Daily Inspiration Quote by Ivan Reitman

Comedy is often mistaken for a magic trick: add jokes, stir, and watch something become funny. Reitman’s line quietly rejects that fantasy. “In a comedy it helps enhance things that were already there” is less a tip about punchlines than a philosophy of restraint. The verb “enhance” does the real work here. It implies amplification, not invention. The laugh doesn’t come from bolting humor onto a hollow scene; it comes from turning the volume up on existing human tensions - ego, fear, desire, embarrassment - that would still be recognizable in a straight drama.

That subtext tracks with Reitman’s cultural lane. His best-known projects (the big, mainstream comedies that didn’t apologize for being crowd-pleasers) succeed because they treat characters like people first and joke delivery systems second. The supernatural chaos in Ghostbusters works because the team’s petty competitiveness and workplace dynamics feel real; the absurdity lands because it’s anchored. Even the broadest moments read as escalation of personality, not sketch comedy pasted onto a plot.

Context matters, too. Reitman came up in an era when studio comedy was learning to professionalize itself: bigger budgets, wider audiences, higher stakes. His quote is a rebuttal to the “more gags” approach that can flatten stories into noise. He’s arguing that comedy is an editing choice and a framing choice - a way of revealing what’s already present, then letting the audience feel clever for noticing it.