Slapstick comedy requires great timing, physical prowess, and an outrageous sense of humor. The hilarious antics of tripping up, falling down, and rolling about involve a cartoonish style of violence that is predominantly harmless and goofy in tone. Mistakes are made on purpose, and the more absurd the better.
Slapstick had its origins in silent cinema, when some of the finest comics of the age created such classic routines as the mad chase scene and pie throwing battle. The advent of sound saw fewer slapstick comedies produced, but there are one or two standout examples from the age of the "talkies."
Click through the following gallery and laugh out loud at these slapstick scenes from vintage cinema.