Comedy films often have dance scenes to provide a hilarious change of pace, and the funniest dances can make your films stand out. Dance can be a language that everyone understands, which makes it perfect for comedy. It offers a great opportunity for physical comedy. This is often when the dancers are ridiculously bad, but sometimes it can be even funnier to see a truly skilled performer in the right context.
Some of the best dance numbers in cinema can make audiences laugh. It’s a joy to watch talented dancers use their skills for comedy. This might be funny in itself, as it seems like a very humorous waste of time and talent. Comic dance scenes also have a way of breaking up the rhythm and tone of a film, which is often hilarious. The funniest dance scenes are often the ones that come out of nowhere.
10
Phoenix Buchanan Prison Dance
Paddington 2 (2017)
- Director
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Paul king
- Release date
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January 12, 2018
Paddington2 is a brilliant comedy for the whole family and features one of Hugh Grant’s most memorable performances. Grant gets the chance to play something of a pantomime villain, while the eccentric Phoenix Buchanan accuses Paddington of robbery and sends him to prison. At the end of Paddington 2, his fortunes have reversed and Phoenix is the one who finds himself behind bars. He seems to make the most of it, though, as he leads the inmates in a song and dance.
Seeing such a happy side to Phoenix at the end of Paddington2 It’s a wonderful moment, and the dance scene also ends the inmates’ story. When Paddington arrives, the prison is indeed a dark place, but he helps establish a sense of community that allows the inmates to brighten their home and come together. Phoenix’s dance gives him some redemption, which is a key part of the Paddington 2.
9
Nathan tears up the dance floor
Ex Máquina (2014)
- Release date
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April 10, 2015
The dance scene in Ex-machine is one of the most divisive aspects of the filmas it rocks so hard with the intense and oppressive tone. As Caleb tries to confront Nathan, he is dismissed. Nathan responds with a hilarious quote “I’m going to destroy the fucking dance floor, man. Check it out.” He then begins a strange choreographed dance with Kyoko to Oliver Cheatham’s “Get Down Saturday Night”.
The immediacy of the dance number provides a great shock. With the moody red lighting and the two artists’ immaculate synchronization, it’s as if Ex-machine switches to a different genre of film for a brief moment. The scene works so well because, while it’s surprisingly funny, it also makes Nathan seem even scarier.. The dance ends as abruptly as it begins, creating another disconcerting tonal shift.
8
“You can leave your hat”
The Complete Monty (1997)
- Director
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Pedro Cataneo
- Release date
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August 13, 1997
- Cast
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Robert Carlyle, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Addy, Wim Snape, Steve Huison, Paul Barber, Hugo Speer, Lesley Sharp
There are several hilarious dance scenes in The Complete Monty, but British comedy wisely saves the best for last. The story follows a group of men who react to losing their jobs by forming a male striptease group. They face many obstacles along the way, but their great performance is a much bigger event than any of them had anticipated. The dancers walk out to a sold-out crowd that includes virtually everyone they know from the local community.
Dave puts it best when introducing the act, saying “We may not be young, we may not be pretty, we may not be very good, but we are here.” The men aren’t exactly in the typical shape you’d expect from strippers, but they still give it their all, even if Gaz needs a pep talk from her son behind the scenes. The dance scene is funny in isolation, but it’s even more joyful within the full context of their personal stories and the community’s struggles.
7
Knights of the Round Table
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
- Director
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Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam
- Release date
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May 25, 1975
- Cast
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Michael Palin, John Cleese, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle
Every Monty Python film has a few scenes that are intended to surprise the audience. Life of BrianThe alien scene is an example, but Monty Python and the Holy GrailCamelot’s dance is equally unexpected. As King Arthur and his knights consider their next move, one of them suggests a new meeting at Camelot. This is followed by a courtly dance number that features the knights of the Round Table in a chorus line.
From the made-up lyrics to the raucous slapstick, it’s a much faster-paced type of humor compared to the rest of the film.
The Camelot dance scene is already a huge joke, purely based on how exuberant and surprising it is, but it also features a lot of smaller jokes. From the made-up lyrics to the raucous slapstick, it’s a much faster-paced type of humor compared to the rest of the film. This scene offers a taste of the Monty Python musical Spamalot, which is a loose adaptation of Monty Python and the Holy Grail with original songs.
6
Les Grossman makes a move
Tropical Thunder (2008)
- Release date
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August 13, 2008
Tom Cruise performed an iconic dance scene early in his career in Risky business, and Ben Stiller Tropical Thunder gave him the chance to take on a more comedic role once again. One of the funniest meta jokes ever Tropical ThunderThe satire of Hollywood is that it’s an action movie with the biggest action star on the planet, but Cruise is trapped inside an office wearing heavy prosthetics that make him hard to recognize.
Tropical Thunder is an action movie with the biggest action star on the planet, but Cruise is trapped inside an office.
