Physical comedy

Physical comedy is a form of comedy focused on manipulation of the body for a humorous effect. It can include slapstick, clowning, mime, physical stunts, or making funny faces.[1]

Physical comedy as Charlie Chaplin wrestles with factory controls in his 1936 comedy Modern Times

Physical comedy originated as part of the Commedia dell'arte.[2] It is now sometimes incorporated into sitcoms; for example, in the sitcom Three's Company, actor John Ritter frequently performed pratfalls (landing on the buttocks). Cartoons, particularly film shorts, also commonly depict an exaggerated form of physical comedy (incorporating cartoon physics), such as in Tom and Jerry and Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.[3]

Slapstick elements include the trip, the slip, the double take, the collide, the fall (or faint), and the roar.

Examples

Charlie Chaplin started his film career as a physical comedian; although he developed additional means of comic expression, Chaplin's mature works continued to contain elements of slapstick.

Other comedians to employ physical comedy as a medium for their characters include Don Knotts, Jerry Lewis, Danny Kaye, Martin Short, Marilyn Monroe, the Keystone Kops, Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges.

In the movies, physical comedy is used by, for example,

In sitcoms, the use of physical comedy was seen in, for example,

See also

References
  1. "Get Funny! Tips on Directing Physical Comedy". Videomaker.com. Retrieved 2015-11-29.
  2. "History of Physical Comedy - Roundabout Theatre Company Official Blog". blog.roundabouttheatre.org. Retrieved 2015-11-29.
  3. "What is Physical Comedy? (with pictures)". wiseGEEK. Retrieved 2015-11-29.
  4. Meyers, Chris (29 February 1996). "Jackie Chan Rumbles in the U.S.A.". The Daily Utah Chronicle. p. 14. Retrieved 18 April 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
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