Within this essay I will be exploring the history of slapstick comedy and how changes, such as the audience and popularity of the genre, have influences in modern comedy. I will also be exploring how the genre hows and why it works.
One of the first comedy films produced was ‘Watering the Garden’ (1895) a silent film which solely contains slapstick comedy. The film shows a gardener watering his garden, a young boy then comes and stands on the horse pipe cutting the supply. The gardener is confused and frustrated he resorts to trying the find the problem by looking down the horse pipe, which at the same time the boy stands off the pipe allowing the water to follow. The film is a brilliant example of slapstick comedy and how the genre succeed so well in that timer period. Slapstick comedy doesn’t require any dialogue to amuse the audience, allowing it to thrive throughout the silent film era. One key part to the success was Charlie Chaplin, an english comic who self directed and starred in an numerous number of silent slapstick films. Chaplin had a unique slapstick style, he would start in a natural environment and have a normal event create the humour. Chaplin would also use the comic effect of overcoming authority and often made fun of the police. Chaplin played the role of a clown making his audiences laugh at his misfortune and clumsiness. Another big name fro the era is Bustard Keaton; Bustard was a lot more physical then Chaplin was in his films. Keaton would purposely walk in walls and fall over. He was also known as ‘The Great Stone Face’ for his ability to pull a diverse range of faces to portray the mood throughout the film, without using sound. When sound was introduce in 1930 the popularity of slapstick comedy decreased dramatically with the introduction in verbal puns.
Slapstick Comedy works through heavy use of physical humour; such as chases, falling over, slipping on a banana skin and comic fighting. We find this funny because of the protagonist acts like a jester resulting in us laugh at their misfortune and stupidity. In 
recent years classic slapstick humour has reduced in popularity and the audience has become younger, this is dude to the childish nature of classic slapstick, the comic fighting and immature accidents doesn’t appeal to the older generations now. Modern slapstick has become more based on visual puns; such as having a goose in the back of a cop in hot fuzz.
In conclusion slapstick comedy has risen and fallen dramatic throughout the lifetime of film. From the Slapstick being the only comic genre in use within the film industry to it being a small part of the whole comedy genre line up. However the fall of slapstick is more how it has change with in inventions such as audio within film. Also slapstick works and connects with the audience through the misfortune and stupidity of the comedic character and how it has become less about physical stupidity but just general stupidity.
Pete Musgrave Media 