There’s something about double acts that makes them stand out. Perhaps it’s the buddy element that touches us, making us remember the friendship as well as the comedy.
The most memorable comedy duos are the ones who worked together for years, friends on and off screen rather than a one off pairing.
Though Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt made great pair on the Mighty Boosh, as did Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in Rush Hour, they don’t really count due to the amount of solo projects that they have been part of, you are quite able to think of one without the other.
Real double acts are the people that seem to have a limb missing if the other half is not around.
Over the years there have been a huge number of great comedy duos but here is Cracking Aces rundown of some of the best comedy double acts ever.
10:The Chuckle Brothers
Famous mainly for being a comedy double in kids TV, Paul and Barry Elliott (or Chuckle) keep alive the spirit of the variety show with their slapstick gags and silly puns.
They may seem terribly dated to some, but they continue to entertain with spoofs of popular modern culture like Star Trek and Indiana Jones.
9:Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson
Wacky, surreal, without a care for their own dignity and most of all violent, these two will do anything for a laugh and more often than not they succeed.
8:Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor
Like two titans colliding, these two appeared together in a short string of 80s films becoming the iconic faces of the buddy movie.
7:The Two Ronnies
Classic British comedy with a flair for ingenious wordplay. Some of their sketches are the most memorable in history.
They would be higher on the list, but unfortunately for every absolute gem of comedy, there was often a few less interesting skits.
6:Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton
Though they are generally part of a group with the likes of Mark Gatiss and Jeremy Dyson, it’s clear that most of their best work is when these two are paired up, be it Edward and Tubbs or David and Maureen Sowerbutts, they have the chemistry that makes for a top class double act.
5:Jack Black and Kyle Gass
Not only are these two brilliant as comedy actors, but they are the band known as Tenacious D. Their chemistry and friendship is perfect for their brand of comedy and music, bringing both to their stage shows.
Often if one has a starring role in a movie, the other will appear as a cameo. You can tell they don’t like being apart for long.
4:Reeves and Mortimer
These guys are insane. A lot of viewers don’t enjoy Vic and Bobs antics, saying that they don’t get it or that it’s really childish foolishness dressed up pretentious surrealism.
The truth is, there is nothing to get and it’s hardly trying to be anything that it isn’t.
It looks like foolishness and messing around because for the most part, that is what it is. It’s really simple comedy that takes a kind of genius to master. Yes they are just big kids playing a silly game, but isn’t that what most fun loving people want to be?
3:Peter Cook and Dudley Moore
A masterful classic comic pairing. Many of their sketches revolve around the characters relationships rather than being a vehicle for gags, and this makes them stand out as something special with a longer shelf life.
2:Morecambe and Wise
Of course these had to be higher on the list then Vic and Bob. You can often see where the inspiration came from. Vic even looks like a carbon copy of Eric Morecambe, while Bob could pass as a believable Ernie Wise.
Masters of musical, slapstick, wordplay and all things funny you can’t help but love them.
Ernie was more often that not the straight man while Eric took all the gags, but they worked great as a partnership.
1:Laurel and Hardy
The definition of a comedy duo.
For 107 adventures Laurel and Hardy laughed and suffered together through countless silly situations.
One of their most endearing traits was that even through all the bickering, fighting and trouble, you could feel the love between the two and knew that in the end, nothing could tear them apart.
Honourable Mentions
Matt Lucas and David Walliams
The first season of ‘Little Britain’ was pretty good, but the following series were nothing in comparison.
Their more recent effort ‘Come Fly With Me’ was a good fresh start, but I feel their best work was the less well known ‘Rock Profile’ in which they impersonated various musical celebrities.
French and Saunders
Often remembered together, but with a great number of projects apart too. Both strong comic performers and definitely the best of female comedy talent.
Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell
Mainly remembered for their Nickelodeon sitcom ‘Kenan and Kel’, they also were seen together in various sketches and the movie ‘Goodburger’.
Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse
Together for a large number of sketch shows, they created a great many memorable characters for one of the best series of programmes of its type.
Bill and Ted
Two movies (rumours of a third) and a cartoon series, time travel, great music, historical interest and heart make these hard rocking teens probably the most memorable to all the silly teen movie double acts.
Much more lasting than the various pairings who’s main joke is an interest in drugs and sex.
