I used to love the Stooges as a kid. As I got older, they lost some of their shine.

Their humour style grew out of a long tradition - The Commedia del Arte, in which the original 'slapstick' was much used - a thin piece of wood, with another thin piece hinged so that when it struck something it made a loud noise, and did not cause any great harm to the participants.

Funnily enough, 'Benny Hill' humour also grew out of the same traditions. "Boobs and Bums Humour" was a great hit back then - called "Low Comedy"...

Shakespeare loved to use it too to appeal to the 'pit' - see 'the porter scene' in MacBeth (and many others,including much of '12th Night') - you have to know how to 'read' slapstick when written down as just text to 'see' what the actors are doing... :-)

I have finally acquired some of their shorts on DVD, but only a few...



BTW Re: "I am glad you mention the inferiority complex as well." above...

What is really meant is 'superiority complex' - this is when people who think they are 'superior', are driven to keep on attempting to demonstrate their 'superiority' (most often usually existing only in their own mind) over others all the time.