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{{Short description|Style of comedy}}
{{About|the style of comedy}}

[[File:Bic (instrument).jpg|thumb|A slap stick]]

'''Slapstick''' is a style of [[humor]] involving [[exaggerated]] physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal [[physical comedy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/slapstick |title=slapstick - definition of slapstick by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia |publisher=Thefreedictionary.com |access-date=2013-04-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Romantic-Comedy-Yugoslavia/Slapstick-Comedy.html |title=Slapstick Comedy - film, cinema |publisher=Filmreference.com |access-date=2013-04-29}}</ref> Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as saws and ladders.<ref>King, Rob (2017). ''Hokum!: The Early Sound Slapstick Short and Depression-Era Mass Culture''. Oakland, California: University of California Press. p. 197.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Slapstick+comedy |title=Slapstick comedy definition of Slapstick comedy in the Free Online Encyclopedia |publisher=Encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com |access-date=2013-04-29}}</ref>

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 "[[Clapper (musical instrument)|slap stick]]" consists of two thin slats of wood, which make 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.

==Origins==
The name "slapstick" originates from the Italian ''Batacchio'' or ''Bataccio'' – called the "[[Clapper (musical instrument)|slap stick]]" in English – a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in ''[[commedia dell'arte]]''. When struck, the Batacchio produces a loud smacking noise, though it is only a little force that is transferred from the object to the person being struck. Actors may thus hit one another repeatedly with great audible effect while causing no damage and only very minor, if any, pain. Along with the inflatable bladder (of which the [[whoopee cushion]] is a modern variant), it was among the earliest [[special effects]].

==Early uses==
[[File:Skämtbilden och dess historia i konsten (1910) (14578297507).jpg|thumb|upright|Advertisement for [[Punch and Judy]] showing Punch with his slapstick (1910)]]
Slapstick comedy's history is measured in centuries. [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] incorporated many chase scenes and beatings into his comedies, such as in his play ''[[The Comedy of Errors]]''. In early 19th-century England, [[pantomime]] acquired its present form which includes slapstick comedy, while comedy routines also featured heavily in British [[music hall]] theatre which became popular in the 1850s.<ref>David Christopher (2002). ''British Culture: An Introduction''. p. 74. Routledge,</ref><ref>Jeffrey Richards (2014). ''The Golden Age of Pantomime: Slapstick, Spectacle and Subversion in Victorian England''. I.B.Tauris,</ref>

In [[Punch and Judy]] shows, which first appeared in England on 9 May 1662, a large slapstick is wielded by Punch against the other characters.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Miller|first1=Judith|title=Miller's Antiques Handbook & Price Guide 2018-2019|date=2017|publisher=Hachette UK|page=351}}</ref>

==Fred Karno==
[[File:fredkarno.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Fred Karno]], music hall impresario and pioneer of slapstick comedy]]
British comedians who honed their skills at pantomime and music hall sketches include [[Charlie Chaplin]], [[Stan Laurel]], [[George Formby]], and [[Dan Leno]].<ref name="Karno"/><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria/enjoy_cumbria/famous_people/stan_laurel.shtml "Enjoy Cumbria - Stan Laurel"]. BBC. Retrieved 2 January 2015</ref> The influential English music hall comedian and theatre impresario [[Fred Karno]] developed a form of sketch comedy without dialogue in the 1890s, and Chaplin and Laurel were among the young comedians who worked for him as part of "Fred Karno's Army".<ref name="Karno">McCabe, John. "Comedy World of Stan Laurel". p. 143. London: Robson Books, 2005, First edition 1975</ref> Chaplin's fifteen-year music hall career inspired the comedy in all his later film work, especially as pantomimicry.<ref>{{cite book|last1=St. Pierre|first1=Paul|title=Music Hall Mimesis in British Film, 1895-1960: On the Halls on the Screen|date=2009|publisher=Associated University Press|page=38}}</ref> In a biography of Karno, Laurel stated: "Fred Karno didn't teach Charlie [Chaplin] and me all we know about comedy. He just taught us most of it".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Burton|first1=Alan|title=Pimple, pranks & pratfalls: British film comedy before 1930|date=2000|publisher=Flicks Books|page=51}}</ref> American film producer [[Hal Roach]] described Karno as "not only a genius, he is the man who originated slapstick comedy. We in Hollywood owe much to him."<ref>J. P. Gallagher (1971). "Fred Karno: master of mirth and tears". p. 165. Hale.</ref>

==In film and television==
[[File:Chaplin, Charlie (His New Job) 03.jpg|thumb|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.]]
Building on its later popularity in the 19th and early 20th-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, Mabel Normand, [[Laurel and Hardy]], the [[Marx Brothers]] and the [[Keystone Cops]]. Silent slapstick comedy was also popular in early French films and included films by [[Max Linder]], [[Charles Prince (actor)|Charles Prince]], and Sarah Duhamel.<ref>Maggie Hennefeld [https://www.amazon.com/Specters-Slapstick-Silent-Comediennes-Culture/dp/0231179472/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1534618571&sr=8-1&keywords=hennefeld "Specters of Slapstick and Silent Film Comediennes"], Columbia UP, 2018.</ref>

Slapstick also became a common element in animated cartoons starting in the 1930; examples include Disney's [[Mickey Mouse (film series)|Mickey Mouse]] and [[Donald Duck]] shorts, [[Walter Lantz]]'s [[Woody Woodpecker]] and [[The Beary Family]], MGM's ''[[Tom and Jerry]]'', the unrelated [[Tom and Jerry (Van Beuren)|Tom and Jerry]] cartoons of [[Van Beuren Studios]], Warner Bros. ''[[Looney Tunes]]/[[Merrie Melodies]]'', MGM's ''[[Barney Bear]]'', and Tex Avery's ''[[Screwy Squirrel]]''.

Slapstick was later used in Japanese [[Tokusatsu]] TV ''[[Kamen Rider Drive]]'' and in the United States used in the three 1960s TV series, ''[[Gilligan's Island]]'', ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' and ''[[The Flying Nun]]''.

== Contemporary presence ==
Slapstick continues to keep a presence in modern comedy that draws upon its lineage, running in film from [[Buster Keaton]] and [[Louis de Funès]] to [[Jerry Lewis]] and [[Mel Brooks]] to the television series ''[[Jackass (franchise)|Jackass]]'' and comedy movies by the [[Farrelly Brothers]], and in live performance from [[Joe Weber (vaudevillian)|Weber]] and [[Lew Fields|Fields]] to [[Jackie Gleason]] to [[Rowan Atkinson]]. In England, slapstick was a main element in television series such as ''[[Fawlty Towers]]'' and ''[[The Benny Hill Show]]''. Slapstick has remained a popular art form to the present day including ''[[The Simpsons]].

==See also==
{{portal|Comedy}}
* [[List of slapstick comedy topics]]
* [[Slapstick film]]
* [[Cartoon violence]]
* [[Physical comedy]]
* [[Stage combat]]
* [[Schadenfreude]]
* [[Harisen]], a paper fan used by the Japanese for a similar purpose.

==References==
{{Wiktionary|slapstick}}
{{reflist}}

{{Comedy footer}}
[[Category:Slapstick comedy| ]]
[[Category:Film genres]]

Slapstick - Revision history

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