Albert Brooks Comedy School Clip

Written, starring and directed by a then-young Albert Brooks.

• Category

  Comedy

[Joseph Bruneel]

I feel so bad for Albert that they decided to add a laugh track and silly music. Whoever made those decisions really doesn't get the joke.

[ErichoTTA]

Ah, the spit take. A classic.

[Sassyjass2012]

I never missed a single episode of "The Great American Dream Machine", during its initial run and recall seeing the complete version of Albert Brooks' film, minus the laughtrack. The original title, I believe, was "The Jack Klugman Comedy School". This was making fun of the fact that the former dramatic actor, Jack Klugman, was currently on the TV sitcom, "The Odd Couple".

[mygaffer]

Isn't this from the first season of SNL? Meaning this would be a live audience.

[Julian9ehp]

We need more clips from "The Great American Dream Machine." It was good and funny, and it has vanished into the aether.

[8pasta]

It originally aired on a PBS show called "The Great American Dream Machine" without the "enhancements." This brief excerpt came from a talk show pilot with comedians talking about comedy. Hosted by Milton Berle, it had this clip with the "sweeteners."

[karma dhyana]

LOL! It would lose something in the translation, hah! I know what a spit take is, and a double take--even a triple take (just add a take!)--but the elbow take I'm trying to figure out...going through the obvious scenarios in my noggin'...none seem funny, so I know I"m missing something...

[karma dhyana]

Aah, okay, that makes complete sense (except the part about adding the laugh track to Digital Shorts...I'm mean, do people really need to be cued as to when it is appropriate to laugh? If so, they'd be adding a laugh track to all of SNL's stuff. Sheesh!!). Thanks for the info! Peace!

[Joseph Bruneel]

No, this is not an SNL Short. This was aired on PBS, then was used for a Milton Berle special a couple years later. It was the people from the Berle special who didn't get the joke and added the laugh track. When Albert made his short films for SNL, you can't hear the audience laughing unlike today when SNL airs 'Digitsl Shorts'.

[karma dhyana]

Wasn't this aired on SNL as a short? I know that he did a lot of SNL shorts...maybe that could explain the laugh track (i.e. audience)? Just wondering.

[FungusMossGnosis]

When will I ever get to see the whole thing!?

[carlsetzer]

Notice how the floor is already soaked in the spit-take room.