S Poddar
The Wedding Crashers star, who made a name for himself by coming uninvited to a wedding in true devil-may-care style, is now at the forefront of alerting the world to the demise of comedy as it used to be. According to the boisterous actor, it seems that laughter has been traded in for caution in Tinseltown.
Vaughn described it as a carefree, headstrong atmosphere while reflecting on the making of the iconic Wedding Crashers. “We were just a bunch of guys having a blast,” he recalled. “There was no one looking over our shoulders telling us what to do or not to do. It was pure, unadulterated fun.”
He says the contrast with today’s comedy landscape is a stark one. “Hollywood seems obsessed with playing it safe,” Vaughn said in an interview. “It feels like they’re so worried about offending someone or ticking the right boxes that the comedy is suffering because of it. It’s like everyone’s walking on eggshells.”
But he doesn’t stop there. He believes that as the business gets so much investment in pre-existing IP and sequels, that it’s strangulating creativity in its infancy. “Where’s the room for new voices and fresh ideas?” he asked. “It’s almost like they are too scared to take a chance on something different.”
His latest, the Apple TV+ crime comedy Bad Monkey, is a breath of fresh air. This is precisely the type of thing Vaughn doesn’t shy away from: adult humor and full, colorful characters. “It’s the kind of show we don’t see enough anymore,” said creator Bill Lawrence. “Banter-filled, R-rated comedies with real stakes. It’s a throwback to a different era.”
Lawrence compared Bad Monkey to his other big success, Ted Lasso. Both broke expectations and worked. “Since then, people are always pitching me stuff that’s the equivalent of what I did with Ted Lasso, but at the end of the day, it was a really hard sell,” he confessed. “Everyone thought we were crazy.”
In Bad Monkey, Vaughn plays a much different role: a detective who’s been bumped down to restaurant inspector. The suave wedding crasher, he’s not. Though Vaughn shows he still has a fine touch for comedy. Should the show prove to be a hit, the possibility is there that Season 2 will be based on another novel by Carl Hiaasen, Razor Girl.
To Vaughn, comedy means taking risks, pushing boundaries, and connecting audiences on visceral levels. He’s also hoping that with Bad Monkey, it can be the wake-up call the industry needs to get back in line.
“We need more laughter in this world,” Vaughn concluded. “And that means taking some chances.”
