Prop comedy is a

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic 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. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

genre in which performers use humorous objects, or conventional objects in humorous ways. The stages and films term "

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

", 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 which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

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 (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

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 (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 Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...

, 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? ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' is a short-form improvisational comedy show created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. The three major versions of the show are the original 1988 British radio programme (from which all subsequent versions are ada ...

'' 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.

References

Comedy genres {{Comedy-stub