Feature - Hugh Laurie Comic Brillance and Beyond

By Timothy Sexton

HappyNews Citizen Journalist

Hugh Laurie's ascension to star of the dramatic series House probably comes as a surprise to anyone familiar with his work to date. Although given opportunities for black humor touches on the show, he has used this opportunity to prove himself a more than capable dramatic actor.

Most fans of his new character are probably surprised to find out that he first came to attention for his hysterically funny roles in two British mini-series starring the equally funny Rowan Atkinson as Blackadder. Although four different Blackadder series were produced Laurie co-starred in two of them.

Arguably the best of the lot was Blackadder III, in which he played the airheaded heir to the throne of England. Laurie's chemistry with Atkinson is akin to that of the all time great comic duos; their timing is impeccable. Laurie's brainless twit is as far away from House as possible and it's amazing how well and how completely he inhabits the character. With his high pitched voice and obliviously smug delivery, Laurie creates the perfect dupe for the master manipulator Blackadder.

Unlike Dr. House, Laurie plays a character here who thinks he is entitled to whatever he wants, but really isn't. Dr. House has earned the right to be a jerk because he is smart and he saves lives. The heir to England's kingship has done nothing to earn anyone's respect, nor indeed to treating anyone disrespectfully. Laurie plays a version of this character in Blackadder Goes Forth, set during WWI, but the original rises to comic heights not achieved in this outing.

Another place to have caught Laurie's comic brilliance was on good ole PBS. Over the course of several seasons, viewers were treated to Laurie's comic masterpiece Bertie Wooster. With Stephen Fry playing Jeeves, P.G. Wodehouse's legendary creations were brought to life in a way that will probably never happen again. Bertie Wooster is an early 20th century British layabout, a jazz age partygoer whose mission in life seems to be avoiding getting trapped in marriage and getting he and his friends into trouble as he mismanages romantic entanglements, relying upon his valet Jeeves to get him out of trouble. Wooster is a fully realized creation for Laurie. This is a character that could easily devolve into caricature, but Laurie imbues him with an intelligence that isn't readily apparent and a humanity that makes you care for this totally self-absorbed playboy.

The plots of these self-contained episodes are almost always the same in spirit but differ substantially in their dizzying vortex of characters and subplots. Anyone who has only recently become a fan of Laurie's because of his dramatic work on House should really do themselves a favor and hunt down these shows on video or DVD. After the intense darkness of the brilliant doc, any episode of these wonderfully funny comedies is the cure for putting a smile back on your face.

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