Cruise is mostly relegated to a supporting role in Tropical Thunderbut he steals every scene he appears in. Fortunately, the end credits are accompanied by images of Les Grossman dancing alone in his office to Ludacris’ “Get Back.” Scenes like this explain why fans have been asking for a Les Grossman spinoff ever since Tropical Thunder first came back. Although this idea seems dead now, it would still be fun to see Cruise in more comedic roles.
5
Ted meets Elaine on the dance floor
Plane! (1980)
- Director
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Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
- Release date
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July 2, 1980
- Cast
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Julie Hagerty, Robert Hays, Leslie Nielsen
Plane is often mentioned in discussions about the funniest comedy movies ever made, so it’s no surprise that it also features one of the funniest dance scenes. The dance scene is part of a flashback with Ted recounting the night he met and fell in love with Elaine. It’s a parody of John Travolta Saturday Night Fever, which was released just three years before Airplane.
The sudden change from a busy bar to a stylish nightclub is a big joke.
Plane is known for its hilarious quotes, but the comedy team of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker – known as ZAZ – also often packed their films with visual jokes. The dance scene has as many jokes as any scene in the movie. Planealthough there are almost no words spoken. The sudden change from a busy bar to a stylish nightclub is a great joke, as are the fighting Girl Scouts, Elaine dancing with a man with a knife in his back, and Ted’s acrobatics.
4
Gutterballs
The Big Lebowski (1998)
- Director
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Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
- Release date
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March 6, 1998
The Big Lebowski is one of the Coen brothers’ best films, although it intrigued some critics and became a box office bomb when it was released. It soon developed a cult following and is now recognized as a hilarious alternative comedy. Dude’s dream sequence provides a window into his mindshowing that his fantasies of sex and bowling seem to carry the same weight. Interestingly, despite his obsession with bowling, the Dude is never shown playing the sport.
The Big LebowskiJeff Bridges’ dance scene features brilliant physical comedy, especially as he climbs down the ladder to shake out his tool belt. It’s the Coen brothers’ direction that causes the most laughshowever. Its Wagnerian psychedelic dreamscape is so funny because it is taken so seriously. The operatic interlude is a jarring departure from the rest of the film.
3
“Putting in the Ritz”
Young Frankenstein (1974)
- Director
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Mel Brooks
- Release date
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December 15, 1974
- Cast
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Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman, Madeline Kahn, Peter Boyle, Gene Wilder
The musical number in Young Frankenstein is one of Mel Brooks’ funniest scenes, though it’s certainly not the only time he’s sought humor from the aesthetics of Broadway shows. In addition The ProducersObviously, musical interludes color other Brooks works, like the dancing chestburster in Space balls and the titular song Men in pantyhose. Young FrankensteinHis performance is even funnier, thanks to two great physical comedians.
Musical interludes color other works by Brooks, such as the dancing chest in Space balls and the titular song Men in pantyhose.
Demonstrating his monster’s dexterity and coordination, Frankenstein begins a rendition of “Puttin’ on the Ritz”. It’s completely unexpected, but the joke doesn’t stop there. Peter Boyle’s heavy, strange presence is great, but Gene Wilder completes the scene with his desperate attempts to keep up appearances. His frantic energy shows the panic behind the eyes of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein.
2
“Make them laugh”
Singing in the Rain (1952)
- Director
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Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
- Release date
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April 11, 1952
- Cast
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Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell, Cyd Charisse
Donald O’Connor’s performance in “Make ‘Em Laugh” has gone down in film history as a shining example of physical comedy. Cosmo begins by acting to lift Don Lockwood’s spirits, but it soon becomes clear that he is looking through the camera and putting on a great show for the audiences watching him in theaters. It often happens that trying too hard makes a performance seem less funny, but O’Connor goes above and beyond, and the extreme effort is part of what makes “Make ‘Em Laugh” so special.
O’Connor Shows Off a Series of Tricks for “Make ‘Em Laugh” which includes gurning, falls and two backflips. It’s probably the closest a human has ever come to embodying the squishy physics of a cartoon character. The acting is tiring just to watch and, according to Hollywood legend, O’Connor had to stay in bed for several days after filming the sequence. He faints at the end of the dance and deserves to lie down.
1
Napoleon saves Peter’s campaign
Dynamite Napoleon (2004)
- Director
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Jared Hess
- Release date
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August 27, 2004
- Cast
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Jon Heder, Aaron Ruell, Tina Majorino, Haylie Duff, Efren Ramirez, Jon Gries
The dance scene in Napoleon Dynamite It’s not just the most famous part of the film; It’s what makes the film work. When Pedro is caught off guard by the fact that his election speech was to be accompanied by some kind of performance, Napoleon intervenes to help his friend. He risks complete public humiliation to help his friend, but the public ends up loving his performance.
It would have been an easy laugh or two if Napoleon was a terrible dancer, but this scene stands out because it refuses to conform to the conventions of scary comedy. Thanks to his ribbons and LaFawnduh’s help, Napoleon is actually a great dancer. He’s passionate, creative and strangely sensual, and puts together some completely original moves. The dance scene was largely improvised by Jon Hederwhich only took three takes to make comedy history.