Slapstick is a type of physical comedy characterized by humour, absurd situations, and vigorous (sometimes violent) actions. The slapstick comic must often be an acrobat, a stunt performer and a magician—a master of uninhibited action and perfect timing.
Outrageous make-believe violence has always been a key attraction of slapstick comedy, and the form took its name from one of its favourite weapons, slapstick. A slapstick was originally a harmless paddle composed of two pieces of wood that slapped together to produce a resounding whack when the paddle struck someone. The slapstick first came into use in the 16th century, when Harlequin, one of the principal characters of the Italian commedia dell’arte, used it on the posteriors of his comic victims.
The rough-and-tumble of slapstick has been a part of low comedy and farce since ancient times, having been a prominent feature of Greek and Roman mime and pantomime, heavily padded clowns exchanged quips and beatings to the delight of the audience.
The Renaissance produced the athletic zanies of the commedia dell’arte and even rougher clowns, such as the hunchbacked, hook-nosed, wife-beating Pulcinella, who survived into the 20th century as the Punch of children’s puppet shows.
Slapstick reached another zenith during the late 19th century in English and American music-hall entertainment and vaudeville, and such English stars as George Formby and Gracie Fields carried its popularity well into the 20th century. Motion pictures provided even greater opportunities for visual gags, and comedians Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, and Mack Sennett’s Keystone Kops introduced such classic routines as the mad chase scene and pie throwing, often made doubly hilarious by speeding up the camera action. Their example was followed in sound films by Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers, and the Three Stooges, whose stage careers predated their films and whose films were frequently revived beginning in the 1960s and were affectionately imitated by modern comedy directors. The best of the slapstick comedians may be said to have turned low humour into high art.
The Three Stooges, American comedy team noted for violent anarchic slapstick and comedy routines rooted in the burlesque tradition. Six men were members of the team throughout the years: Shemp Howard (original name Samuel Horwitz; b. March 17, 1895, New York, New York, U.S.—d. November 23, 1955, Los Angeles, California), Moe Howard (original name Moses Horwitz; b. June 19, 1897, New York City—d. May 4, 1975, Los Angeles), Larry Fine (original name Louis Feinberg; b. October 5, 1902, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania—d. January 24, 1975, Woodland Hills, California), Curly Howard (original name Jerome Horwitz; b. October 22, 1903, New York City—d. January 18, 1952, San Gabriel, California), Joe Besser (b. August 12, 1907, St. Louis, Missouri—d. March 1, 1988, North Hollywood, California), Joe DeRita (original name Joseph Wardell; b. July 12, 1909, Philadelphia—d. July 3, 1993, Woodland Hills).
The Stooges’ comic style was brash and brazen and was characterized by such cartoonishly violent acts as slapping, punching, eye-poking, and hair-pulling, all punctuated by exaggerated sound effects, and they often attacked one another with hammers, saws, and a variety of sharp and blunt objects.
