My Favorite Oscar Worthy Performances in Comedy Films

Gideon, nice list so far. Even though this following term is a music reference, I'll refer to some of your picks as "deep cuts." For instance:

High Anxiety, Harvey Korman. This is my personal favorite Mel Brooks movie and my favorite Harvey Korman role. I love Hitchcock, so this movie was right in my wheelhouse but I think anyone could enjoy it.

Starting Over, Burt Reynolds. I think this is the best acting that Burt has ever done. Although some of his other movies are favorites, he really showed off his chops here instead of just playing "Burt," the good old boy as he did in lots of movies...not that there was anything wrong with that.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Jim Carrey. I'm one of the few people I know who can find no wrong with this movie. And Jim Carrey did indeed shine in this.

The there are some that are not "deep cuts" per se, but popular picks like:

Young Frankenstein, Cloris Leachman. Awesome performance. "Yes! Yes! Say it! He was my boyfriend!"

Groundhog Day, Bill Murray. One of his many classic performances and one of the best.

The Nutty Professor, Eddie Murphy. So good in so many roles. The crass grandma was my particular favorite.

I like all the rest that you've picked except for the ones I haven't seen, like Tom Ewell and Jack Lemmon's performances. Looking forward to the rest of the list!

Wilder in Young Frankenstein and Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski are great choices. Sean Penn,Eddie Murphy, Matthew Broderick and Billy Crystal were all right in their respective roles i don't agree that they are oscar worthy though. As much as i love Trading Places i'm not sure Akyroyds performance was anything special. I thought Channing just like everyone else was really bad in Grease. Murray in Ghostbusters and even though i didn't like the film much Martin in Roxanne were great choices.

Bit disappointed to not see Pesci or Tomei for My Cousin Vinny. Oh well it is your list

Guess that's why none of the actors in Working Girl ended up here.

Jack Lemmon in both Some Like it Hot (in which he was nominated) and the Great Race (the sheer commitment was enough).

Murphy in The Nutty Professor is actually a pretty good choice IMO. Used to love it as a kid but i tried watching it on tv last year and it was really annoying, Murphy is very good though don't think i even knew he played everybody when i was a kid. It is like a modern day Dr.Strangelove

I liked When Harry Met Sally, not sure about an Oscar nom for either performance though. Sadly The Odd Couple didn't work much for me, but i would be fine with Matthau getting a nom for it.

Good choice for #1, Gideon. I think Roxanne gave Steve Martin one of his best roles. And my single favorite moment in the movie is when Martin puts his money in a newspaper dispenser, walks a few steps while reading the headlines and screeches, goes back to the dispenser, puts money in and puts the paper back. Hilarious!

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) is also another favorite role of mine for Martin, but the case could be made for Michael Caine in this movie for Supporting Actor.

Great list, Gideon!

Comedy really needs their own awards ceremony. Globes don't represent comedies.

I think Eddie Murphy in Bowl Finger and Jim Carrey in Me, Myself and Irene should have gotten some kind of recognition. They, to me, were amazing performances.

Personally, I think Bill Murray as Peter Venkman should be NO1. I think it's possibly the greatest comedy performance of all time. Also: surprised to see no Will Smith as Agent J in the Men In Black series. He would definitely be on my list.