lines you can't muck up

I'm thinking about buying something really expensive, like an antelope(sorry bad spelling).

However I've started to really appreciate SMG's comical timing. Most of the time she is just the Hero, but there are many lines delivered with such timing that you can't help to love them, even though in themselves they are nothing.

Xander is funny and all, but I've never been that fond of him. His type of humor feels cold in a way, it doesn't really affect me even though I might snigger now and then, same goes for Chandler. Comedy should be warm and soft, even though it might be black comedy you need the warmth in the jokes to really be able to love them beyond just the line stage.
 
I hear what your saying about "cold". Woody Allen always struck me as funny, but kind of cold, overly analytical. Almost too clever for his own good.

Never have been a real fan of goofy, slapstick stuff as an adult either. Tend to like absurdist, nonsensical humor, and sarcasm. And here I am analyzing...
 
Well the analytical thing doesn't necessary make it cold, but I agree on the Woody Allen thing. And slapstick really isn't my thing.

The way you describes your own sense of humour it sounds more like you are a Anya fan than Xander.

Comedy needs to connect in some way and thus making the things they say not just funny, but real.

It's not really so much humour, but Alyson Hannigans delivering of certain lines with not just her voice, but entire face and body can sometimes be hysterical. Like her "Bring it on!" in Get it done. There is no humour there, but it's one of the funniest lines in the episode.
 
Nick Brendon is prolly the top overall
Marsters has the best comedic delivery
Denisof is gifted at physical comedy.
 
C
Croft Storm
Agreed, wesley slipping on the coffee beans slayed me :D
I think you're exactly right JollyApe. Anya may very well be my favorite. Xander strikes me as the most obvious example of "the comedian".

I think it can be very hard to be intentionally funny"”to me anyways. Xander intentionally used humor for self-deprecation and as a way to relate to others. Anya was funny because of her utter seriousness most of time.

Think that's why I love the Christopher Guest mockumentaries. All the characters are utterly serious.

Buffy seemed funniest when she was confused or exasperated. Would invent interesting new words, language to describe her feelings.
 
Emma Caulfield seems to have an amazing sense of the way Anya should deliver a line, in a way that's completely serious and yet roaringly funny. I mean come on, "I wa gonna say syphillis!"(sp?)

I love Denisof as Spazzy!Wesley for his physical comedy, as WatcherWes said. All you have to do is watch Spin the Bottle to appreciate it.

Tom Lenk, Tom Lenk, Tom Lenk. I love Tom Lenk! OK, he wasn't around very long, but his brand of comedy not only fit very well with Xander's and Anya's but also...his lines were about things that I laugh at myself for loving. He's completely serious in his love of the same geeky things that I kind of pretend that I dont...either that or his lines were completely random, like "I have shin splints" and "It's an onion, and it's a flower, I don't understand how such a thing is possible!" Ok, maybe I love the writers for Andrew's line, but I adore Tom's delivery.
 
The most brilliant comedic talents is very often the writers, but yeah, the actors does a great job delivering them too. As many of you already said Anya/Emma is reall funny with her way of always being so serious. And Willow/Alyson for her way of express herself with her whole body. And I love all the strange new words that you don't always get..
 
James is great with the comedy because of his stage work. He gets full into it.
Emma is the best overall because she really made Anya what she is and has the simultaneous serious/funny deliver down like the Mayor did.
Nicholas is really talented too especially for being a first time actor. His comedic deliver was beyond amazing.
David was really great too. For Angel being a serious character he managed so many funny things.
 
Anya is the funniest in my opinion. even when shes upset and depressed she still manages to be funny.
cant say that about most of the others.
 
Even though most of the actors in Buffy/Angel were funny at one time or another - with Emma Caufield definetely deserving all the credit she could get - I still think it is strange that you haven't mentioned Anthony Head. Even though Giles might not have been the most comic character on the show, when he did deliver comic lines they were always gold. And the way he said them, with his dry sense of brittish intellectual humor, always made me laugh. 🙂
 
Anthony Head is interesting to me. Highly talented (formally stage trained I assume?). Good physical comedian. Great singer.

He strikes me as a British stage actor and yet half the time I couldn't even hear what he was saying. He'd quietly mumble mumble...as he'd clean his specs. I need to turn on the subtitles from time to time just to catch everything.

I know that was almost the whole point of the character to an extent. The painfully introverted Giles. I just think of his style of acting as full of vocal clarity and projection. Got frustrating at times when I couldn't hear what seemed like critical exposition. Maybe it's just my American tin ear.
 
For me, Anya makes me laugh the loudest. And I think most of everyone has forced one out of me, but I believe she does it best. She sometimes makes me think that she's an alien or something with the vocabulary she uses. I think that Willow's next in line for me because I feel like she sometimes says things that are also smart and funny at the same time. Like when the wittiness is almost too good or something. I'll never get over her "reliable dog-geyser person" line. It's too good!
 
goldenboy said:
Maybe it's just my American tin ear.
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Probably. I am Swedish and have seen most of the episodes without subtitles and I've never had any problems with hearing what Giles says.
 
goldenboy said:
He strikes me as a British stage actor and yet half the time I couldn't even hear what he was saying. He'd quietly mumble mumble...as he'd clean his specs. I need to turn on the subtitles from time to time just to catch everything.
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I think it was meant to be a trait, quiet rumbling to himself. He often ran on, almost tracked an idea in his head. When he used to say stuff like "It could be a xxx demon, wihch was last seen in xxx and is known for xxx but I'd have to check in xxx and talk to xxx but that could be a problem because...". Just the logical transition we do from one thing to another that most people do in our head, he just kinda mumbled it.

Also he could feel surpressed by the fact he hangs out with a load of teens/early twenties and there have been a few times when they have expressed a disinterest in what Giles is saying. But thats a bit too pyschoanalytical.
 
James!. I mean, c'mon!. Spike is the funniest character and it's all thanks to James and his acting skills, it's not all about the script.
 
Xander
Actually, just watching Buffy's season 6 job hunting, nerd attack episode (forget the ep name), the disinterest seemed to run both ways, which got to be hilarious. Buffy talks, Giles cleans his glasses, pretends to listen to Buffy. Buffy pretends to hear Giles, etc...A comment on the generation gap perhaps.

Like I said, I suspected the mumbles were for comic effect mostly, just bothered me if I didn't think I heard a plot point correctly. Haven't really seen Tony Head in anything else. Well, those coffee commercials...

How about the funniest guest star? I thought Gwen got in some nice jabs at Angel, Gunn. Can't remember specifics just now...there was that Lex Luthor crack to that client of hers that turned on her.
 
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