Mel Brooks turns 100, and Blazing Saddles finally takes the crown

You know those tedious articles where a newly minted centenarian claims the secret to a long life is eating a raw onion at dawn and avoiding loud noises? Mel Brooks just turned 100 on June 28, and frankly, I am rejecting everyone else's longevity advice from this day forward. The man built an empire out of high anxiety, musical dictators, and playing a literal 2,000-Year-Old Man — and he is apparently making a serious, focused run at the title.

And what do you get the comic genius who has outlasted practically everyone? The American Film Institute finally figured it out. On Sunday, to honor his centennial, they dragged their "100 Years... 100 Laughs" list into the daylight and rightfully re-ranked Blazing Saddles to the number one spot. Fifty-two years after a baked-bean campfire scene shattered the polite boundaries of American cinema, the AFI has formally acknowledged what the rest of us already knew.

Now that he has hit the triple digits, Brooks is out here casually dropping his keys to longevity, and it turns out the fountain of youth isn't an ice bath or a terrifying green juice. It is relentless, unapologetic, full-contact comedy. You can jog all you want, but are you generating enough pure, unadulterated laughter to keep your cells regenerating? Brooks is still visibly active in the entertainment industry. HBO recently rolled out a two-part documentary titled Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!, and I wouldn't bet against him already pitching the sequel.

We have spent decades desperately trying to bio-hack our way out of mortality, when the actual scientific answer was apparently just writing better punchlines. He didn't just survive a century; he spent it laughing louder than anyone else in the room. Seeing his 1974 masterpiece hit number one isn't just an overdue cinematic correction. It is hard proof that the guy who makes the world laugh longest, wins.