vaudeville acts
Old theatrical performances
Vaudeville acts were the individual performances in vaudeville, the variety entertainment that dominated American popular culture from the 1880s through the 1930s.
A typical bill included comedians, singers, dancers, magicians, acrobats, trained animals, and novelty performers—each act running ten to twenty minutes.
The Marx Brothers got their start as a vaudeville act.
- jugglingSequential toss-and-catch performance
- stand-up comedyLive solo comedic performance
- comedy duoTwo-person humor team
- impersonationsImitative performances of others
- slapstickExaggerated physical humor
tap dancing · mime · clowning · schtick · tap · clogging · piano solos · operatic arias · top hat · tightrope walking · ragtime · hoofers · balancing acts · card tricks · ventriloquist dummy · pratfall · ballroom dancing · sketches
- variety showsSaturday Night Live, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show, Laugh-In, The Muppet Show
- Troop Moralemorale boosters, morale boosting, troop morale, USO, USO shows
- comedycomedy, jokes, humor, puns, sarcasm
- theaterplays, stage, play, onstage, acting
- impersonationscelebrity impressions, voice mimicry, caricature, character work, sound-alike
- performersactor, dancer, actress, singer, musician
vaudeville actsfilm
Movie or coating
motion pictures · cinema · silent films · talkies · movies
vaudeville actstragedy
Disastrous or sorrowful event
legitimate theater · classical theater · high drama · straight plays · grand opera
vaudeville actshigh art
Culturally elevated creative works
opera · classical ballet · avant-garde theater · chamber music · prestige drama