I hate using those phrases to begin with, I was simply making a point.
Wouldn't making any point about what is and is not a "smarty comedy" first require some general agreement about what the term means?
Actually no, I don't agree. I also sincerely doubt there's any statistical evidence to that effect.
Well, of course not.
There's no statistical evidence for any of this. But it seems self-evident. Physical comedy avoids employing many of the things that provide a natural barrier to comedy across time and culture. A comedy of manners, for example, is inherently less accessible because it requires an understanding of the affectations it's satirizing. Even comedy based on buffoonery requires a sense of what's considered right or proper, so we can identify the behavior that is inappropriate or absurd. And given that great comedy almost invariably involves great timing, it's impossible to preserve that timing completely in any comedic dialogue if the film is in another language.
On the other hand, you don't have to speak any particular language or have any grasp of the cultural strata to laugh at someone getting hit in the face with a frying pan.
It's also why, as far as I can tell, the silent classics have so much cross-cultural appeal. It's admittedly anecdotal, but I hear cinephiles overseas talk about Chaplin and Keaton a lot more than the Marx Bros.
There are more than one style of physical comedy, and I've met too many people in my life that can't stand it for me to consider it "transcendental." Especially culture-wise, many Americans don't understand Japanese slapstick, and vice-versa. Try sitting down someone who has never been exposed to Japanese culture and make them watch "Excel Saga" or "Noodle Fighter Miki." I imagine you won't get very many chuckles out of them.
You're probably right, but as I said, this isn't binary. It's not as if, if you can find any group of people who wouldn't like a certain type of comedy, it therefore must not be "accessible." It's a relative term. The claim is that physical comedy (slapstick, sight gags, etc.) is more accessible than other types of comedy, not that it's "transcendental" (a word I most certainly didn't use).