The More Humorous Unconscious

"Dying is easy, comedy is hard," goes the old saw. Thus the burden of Mike Myers.

His most recent film, The Love Guru, was horribly received and, most unfortunately, publicly labeled by Myers as a creation that began as a tribute to his father that began with his death from Alzheimer's.



And now he has announced a similar threat to his Austin Powers franchise. Although each of the previous three Powers films have fiddled and jiggered a father-son dynamic, AP4 is being envisioned as an homage to his dad, with a "a father and son theme loosely based on his own life."

But it was better when the comedy flowed more naturally, less self-consciously. Because, while Myers has never been a father, it was clear he was able to pull the funny from having had a father:



Now that he has publicly declared his goal to be both funny and honor his father, the pressure may be too much.