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This article focuses wholly on the death-related or injury-related aspects of physical comedy and none of the others, for example the excellent use of a non-fun
by css 7y ago
This article focuses wholly on the death-related or injury-related aspects of physical comedy and none of the others, for example the excellent use of a non-functional set in The Play that Goes Wrong (which The New Yorker reviews quite highly [0]).
[0] https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-play-that-goes-wrong-is-quite-good https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-play-that...
- jfengel 7y agoIndeed, physical comedy is alive and well in the theater. It may be that physical comedy has a better impact in theater, where it's live, and they're taking the (apparent) risks right in front of you. On film, modern wire work enables a lot of great action, but undercuts the immediacy of it. Jackie Chan did amazing physical comedy on film, because you knew that he was taking Harold Lloyd-type risks. Physical comedy in the theater is a bit like stage magic: it's practiced carefully and controlled so that they can do it safely every single time. Professional wrestling is also a kind of live physical comedy, taking much bigger risks than any actor would do (and way more than the actors' unions would tolerate).