Why is slapstick called slapstick

Luckily, slapstick comedy proved resilient. While no longer the dominant genre it once was, the slapstick comedy still finds plenty of love in the hands of the right filmmakers.

These days, many films incorporate elements of slapstick without being thoroughly rooted in slapstick comedy as their primary genre. Filmmakers like Wes Anderson and Edgar Wright incorporate slapstick humor into their comedies while still leaving room to explore other facets of comedy in well-rounded films. They may not focus on slapstick solely, but slapstick does play an important role in their films. The films of the Zucker Brothers and of Mel Brooks also make excellent use of slapstick comedy in addition to non-physical sight gags and dialogue-delivered laughs.

Slapstick comedy finds excellent usage in animated films as well as live-action. Animation might lack the human tangibility of dangerous live-action stunts, but the exaggeration possible in animated films leads to plenty of creative slapstick that would not be possible outside of animation. While films and television shows built entirely around slapstick may have become far less common than in the early days of cinema, these projects do still exist. Bean character is an example of pure slapstick comedy finding lasting success with modern audiences.

One of the most successful and consistent practitioners of slapstick comedy over the years has been none other than Jackie Chan. The martial arts of Jackie Chan provide a perfect fusion of seriously impressive fight scenes with silly humor. A case can certainly be made that slapstick comedy often goes underutilized in many mainstream comedy films. More filmmakers tapping into the joys of physical humor could lead to a slapstick comedy renaissance.

We will break down what black comedy is and take a look at some of the best examples in cinema, coming up next. Create robust and customizable shot lists. Upload images to make storyboards and slideshows. Previous Post. Next Post. Along with the inflatable bladder of which the whoopee cushion is a modern variant , it was among the earliest special effects that a person could carry.

While the object from which the genre is derived dates from the Renaissance , theater historians argue that slapstick comedy has been at least somewhat present in almost all comedic genres since the rejuvenation of theater in church liturgical dramas in the Middle Ages.

Beating the devil off stage, for example, remained a stock comedic device in many otherwise serious religious plays. Shakespeare also incorporated many chase scenes and beatings into his comedies, such as in his play The Comedy of Errors. Building on its later popularity in the nineteenth and early twentieth-century ethnic routines of the American vaudeville house, the style was explored extensively during the "golden era" of black and white, silent movies directed by figures Mack Sennett and Hal Roach and featuring such notables as Charlie Chaplin , Laurel and Hardy , the Marx Brothers , the Keystone Kops , the Three Stooges and El Chavo.

Slapstick is also common in animated cartoons such as Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes. Silent slapstick comedy was also popular in early French films and included films by Max Linder and Charles Prince. See Terms of use for details. Home Profile. A boisterous form of comedy marked by chases, collisions, and crude practical jokes. Crude comedy in which the humor depends upon violent activity, horseplay, etc. Characterized by such comedy. A paddle designed to produce a loud whacking sound, formerly used by performers in farces.

An implement made of two flat pieces of wood that slap together loudly when hit against something: sometimes used by clowns to strike others with loud, harmless slaps. Origin of slapstick.