Slapstick

This article is about the style of comedy. For other uses, see Slapstick (disambiguation).
A slapstick scene from the 1915 Charlie Chaplin film His New Job. Chaplin started his film career as a physical comedian, and his later work continued to contain elements of slapstick.
A slap stick

Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy.[1] Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as saws and ladders.[2][3]

The term arises from a device developed for use in the broad, physical comedy style known as commedia dell'arte in 16th-century Italy. The "slap stick" consists of two thin slats of wood, which makes a "slap" when striking another actor, with little force needed to make a loud—and comical—sound. The physical slap stick remains a key component of the plot in the traditional and popular Punch and Judy puppet show. More contemporary examples of slapstick humor include The Three Stooges, The Naked Gun and Mr. Bean.

  1. ^ "slapstick - definition of slapstick by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia". Thefreedictionary.com. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  2. ^ King, Rob (2017). Hokum!: The Early Sound Slapstick Short and Depression-Era Mass Culture. Oakland, California: University of California Press. p. 197.
  3. ^ "Slapstick comedy definition of Slapstick comedy in the Free Online Encyclopedia". Encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com. Retrieved 2013-04-29.