![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0x0.png\")
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‘Airplane!’ and ‘Naked Gun’ co-creator David Zucker<\/p>\n
Courtesy of David Zucker<\/p>\n
If he wanted to, David Zucker could happily rest on his laurels.<\/p>\n
As a member of the famous ZAZ creative collective alongside the late Jim Abrahams<\/a> and his younger brother, Jerry Zucker<\/a>, he created some of the funniest and most enduring comedy films of all time: Airplane!, Top Secret!, and the Naked Gun trilogy (to name a few).<\/p>\n Surely, such a side-splitting r\u00e9sum\u00e9 is more than worthy of retirement. But for David, things aren\u2019t over\u2026and don\u2019t call him Shirley. <\/p>\n Even at the age of 78, his mind moves a mile a minute, always honing in on the best way to make people laugh. \u201cWhen I see a serious scene, I want to spoof it,” he recently told me over Zoom. \u201cI always think of a gag.\u201d And now, he\u2019s sharing his uproarious wisdom with the world through a MasterClass-like comedy course dubbed MasterCrash<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI get a lot of inquiries about, \u2018How do I get started? How do I write a script?\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to just say, ‘I\u2019m too busy, don\u2019t bother me.\u2019 So we thought we could actually do an online course, somewhat like MasterClass, but make it a community [where] I can have personal interactions with the students.\u201d<\/p>\n Those interested in taking the class (there\u2019s now a free tier available) will learn the \u201c15 Rules of Comedy\u201d Zucker developed while writing and directing films with Zucker, Abrams, and Zucker. \u201cWe evolved a set of rules because even though it\u2019s crazy and zany and sh** is hitting the fan, there still is a discipline to it,\u201d he explained. <\/p>\n LOS ANGELES – OCTOBER 30: The three directors of the movie Airplane! (L-R) Jerry Zucker, David Zucker, and Jim Abrahams pose for a portrait at The Industry Workshops at the Los Angeles Center Studios in Los Angeles, California on October 30, 2015. (Photo by Jim Steinfeldt\/Michael Ochs Archives\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Getty Images<\/p>\n In true ZAZ fashion, however, the fifteenth rule is that there are no rules, befitting the \u201clittle bit of anarchy\u201d the trio (raised on a steady satirical diet of Mad Magazine spoofs and Marx Brothers movies) always brought to their work. <\/p>\n \u201cIt gets a little complicated,\u201d David conceded, \u201cbut we know you can\u2019t just go off and do this because they tried [and failed] to do Airplane II and the recent Naked Gun<\/a>. It just doesn\u2019t work if you don\u2019t know what you\u2019re doing \u2026 [It\u2019s] not enough to merely be clever or get a smile out of something, you have to get a laugh.”<\/p>\n Given his track record, it\u2019s safe to say the man knows a thing or two about good comedy. So, what makes him laugh these days? Well, it doesn\u2019t come from the big screen. “Impractical Jokers or South Park,\u201d David revealed, \u201cbecause those guys are original, daring, and willing to push the envelope.\u201d<\/p>\n