In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, funny man Ben Stiller says that the true comedic measure is whether the viewers laugh or not. And I quote Mr. Stiller:

“I don’t think comedic people really take themselves seriously. And I think you have to have that attitude if you do comedy. Yes, we love to get critical praise and awards and all that stuff, but at the end of the day, when you’re making a comedy, people in the theater are either laughing or they’re not laughing. That’s the gauge that you have to go by. I learned that, really, on Tropic Thunder. No matter how great the production value is, how big the explosions are, no matter what, if they know they’re coming to a comedy, they want to laugh.”

When it comes to comedy, Stiller is seriously concerned about the lack of Oscars category related to the genre, let alone the awards itself.

“In terms of the Oscars, it’s just too bad that comedies don’t get recognized. It just seems like there’s this huge hole there where there’s no recognition for people who over the years — and this is for years and years, you know — have been doing such great work. So I don’t know if the solution is a new category or not. It’s great for comedies that the Globes exist in that way — that there’s more of an opening to see them get recognized. Though I don’t know if everybody feels like the musical and comedy category always should go together, I think it’s better than not having any recognition whatsoever for these people who really deserve it. It’s worth looking at, because there’s so many people doing so much good work.”

Come to think of it, it IS kind of funny when the Oscars are always hosted by a comedian and no comedy category in the awards. Do you agree with Ben Stiller? I know I do.