Slapstick Comedy

Is slapstick comedy more focused on physical or verbal humour?

• Physical humour

• Verbal humour

The phrase 'slapstick' comes from:

• Comedies that depict lots of slapping and stick fights.

• Comedies that make you slap your shins with laughter.

• The wooden object used to create a loud smacking noise as a sound effect in fight scenes.

• An American tradition wherein the audience applauded used two slapping sticks rather than clapping with their hands.

Slapstick comedies often involve:

• A single person on stage making jokes about things that happen to them in everyday life.

• The use of irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to humorously expose and criticize a person, group, or work of art/literature.

• A group of characters with very different personalities who are brought together by a circumstance such as sharing an apartment building or workplace to create humour.

• A character or characters who finds themselves in improbable situations or attempts to solve problems in illogical ways.

In what significant way are props used in slapstick comedies?

• Props help to create humour by acting in unexpected ways, being in expected places or being the wrong size.

• Props are bright and colourful to create a jolly mood that is suited to comedy performances.

• Props are used to create realistic settings and naturalistic action.

• Props are transformed regularly to facilitate plot and character development.

Some conventions of slapstick are:

• Use of stock characters, use of masks, and plots that involve mistakes and misunderstandings.

• Practical jokes, chase scenes, extreme physicality and exaggerated violence.

• Witty banter between characters, extreme emotions, and use of clichés.

• Moral plotlines, and development of characters that represent human traits.