Does anyone else do his kind of humour? I am talking about in many movies like ‘Fletch’ and ‘Seems like old times’, he makes self-deprecating stoical and sarcastic jokes like he does not really care. Is there a name for this kind of humour?
Deadpan?
Bob Newhart does it too. I don’t know if anyone from the younger generations has that style.
Rodney Dangerfield does something similar.
“I can’t get no respect…”
Deadpan’s probably as close as you’re going to get if you’re looking for a general style other than “Chevy Chase’s shtick in Fletch.” In particular, it’s sarcastic deadpan (which is probably redundant anyway) with a strong streak of absurdity.
Nah, Dangerfield is schtick perfected.
Chevy Chase and Humor are not often seen in the same sentence…
When I see Chevy Chase do it, I call it “unfunny”.
That’s a big factor in Chevy’s unique quality. Not as absurd as, say, Steven Wright, but still head and shoulders above most of his peers. BTW, I think using examples from movies like Fletch and Vacation is a dead-end, since he didn’t write any of those. His SNL stuff is your best bet to see his real humor.
I’m not a big Chevy Chase fan, but I do recognize his contributions from ca. 1975-1985 as important. I would say that Bobcat Goldthwait picked up where Chevy left off, but I fear I’d just be setting myself up for criticism from people who can’t separate Bobcat’s schtick from his style.
Fair enough, I didn’t know that. He performed well in them, though. Excellent timing.
Oh, I concur totally: he’s got many gifts as an performer. Strong physical presence, a fearlessness that few can match, and impeccable timing from what I can tell. I just tend to discount film performances because (a) usually the comic isn’t responsible for the actual humor, that comes from the writers and (b) you can never tell how much of the timing and other harder-to-quantify aspects are actually the work of gifted editors. 
Note that I’m not discounting the possibility that some of the best lines in Fletch (particularly) may have been ad-libbed by Chevy. But by and large, I give writing credit to the person who gets the credit in the film. Trust me, I’d like nothing more than to believe that the same person who (as far as I know) wrote the line “Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead” also wrote “Don’t talk to me like that ass-face, I don’t work for you yet.”
Can’t speak for the Vacation films, but I think you’re being a little unfair in regards to Fletch.
From the Fletch wikipedia entry:
Chase has said that this film is his favorite to date because “it allowed me to be myself. Fletch was the first one with me really winging it. Even though there was a script, the director allowed me to just go, and in many ways, I was directing the comedy.”
ETA: Oops, sorry KneadToKnow. Your second post wasn’t there when I posted.
I was going to suggest Vince Vaugn (Swingers, Old School, Weding Crashers, The Breakup) and Ryan Renolds (Van Wilder, Just Friends, Blade Trinity). They both have that same sort of deadpan sarcasm where they can make totally ridiculous statements with a straight face.
Yeah, but at least he’s funny. Or was.
Self-deprecating humor.
Most of my favorite Chevy Chase moments are the complete non sequitur deadpan stuff, like his entire role in Caddyshack. It’s almost like he’s acting in a totally different but quite similar film from the other actors and the effect is hysterical, at least to me.
Well put! Fletch and Caddyshack are two of my favorites.
I always like to recommend Funny Farm as, IMO, a pretty funny and underappreciated Chevy Chase movie with the same kind of self-deprecating humor as in Fletch, Caddyshack The Three Amigos, and the Vacation movies. Oh, and Spies Like Us is great, too. I also liked Under The Rainbow as a kid, but I can’t remember it well enough to recommend it now.
I’d agree somewhat with the Ryan Reynolds comparison. Maybe Jeremy Piven as well. Will Ferrell reminds me of Chevy’s more slapstick moments from some of the above movies.
He’s rarely in movies (though he’s done a few), but the OP describes pretty much every role Matthew Perry has ever played.
Jason Bateman also reminds me of Chase (not in looks but in type) a bit.
And Kal “Kumar” Penn in the H & K movies.
I don’t know. When I remember Chevy Chase’s humor, especially in the SNL days, I almost believe that he invented the concept of irony (and not in the Alanis Morisette way).