Introduction to the Funniest Comedy Database

This page explains the idea behind the laughDB database and how the material is ranked. If you're in a hurry to find a movie, stand-up comedy set or TV series that will make you laugh, you can skip to one of the title pages. When you lift up your head, notice the navigation: there are pages where you can find the material organized by country, comedian and even decade.

I hope you have as much fun using the site as I have making and maintaining it.

How Can I Laugh Tonight?

Isn't laughing better than chocolate?

I don't know about you, but one of my recurring problems used to be "How can I laugh tonight?"

I love laughing. Come to think of it, I love it more than music, chocolate and that other thing people seemed to be obsessed with. (It starts with an s. No, not soap.) Yeah, I love it more than love itself. But finding material that makes you laugh isn't always that easy, is it? You can't pick up a "box of laughter" off the shelf like you would a box of cookies.

For some reason, when put on the spot, I always had a hard time remembering material that had made me laugh. Funny movies and stand-up comedy sets are like waves: when they're gone, they're gone. Most of them lack the strong characters and stories needed to make lasting impressions on your mind. In fact, like good jokes, for a moment they seem to just blow your mind. How can a blown mind be expected to remember anything?

So I started this website to keep track of material that makes me laugh, hoping that someday the same material might make me laugh again. And also to invite people from around the world to send in their suggestions. United, we have a much better chance of having a good laugh tonight. The database is constantly updated. Big thanks to all of you who have been sending recommendations!

We All Laugh at Different Things—and Tastes Change!

If a movie you once loved ranks low here, or if a movie that sounds idiotic is rated highly, don't be put off…

Rating comedies is tricky business. I have dived into a hundred lists of "the funniest movies ever." The one thing these lists show is that we all laugh at different things. I love that.

What's more, we laugh at different things at different times in our lives. As a twelve-year-old, I thought that Woody Allen's Take the Money and Run was the funniest thing ever. Thirty years later, tingling with anticipation, I sat down to watch it again one night—but couldn't manage to get past the first half-hour!

We can also laugh at different things at different times of the day. Many times, I've laughed during a movie on which I'd given up the night before. You have to be in the mood.

Hopefully, these lists will bring you ideas of things to watch that will give you a good laugh. If your tastes happen to coincide with mine at the time I reviewed a film or a show, you're in luck. If your tastes seem to clash with mine, the site can still help you find something you love: click the "sort by laugh-o-meter" button a couple of times. The material I found awful will be at the top… that might just be what you're looking for!

Okay, time to try one of those:
The funniest Movies
The funniest Stand-Up Sets
The funniest TV Series