Farce 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 o ...

that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate

absurdity An absurdity is a state or condition of being extremely unreasonable, meaningless or unsound in reason so as to be irrational or not taken seriously. "Absurd" is an adjective used to describe an absurdity, e.g., "Tyler and the boys laughed at ...

or nonsense;

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

, and mockery of real-life situations, people, events, and interactions; unlikely and humorous instances of miscommunication; ludicrous, improbable, and exaggerated characters; and broadly stylized performances.

Genre

Despite involving absurd situations and characters, the genre generally maintains at least a slight degree of realism and narrative continuity within the context of the irrational or ludicrous situations, often distinguishing it from completely absurdist or fantastical genres. Farces are often episodic or short in duration, often being set in one specific location where all events occur. Farces have historically been performed for the

stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

and film.

Historical context

The term ''farce'' is derived from the French word for "stuffing", in reference to improvisations applied by actors to medieval religious dramas. Later forms of this drama were performed as comical interludes during the 15th and 16th centuries. The oldest surviving farce may be ''

Le Garçon et l'aveugle ''The Boy and the Blind Man'' (french: Le Garçon et l'aveugle) is the name of a 13th-century French play; considered the oldest surviving French farce. It is an anonymous work. In the play there are two scoundrels, a "blind" beggar and his serv ...

'' (''The Boy and the Blind Man'') from after 1266, although the earliest farces that can be dated come from between 1450 and 1550. The best known farce is ''

La Farce de maître Pathelin ''La Farce de maître Pathelin'' (in English ''The Farce of Master Pathelin''; sometimes ''La Farce de maître Pierre Pathelin'', ''La Farce de Pathelin,'' ''Farce Maître Pierre Pathelin,'' or ''Farce de Maître Pathelin'') The earliest accounts ...

'' (''The Farce of Master Pathelin'') from c. 1460. Spoof films such as ''

Spaceballs ''Spaceballs'' is a 1987 American space opera parody film co-written, produced and directed by Mel Brooks. It is primarily a parody of the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy, but also parodies other sci-fi films and popular franchises including ...

'', a comedy based on the ''Star Wars'' movies, are farces. Sir

George Grove Sir George Grove (13 August 182028 May 1900) was an English engineer and writer on music, known as the founding editor of ''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians''. Grove was trained as a civil engineer, and successful in that profession, ...

opined that the "farce" began as a

canticle A canticle (from the Latin ''canticulum'', a diminutive of ''canticum'', "song") is a hymn, psalm or other Christianity, Christian song of praise with lyrics usually taken from biblical or holy texts. Canticles are used in Christian liturgy. Ca ...

in the common French tongue intermixed with

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. It became a vehicle for satire and fun, and thus led to the modern Farsa or Farce, a piece in one act, the subject of which is extravagant and the action ludicrous.

References

External links

IMDb list of film and television farces
{{Authority control Comedy genres