deadpan delivery
Flat, unflinching presentation
Deadpan delivery is a style of expression—especially in comedy—where something funny, absurd, or outrageous is said with a completely straight face and flat tone.
The humor comes from the contrast between the content and the emotionless presentation: His deadpan delivery made the joke twice as funny.
The technique suggests the speaker either doesn't realize what they've said is amusing or is deliberately withholding any reaction.
- dry humorUnderstated, expressionless comedy
- dry witUnderstated, ironic humor
- straight-facedWithout visible emotion
- monotoneSingle unvarying pitch
- expressionlessShowing no feeling
no expression · poker face · flat affect · sardonic · wry · understated · stoic · blank stare · comic timing · sarcasm · irony · stone-faced · unflinching · matter-of-fact · Buster Keaton · snark · bone-dry · unblinking
- comedy stylesjokes, sarcasm, puns, irony, parody
- comedy termsjokes, puns, wit, sarcasm, irony
- comedy tropespratfall, parody, sight gag, running gag, satire
- comedycomedy, jokes, humor, puns, sarcasm
- exaggerationhyperbole, overstatement, exaggeration, magnification, amplification
- satirelampoon, parody, parody account, political satire, spoof
deadpan deliverymugging
Robbery with violence
scenery-chewing · slapstick · physical comedy · wild gesticulation · broad comedy
dead, deadpan, deadly, deaden, deadened, deadening, deadness, panned, panning