Physical comedy is a form of comedy focused on manipulation of the body for a humorous effect. It can include slapstick, , Mime artist, physical stunts, or making funny faces.
Physical comedy originated as part of the Commedia dell'arte.
Examples
Charlie Chaplin started his film career as a physical comedian; although he developed additional means of comic expression, Chaplin's mature works continued to contain elements of slapstick.
In the movies, physical comedy is used by, for example,
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Buster Keaton as the eponymous character in Steamboat Bill, Jr.,
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Jacques Tati as Monsieur Hulot,
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Peter Sellers as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series,
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Jackie Chan in many of his Hong Kong action comedy films,
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Zero Mostel's character Max Bialystock in The Producers,
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Bette Midler's, Goldie Hawn's and Diane Keaton's characters in The First Wives Club,
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Arnold Schwarzenegger's and Danny DeVito's characters in Twins,
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Will Ferrell's and John C. Reilly's characters in Step Brothers,
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Zac Efron's and Adam DeVine's characters in Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates.
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Sacha Baron Cohen's characters Borat Sagdiyev and Brüno Gehard in Borat (and its sequel Borat Subsequent Moviefilm) and Brüno.
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Chris Farley's and David Spade's characters in Tommy Boy.
In television sitcoms, the use of physical comedy was seen in, for example,
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Dick Van Dyke's character Rob Petrie in The Dick Van Dyke Show,
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Lucille Ball's character Lucy Ricardo in I Love Lucy,
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Martin Lawrence's character Martin Payne in Martin,
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Larry Hagman's character Major Anthony Nelson in I Dream of Jeannie,
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John Ritter's character Jack Tripper in Three's Company,
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The two main characters of Mark Linn-Baker and Bronson Pinchot in Perfect Strangers,
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Michael Richards's character Cosmo Kramer in Seinfeld,
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Penny Marshall's character Laverne DeFazio and Cindy Williams' character Shirley Feeney in Laverne & Shirley,
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Jennifer Saunders' character Edina Monsoon and Joanna Lumley's character Patsy Stone in Absolutely Fabulous,
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Nicholas Lyndhurst's character Rodney Trotter in Only Fools and Horses,
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Neil Morrissey's character Tony Smart in Men Behaving Badly,
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Jennifer Aniston's character Rachel Green in Friends,
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Rowan Atkinson's character Mr. Bean and Man vs. Bee,
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Jaleel White's character Steve Urkel in Family Matters,
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Rik Mayall's and Adrian Edmondson's characters Richard Richard and Eddie Hitler in Bottom,
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James Corden's character Neil Smith in Gavin & Stacey,
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Jim Belushi and Larry Joe Campbell's characters Jim and Andy in According to Jim
See also
