Curated by Gary Meyer (December 24, 2025)

Take a few minutes out from whatever is keeping you busy and enjoy some funny holiday comedy and weird ads from the past. My, but the times have changed.

The other night we went to a concert by Maria Muldaur of off-beat and little known holiday songs based on her “Christmas at the Oasis” album. She sang “Holiday Dinner Party” that faces the dilemma of guests with dietary restrictions. Hilarious and so true. We offer a performance by its composers, Sandy and Richard Riccardi.

Below you will find short films with Laurel & Hardy, Wallace & Gromit, Howdy Doody, a “Drunken History” with Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes, and Jim Carrey, plus from new work Wes Anderson and the Disney studio, some surprise songs from James Brown, Steve Martin, The Three Stooges, Eartha Kitt, The Jackson Five, Adam Sandler, and Cab Calloway’s daughter. The celebration concludes with a lost gem from the Golden Age of British comedy, “On The Twelfth Day.” Drunk History presents  Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes, and Jim Carrey attempting to offer ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore.

Flicker Alley is a video company specializing in beautiful restorations of classic movies. They recently released “Laurel & Hardy: Year Three” on Blu-ray (on special sale now), that includes “Big Business” where the boys’ attempts to sell Christmas Trees devolves into total destruction.  I recently showed this to a gathering aged 8 to 80 and it resulted in 20 minutes of non-stop laughter. This will only be available free online December 24-25.

For further nostalgia of the strangest and unintentionally funny kind, “Howdy Doody’s Christmas” should do the trick.

A brand new short from Disney, directed by Taika Waititi, features the voice of John Goodman, telling the heartwarming story of the friendship between a girl and her messy unfinished Doodle. This three-minute short will surely bring a smile to your face—there is substantial Disney character product placement but that is fine.

Wes Anderson fans will not mind that this is an H&M promo piece. It has all the earmarks of his work with a fun performance by Adrien Brody.

Could you use these on a Menorah?

Ironic or Iconic excerpt from James Brown’s Future Shock Christmas Special(1976)?

 

A commercial for PooPourri is wonderfully in bad taste.

We can’t resist Wallace & Gromit

A Programmer Tries to Fix Christmas Lights

 

Eartha Kitt brightens up any holiday.

Ida Lupino  must have found out that Santa has been naughty and not nice.

I can’t even start to explain this but I think you will laugh.

We end with a true gem, largely forgotten but recently restored by the British Film Institute. Wendy Toye’s Oscar-nominated farce was designed by Ronald ‘St Trinian’s’ Searle and is a reminder of the golden age of British comedy.

YIKES!

Joan Crawford got her Christmas gift wishes?