low comedy

low comedy
low comedian.
comedy that depends on physical action, broadly humorous or farcical situations, and often bawdy or vulgar jokes. Cf. high comedy.
[1600-10]

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drama
      dramatic or literary entertainment with no underlying purpose except to provoke laughter by boasting, boisterous jokes, drunkenness, scolding, fighting, buffoonery, and other riotous activity. Used either alone or added as comic relief to more serious forms, low comedy has origins in the comic improvisations of actors in ancient Greek and Roman comedy. Low comedy can also be found in medieval religious drama, in the works of William Shakespeare, in farce and vaudeville, in the antics of motion-picture comedians, and in television.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Low comedy — is a type of comedy characterized by horseplay, slapstick and/or farce. Examples include somebody throwing a custard pie in another s face. This definition has also expanded to include lewd types of comedy that rely on physical jokes. History… …   Wikipedia

  • low comedy — n. a comedy that gets its effect mainly from action and situation, as burlesque, farce, slapstick, and horseplay, rather than from witty dialogue and characterization: cf. HIGH COMEDY …   English World dictionary

  • low comedy — index travesty Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • low comedy — low′ com′edy n. lit. comedy based on slapstick, physical action, broadly humorous or farcical situations, and often bawdy jokes Compare high comedy • Etymology: 1600–10 low′ come′dian, n …   From formal English to slang

  • low comedy — noun Date: 1608 comedy employing burlesque, horseplay, or the representation of low life compare high comedy …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • low comedy — noun a comedy characterized by slapstick and burlesque • Hypernyms: ↑comedy …   Useful english dictionary

  • low comedy — noun comedy bordering on farce …   English new terms dictionary

  • low comedy — /loʊ ˈkɒmədi/ (say loh komuhdee) noun comedy which depends on physical action and situation rather than on wit and dialogue …  

  • comedy — [käm′ə dē] n. pl. comedies [ME & OFr comedie < L comoedia < Gr kōmōidia < kōmos, revel, carousal + aeidein, to sing: see ODE] 1. Obs. a drama or narrative with a happy ending or nontragic theme [Dante s Divine Comedy] 2. a) any of… …   English World dictionary

  • comedy — Synonyms and related words: Atticism, Thalia, agile wit, arlequinade, black comedy, black humor, bladder, broad comedy, burlesque, burletta, camp, cap and bells, caricature, comedie bouffe, comedie larmoyante, comedie rosse, comedietta, comedy… …   Moby Thesaurus

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