I found some of his stuff almost painful to watch. I felt kind of sorry for him.
But my taste in comedy tends to the more cerebral like George Carlin, Seinfeld, Steven Wright, Jon Stewart and Colbert.
Physical comedy is extremely difficult to do well on a consistent basis. Lucille Ball was a totally unique and unequaled master of that art form for a reason. Farley was a pale imitation, unfortunately.
His Matt Foley character made me cringe and I really didn’t find it the least bit funny, just annoying.
It’s interesting that a few people have also mentioned John Candy as well. Chris Farley had this really manic and uncomfortable type of energy to him whereas John Candy I think was a lot more comfortable in his own skin and this came across in his comedy and the roles he played. I think Uncle Buck was one of the sweetest and funniest characters played with real heart. There was an appealing winsomness about him.
Perhaps that’s why I usually felt uncomfortable watching Chris Farley. He was a troubled soul and it was difficult to hide it behind the manic smiling facade.