I personally never got into Abbott and Costello. I mean, yeah I know the whole "who's on first, what's on second bit"...but I don't know, they just never really appealed to me.
It's funny, but one of the main reasons I love the Stooges so much is their VERBAL humor. I think often that element of their act doesn't get talked about enough, because everyone is so hung up on the physical stuff...but it's the mixture of the two - combined with their almost dance like rhythm and wonderful trust in each other with timing - that makes it work.
As far as pathos goes, I think pathos exists in any comedy...it's just not as obvious in some. Marty Feldman once said that people laugh at what makes them scared...which is why comedy often pokes fun at hard things like war, poverty, etc. The Stooges have that element, it just isn't shown in a sad way. But they're generally poor, in need of work, have been thrown out of a place, are in the army, are running a country, etc...so I think they put themselves in very stressful situations, but they extract the HUMOR from it rather than the "boo whoo" and that's what makes good comedy. Plus any of the episodes where they parody Hitler are in their for the serious stuff too.
It's all just a difference in how comedy is presented. A comic can take the same situation as another comic, but do different things with it. And both could be equally as good.
Laurel and Hardy are good from what I've seen, which isn't really much. I grew up loving the movie "March of the Wooden Soilders" though, so hey haha. They are a tad overrated though in terms of being studied as good art and such where the Stooges do not usually get such credit.
"Roses are red, and how do you do? Drink four of these and...woob woob woob woob!" - Curly, 'No Census, No Feeling'
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"Ehhh....money shrinks!!!" - Shemp, 'Don't Throw That Knife'
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"Even the comedians that make you laugh the hardest, have tragedies in their lives. Laughter is all we have against the pain of life and death." - Larry Fine
