The 100 Funniest Musicals Ever

Yesterday on Twitter, there was a lot of talk about a recent list that EW.com posted of the 13 Funniest Broadway Musicals Ever. (Although upon closer inspection the list was actually published in June. Whatever.)

Click through the link above for a slide show of the musicals that made EW's list, but here's a less labor-intensive breakdown of the winners:

1. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
2. The Book of Mormon
3. Avenue Q
4. The Producers
5. Spamalot
6. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
7. Little Shop of Horrors
8. The Drowsy Chaperone
9. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
10. Kiss Me Kate
11. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
12. Hairspray
13. Urinetown

Well, lists are always suspect, specious, artificial and subject to vociferous debate. But they're also a helluva lot of fun to compile and to contemplate. So, let's start with EW's choices. Whadya think, reader? A little too heavily focused on recent shows, perhaps? Not enough historical perspective? Inevitably, one of your favorites will be missing from the list, or perhaps listed lower than you might like. My first thought was about some glaring omissions. I mean, Guys and Dolls? How could any supposedly compehensive list of the funniest shows be complete without Guys and Dolls? 

But even beyond that clearly unpardonable lapse, the more I thought about it, the more some other genuinely funny shows, both recent (Xanadu, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) and not-so-recent (Little Me, They're Playing Our Song, City of Angels), kept coming to mind. 

So, I ask you dear, reader, what was I to do except set about compiling a list of my own? I have a little experience with lists, having previously compiled my own rankings of The 100 Best Musicals of All Time, The 100 Next-Best Musicals, The Most Overrated Musicals, The Most Underrated Musicals, and The Musicals That Suck, among others. (See left sidebar for a full list of lists.) I've gotten a lot of hate mail about all of the above, and I expect to get more about the list below. Feel free to carp, snipe, bemoan, and otherwise make your opinions known. And feel free to compile a list of your own and send it along.

Keep in mind, though, that I've ranked these particular shows not in terms of their overall quality but rather in terms of their humor content. Often, the two go hand in hand, but some of the shows here listed aren't primarily known as comedies, although they may contain a considerable amount of humor. That explains why certain magnificent shows (e.g. My Fair Lady, The Fantasticks) might not be ranked as high as some other shows that are not quite as good but are considerably more funny.

Anyway, let the kvetching begin.

1. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
2. The Book of Mormon
3. Avenue Q
4. Guys and Dolls
5. The Drowsy Chaperone
6. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
7. Little Shop of Horrors
8. Urinetown
9. Little Me
10. Xanadu
11. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
12. Bat Boy
13. City of Angels
14. The Producers
15. Hairspray
16. [title of show]
17. Spamalot
18. They're Playing Our Song
19. Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
20. The Full Monty
21. A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine
22. Hello, Dolly!
23. Anything Goes
24. Chicago
25. The Music Man
26. Kiss Me Kate
27. The Great American Trailer Park Musical
28. A Chorus Line
29. Damn Yankees
30. Fiddler on the Roof 
31. Into the Woods
32. Falsettos
33. La Cage aux Folles
34. The Pajama Game
35. Sweet Charity
36. Wonderful Town
37. Finian's Rainbow
38. My Fair Lady
39. Altar Boyz
40. The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
41. As Thousands Cheer
42. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
43. Grease
44. On the Town
45. 1776
46. Of Thee I Sing
47. Li'L Abner
48. Me and My Girl
49. My Favorite Year
50. No, No, Nanette
51. On the 20th Century
52. Once Upon a Mattress
53. When Pigs Fly
54. Annie Get Your Gun
55. Promises Promises
56. Strike Up the Band
57. The Boys From Syracuse
58. The Pirates of Penzance
59. The Rocky Horror Show
60. 42nd Street
61. Annie
62. Gutenberg - the Musical
63. High Button Shoes
64. A Connecticut Yankee
65. The Boyfriend
66. Pippin
67. Where's Charley?
68. Pins and Needles
69. Mame
70. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
71. She Loves Me
72. Victor/Victoria
73. A Little Night Music
74. The Mikado
75. The Wedding Singer
76. Legally Blonde
77. The Wiz
78. Candide
79. The Sound of Music
80. Bye Bye Birdie
81. Rock of Ages
82. Reefer Madness
83. Little Mary Sunshine
84. The Marvelous Wonderettes
85. Dames at Sea
86. The Toxic Avenger Musical
    
87. The Fantasticks
88. Ernest in Love
89. Nunsense
90. Olympus on My Mind
91. What's That Smell: The Music of Jacob Sterling
    
92. The Musical of Musicals - The Musical
93. Forever Plaid
94. Lucky Stiff
95. The Kid
96. Hedwig and the Angry Inch
97. Xanna, Don't 
98. You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
99. Whoop De Doo
100. Evil Dead - The Musical

Honorable Mention: Forbidden Broadway - Why haven't I listed it above? Because it has so many different versions. Which one was the funniest? That's another post entirely. 

Comments

[XtianBaines]

Great list as always, Chris. I'm impressed you took this one all the way to 100. That, I was not expecting.

I love the inclusion of a few of your other 'Musicals That Suck.' As bad as Victor/Victoria and Evil Dead are, there are some genuine moments of hilarity in both. But then, the original source films are very, very funny, which no doubt helps.

My jaw was aching after Gutenberg, though that was more from wincing than laughing.

I'd consider including Jekyll and Hyde - if only for the Hasselhoff recording.

