Cult and comedy aren't two words you'd be especially expecting to see in the same sentence. Cult flicks are famed for their trashiness, outlandish plots and unconventional happenings. Kooky? Yes. Intentionally funny? No. Yet if you google the topic, countless comedic gems materialise. Some of them gaining their notoriety in the "so bad, it's good" category, but the majority for their alternative exploration of a different realm of humour.

The Big Lebowski is regarded as "The Dude" of cult comedies. A  noir whoddunit featuring Jeff Bridges as the unlikely hero in an increasingly labyrinthine story, it is choc-a-block with mistaken identity, disorder, and enough unprintable four-letter words to last a whole two plus minutes when strung together. Initially met with a lukewarm reception (as is frequently the case with cult films), upon successive midnight screenings and due to the esoteric nature of the jokes, The Big Lebowski has spawned a cult following of unnerving proportions.
Its cultishness is demonstrated via Lebowski Fests peopled by dressing-gown-wearing fans sipping White Russians and spouting popular quotes. The film has even triggered a religion called Dudeism, which preaches the "Take it easy" manifesto of the film's chilled protagonist.

Other cult comedies have used humour to examine something more significant. Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove is the only comedy he managed to complete and yet was originally a dramatic glimpse at communism. Apparently this all changed when the director found out how easy it was to set off an atomic bomb and Kubrick developed a savvy political satire very much ahead of its time. Other cult favourites which have utilised paradoxical absurdities to explore more meaningful topics include The Rules of the Game, a film satirizing the French upper class, and Reefer Madness, a sensationalist propaganda film released to highlight the dangers of marijuana.

Airplane!, has also attained a cult status as the spoof that started all spoofs. Mocking the various airport films released the decade before Airplane!'s debut, it cunningly used famously serious actors to utter stupidly outrageous lines.

For a more British response to cult comedies, nothing is as blatantly ridiculous (and stomach crampingly enjoyable) as the Monty Python series. From the chorus clicking coconut shells together because the production couldn't afford horses, to crucified Brian breaking into a hearty rendition of "Always look on the bright side of life", Monty Python is a surreal mixture of the absurd and the sublime. Watching The Life of Brian was even deemed a sin by The Catholic Film monitoring office and banned in various Christian countries, so you get to rebel against society as you watch it - a clear cult favourite.
There is no secret formula for concocting a cult comedy, but cult is regarded as such because it goes against the norm. The heroes are chosen because of their unconventionality, the humour is zany and unexpected, and there is some outlandish feature for the fans to emulate to the midnight showings, whether this be a beard, a bike or a bathrobe.