Prop comedy is a
comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term ori ...
genre in which performers use humorous objects, or conventional objects in humorous ways. The stages and films term "
prop", an abbreviation of "property", refers to any object an actor handles in the course of a performance. Though some form of prop comedy has likely existed as long as there have been comedians, the genre reached its zenith in the
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic compositio ...
era. The vaudeville team
Olsen and Johnson used prop comedy extensively in their long running
Broadway revue ''
Hellzapoppin''.
A prop comic is a
comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audience dir ...
who uses prop comedy. Prop comics are sometimes looked down upon by other comedians, and the term is sometimes used derisively. However, some, such as
Tommy Cooper, rose to critical acclaim as their props revolved around a
gimmick
A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand ou ...
(such as Cooper's
magic) and the comedian's character around that gimmick.
Types of props
Props are any items that the comedian or comic uses in an absurd way. These can be hand props, such as a book or
slapstick, costume props (such as tearaway pants), and set props (such as a breakaway chair). Another example is the
rubber chicken.
Other occurrences
The TV comedy game show ''
Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' has a round called ''Props'' in which two teams of comedians are each given a prop each and must improvise with them to humorous effect.
Comedy genres
{{Comedy-stub