comic theater
Funny live performance
Comic theater encompasses dramatic works and performances intended to amuse—from ancient Greek comedies to modern sitcoms and improv shows.
The term covers both the genre and the physical venues where such works are staged.
Comic theater relies on timing, exaggeration, and social observation: She studied comic theater at the conservatory.
Distinguished from tragedy, it typically ends happily and exposes human folly rather than catastrophe.
- timingArt of choosing moments
- laugh lineCrease from repeated smiling
- running gagRepeated joke across episodes
- farceAbsurd, laughable situation
- wordplayVerbal wit techniques
A Midsummer Night's Dream · stage business · stock character · satire · social critique · The Importance of Being Earnest · laughter · vaudeville · Tartuffe · caricature · slapstick · Aristophanes · double entendre · cultural commentary · parody · pratfall · sight gag · catharsis
- comic theaterburlesque, cabaret, farce, operetta, pantomime
- Greek comedyAristophanes, The Birds, Greek drama, Dionysian, Greek playwrights
comic theatertragedy
Disastrous or sorrowful event
tragic drama · tragicomedy · Greek tragedy · melodrama · classical tragedy
comic theatertearjerker
Emotionally manipulative entertainment
pathos · lamentation · weepie · dirge
comic, theater, comics, comical, comically, comedian, comedienne, comedy, comedic