[ccaggiano]

Ha, you know I briefly considered including shows that were so bad that they were laughable, and J&H was the first that came to mind. But I decided that was probably a separate list entirely.

[Geoff]

I'm torn about top honors on this one. "Forum" has an extremely funny book, but the songs (God help me for saying this) are really more witty than funny. They do provide a nice opportunity to catch one's breath after screaming through one of the uproarious book scenes, but funny? Rarely. Impeccably crafted and brimming with invention and intelligence? Absolutely. "Mormon" on the other hand has a book that is not quite as funny as "Forum," but the songs are genuinely funny and sustain the humor making for a nonstop laugh riot. This gives "Mormon" the edge and I'd probably give it the #1 spot.

Before I get attacked for my views, please let me state emphatically that I didn't say the songs from "Mormon" were better. I don't think they are especially well crafted and they are filled with the kind of slant rhyme which just makes me cringe when I listen to the album. In the theatre though, they are hysterical and serve the book quite handily.

Oh, one last thing. I have to grudgingly admit that "Avenue Q" is way funnier than my usual #3 choice "How to Succeed." It pains me to admit this because I have great sentimental attachment to the latter.

[ccaggiano]

Geoff, you make excellent points, as always. I guess I was reluctant to place Book of Mormon as #1 simply because it's so new. And the first time I saw Forum, I was quite literally convulsed with laughter. It was one of the most memorable times I've had in the theater. Sheer hilarity.

But, hey, I've rearranged my lists many times, and will likely continue to do so. So BoM may indeed take the #1 position some day.

[Queer Heaven]

Great list. There are a few I have not seen, but I trust your judgement. the best thing about this post today is that your included City of Angels.... I had forgotten how much I enjoyed that one. So, now I am listenigng to the CD the rest of the aftenoon.

[POB]

How about RUTHLESS: The Musical?

[Pobrien]

How about Ruthless?

[-Rich]

Oh Chris I appreciate this list so much. Personally, including 100 is too much for me but I do love the concept. Personally, I find Mormon at the top and Avenue Q under it. I may be ever so slightly biased towards Avenue Q, but it could quite possibly be the best time I ever had in a theater, simply because I was crying in hilarity. Infact, I just popped in the Cast recording a few days ago and I find myself being unable to turn it off because I am recalling the memories of that wonderful trip to the theater, and because I truly believe it is the funniest score ever written.

Yes, I believe Avenue Q's score overall is funnier, and better than Mormon's. I may be one of a kind in having my view but I do stand by that, at least for the score.

1. Mormon
2. Avenue Q

Then again. that's just my opinion.

And I have been waiting ever so patiently for a new list Chris. An update on the Best Musicals I have dying for. I am very interested in where you will place Mormon...

Also, I have been waiting for a "Best Score" list. I have actually been dying for a rating on the best scores of all time for a long time. Just a...request? Hopefully one day?

[-Rich]

I have to agree somewhat on your analysis on the score for Mormon. I have felt some of the songs were missing something, or didn't mesh in a way they could, especially in some of the rhymes. I find myself skipping over songs simply because of the style they used for it.

[ccaggiano]

Oh, yeah, Ruthless. I'm going to have to add that one to my permanent version of this list. (See left.) I thought act 1 was hysterical, although act 2 kind of fell apart.

Thanks.

[kk]

Dracula was hilarious, but didn't mean to be.

[kk]

I think Sweeney Todd can be, at least in places, hilarious. At least as much so as, say, The Sound of Music.

[sean martin]

I'm not sure how you defined "funniest". 1776 funny? FIDDLER? CITY OF ANGELS? They had their comic moments, but as relief from the overall drama. So what was the criteria used to put them on this list?

[Tait Moline]

Kudos for quantifying these show by their humor. Tough stuff. In my own personal list, I'd place [title of show] higher. TOS was my Forum experience. I could barely breathe, I was laughing so hard. I walked out of TOS with one sore diaphragm. Then again, slant rhyme doesn't usually bother me that much. And I haven't seen Book of Mormon yet, either, so perhaps Mormon will give TOS a run for its money.

[Garrett]

Chris, very good list. I agree with almost everything (though isn't 100 a bit much?) My only complaint is that 1776 should, IMO, be ranked higher. It's filled with wit, though not mch physical humor.

[ccaggiano]

Sean, my criterion was simple: how much I laughed when I saw the show. I think you'll find that Fiddler and 1776 are a lot funnier than you might be remembering them. Yes, both are essentially dramas, but they also contain a great deal of character humor, especially Fiddler. As they are not essentially comedies, they ranked lower than some of the other shows.

And City of Angels is flat-out hysterical, at least when I saw the original production on Broadway. The book is by Larry Gelbart, librettist for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and screenwriter for Tootsie. He's one of the funniest writers ever, and City of Angels bears his unmistakable stamp.

[ccaggiano]

I thought about Sweeney, but really the only time I laugh is during "A Little Priest." Maybe during a few of Mrs. Lovett's numbers. The humor in Sound of Music is more evenly spread throughout the show. I don't mean that as a criticism of Sweeney: it's a far superior show to Sound of Music. But this list is about humor, not quality.

[ccaggiano]

Garrett: See the above commenter who questions whether 1776 should be on the list at all. Humor, after all, is ultimately subjective. I agree 1776 is a very humorous show, so I'm more in agreement with you than with the other commenter.

[Jonathan]

I'm so happy to see my favorite musical, Me and My Girl, up in the top 50! That show is due for a revival.

[Richard]

I,too, love act one, but act two is such a letdown in comparison.