This is my third Andy Clyde short, and I am impressed by just how versatile his character is in terms of the kinds of comedy he works well in; I had seen Clyde in two two-reelers that were basically a comedy of frustration and a twenty-minute version of a farce, and here he is in a comedy short that is basically a series of wacky, bizarre gags based around an equally wacky premise: Andy is a barber who spends all his money training terrible prizefighters, and his wife wants him to stop.
There's a few short, almost blackout sequences, and they're all funny. Andy shows his pantomime skills in a very funny scene where he has trouble finding his collar, but most of the other most memorable moments are crazy sight, sound, and concept gags that really work. In most cases a glass-breaking sound effect when a bad boxer is punched would fall totally flat, but here it works. A sequence where an ironically fat weight-loss instructor confuses Andy for his boxer and puts his through a very suspect reducing machine is topped off some very appropriate neck-cracking sound effects and a suitable outlandish sight gag.
I won't give the closing moment away in style, but it works and definitely suits the tone of the movie. In all, this was a good, funny short. Maybe this kind of crazy, fast humor works so well with Andy Clyde because of the contrast -- he's so slow and befuddled in reacting to it. In any case I will certainly be taking the opportunity to watch more Andy Clyde shorts hen I get it.
There's a few short, almost blackout sequences, and they're all funny. Andy shows his pantomime skills in a very funny scene where he has trouble finding his collar, but most of the other most memorable moments are crazy sight, sound, and concept gags that really work. In most cases a glass-breaking sound effect when a bad boxer is punched would fall totally flat, but here it works. A sequence where an ironically fat weight-loss instructor confuses Andy for his boxer and puts his through a very suspect reducing machine is topped off some very appropriate neck-cracking sound effects and a suitable outlandish sight gag.
I won't give the closing moment away in style, but it works and definitely suits the tone of the movie. In all, this was a good, funny short. Maybe this kind of crazy, fast humor works so well with Andy Clyde because of the contrast -- he's so slow and befuddled in reacting to it. In any case I will certainly be taking the opportunity to watch more Andy Clyde shorts hen I get it.