It Takes Two: Great Comedy Duos

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WHAT WAS COMEDY like before Judd Apatow? It's hard to remember what was funny in the years before man-boys running away from responsibility but finally realizing the importance of love, parenthood and companionship took over the silver screen; before Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill were household names; before every person who was in the depressingly short-lived "Freaks and Geeks" started unexpectedly popping up as the pot-smoking friend in the background of an important scene.

If you can't remember, we'll give you a hint: Monty Python. The comedians who created "Monty Python's Flying Circus," a sketch comedy show that aired on the BBC in 1969, brought an outlandish stream-of-consciousness style into the mainstream, mocking and spoofing everything and anything for a laugh. That idea may have come to seem commonplace after the creation of "Saturday Night Live" a few years later, but don't get it twisted — Monty Python influenced "SNL," even if Lorne Michaels won't admit it. With films such as "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," "Monty Python's Life of Brian" and "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life," the group kept pushing the boundaries of what was comically acceptable (mocking legendary tales such as King Arthur or the life of Jesus; why not?) and its actors became cult figures because of it.

So when Jack Black, the star of the upcoming "Year One" — which is produced by Apatow, of course — told MTV that viewers should expect comedy similar to "The Meaning of Life" and "Life of Brian," it seems like a refreshing change from the boy-gets-girl-loses-her- gets-her-back-and-grows-up formula of late.

And who can deny the hilariousness of the Black/Michael Cera combo?Hopefully, the outlandishness of the former coupled with the deadpan humor of the latter won't get old as the film progresses, and (based on the trailers, at least) each member of the pair seems like he can exhibit his own kind of humor while seamlessly building upon the other's — as true funnymen should do.

Which comedy pairs made the most beautiful mirth together? Here are some of our picks.

» DAVID CROSS AND BOB ODENKIRK
Back when HBO still had good things on the air, Cross and Bob Odenkirk (who recently played shady lawyer Saul on "Breaking Bad" and was a writer for "Saturday Night Live" and "The Ben Stiller Show") had a good thing going with "Mr. Show," a half-hour sketch comedy program that lasted four seasons and featured then-unknowns like Jack Black, Sarah Silverman and Paul F. Tompkins (you know, the guy who does VH1's "Best Week Ever").

On the show, Cross and Odenkirk displayed not only their excellently off-the-wall humor (such as the sketch "The Audition," in which Cross tries out for a TV sitcom with a prepared monologue of an audition and confuses the hell out of the casting directors, or "GloboChem," in which Cross and Odenkirk play advertising reps developing things like a "Bag Hutch" to better the awful company's image) but also consistency from sketch to sketch with lots of running gags (such as the line "I was on the 18th hole!" in "The Biggest Failure in Broadway History").

Watch some episodes on YouTube — it will introduce you to the North American Man/Boy Love Association, the new Ku Klux Klan and other inappropriately hilarious things that you probably shouldn't laugh at, but definitely will.

» THE LONELY ISLAND AND ... ANYONE
"SNL" hasn't been consistently funny for a while now, but there are a few people keeping the show sporadically hilarious — Kristen Wiig (who may do the best Bjork impression we've ever seen), Seth Meyers (he's no Tina Fey, but "Weekend Update" is still a good bet) and the trifecta of Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, better known as The Lonely Island.

With their line of digital shorts — "Lazy Sunday," "Natalie Rap," "Dick in a Box," "Iran So Far," "Jizz in My Pants," "I'm on a Boat," "Like a Boss" and "Motherlover," the three have not only looped Natalie Portman, Justin Timberlake, Jake Gyllenhaal and Maroon 5's Adam Levine into the joke, but they've also become sensations on YouTube and Hulu.

Plus, it's difficult to top this batch of lines that'll be quoted for years by frat boys everywhere: "When I was in Harvard / I smoked weed every day / I cheated every test / And snorted all the yay" ("Natalie Rap"); "Over at your parents' house, a dick in a box / Midday at the grocery store, a dick in a box / Backstage at the CMAs, a dick in a box" ("Dick in a Box"); "I got a nautical-themed Pashmina afghan" and "Believe me when I say / I fucked a mermaid" ("I'm on a Boat"); and "It would be my honor/ To be your new stepfather" ("Motherlover")

» JON STEWART AND STEPHEN COLBERT
It's no surprise that some of the correspondents on "The Daily Show" have admitted to emulating Stephen Colbert during their first years on the news spoof. Rob Corddry told NPR that he and Ed Helms "just imitated Stephen Colbert for a year or two," while Aasif Mandvi said to the St. Petersburg Times that "I just decided I was going to do my best Stephen Colbert impression." And in a way, it makes sense — the interactions between Colbert and Jon Stewart when they were both on the show were phenomenally funny, with Colbert constantly playing the excitable fool who always pretended to know too much and Stewart being the smirkingly superior know-it-all putting Colbert in his place.

And even though Colbert has his own show now — the less-news-oriented, more-character-driven "The Colbert Report" — the relationship between him and Stewart obviously continues. If you've seen the toss at the end of "The Daily Show," you know it's just one comedy master passing the baton to another.

» DAVE CHAPPELLE AND CHARLIE MURPHY
With "Chappelle's Show," Dave Chappelle not only mocked most things about American political culture — "Blind Supremacy," "The Niggar Family" and "Black Bush" — but also its pop culture, specifically with "Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories." With the sketches about Rick James and Prince, Chappelle gave Murphy, normally his sidekick, a chance to shine as the narrator.

Did Rick James punch Murphy in the face and stamp "Unity" in his forehead? Probably not. Did Prince really serve Murphy pancakes after beating him in a game of basketball? Unlikely. But the sketches — especially James' participation in the one about him — created some of the show's best moments, the perfect integration of Chappelle's flamboyant impersonations with Murphy's fantastical memories. And even though Chappelle has since abandoned the show and returned to stand-up, lines such as "I'm Rick James, bitch!" and "Game, blouses" are too good to give up.

» JAY AND SILENT BOB
There's only one way to describe the chemistry between Jason Mewes as Jay and Kevin Smith as Silent Bob: Snootchie bootchies!

Written by Express contributor Roxana Hadadi
Photo courtesy Columbia Pictures