Slapstick is a simple type of comedy in which the actors behave in a rough and foolish way. slapstick comedy. humorous acting in which the performers fall over, throw things at each other etc (slapstick (19-20 centuries)). Comedy characterized by broad humour, absurd situations, and vigorous, often violent action. It took its name from a paddlelike device, probably introduced by 16th-century commedia dell'arte troupes, that produced a resounding whack when one comic actor used it to strike another. Slapstick comedy became popular in 19th-century music halls and vaudeville theatres and was carried into the 20th century by silent-movie comedians such as Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Mack Sennett's Keystone Kops and later by Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers, and the Three Stooges
acoustic device consisting of two paddles hinged together; used by an actor to make a loud noise without inflicting injury when striking someone a boisterous comedy with chases and collisions and practical jokes characterized by horseplay and physical action; "slapstick style of humor
{i} boisterous comedy characterized by horseplay and farce; stick or combination of sticks used by clowns and other comic entertainers to produce a loud slapping sound