sight gag
Wordless comedy bit
A sight gag is a joke that works visually rather than through words—a comedian slipping on a banana peel, a character walking into a glass door, an impossibly long scarf pulled from a pocket.
The humor depends on seeing it: The film is full of elaborate sight gags.
Common in silent film, slapstick comedy, and physical humor traditions.
- double takeDelayed reaction of surprise
- pratfallComedic fall on buttocks
- slip and fallLose footing, then collapse
- banana peelYellow fruit's outer layer
- mimeWordless expressive performer
Laurel and Hardy · slapstick · Charlie Chaplin · Buster Keaton · physical comedy · pantomime · funny walk · prop · clown car · vaudeville · rubber chicken · burlesque · comedic timing · laugh · Three Stooges · clowning · tumble · pie
- comedy termsjokes, puns, wit, sarcasm, irony
- comedycomedy, jokes, humor, puns, sarcasm
- humorjoke, jokes, joking, comedy, comic
- comicscomic books, comic book, comic strip, comic art, comic panel
- Silent Filmsilent films, silent era, silent comedy, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton
- clownsclown, bozo, hobo clown, rodeo clown, party clown