Comedy characterized by broad humour, absurd situations, and vigorous, often violent action.
It took its name from a paddlelike device, probably introduced by 16th-century commedia dell'arte troupes, that produced a resounding whack when one comic actor used it to strike another. Slapstick comedy became popular in 19th-century music halls and vaudeville theatres and was carried into the 20th century by silent-movie comedians such as Harold Lloyd , and Mack Sennett 's Keystone Kops and later by Laurel and Hardy , the {{link=Marx Brothers">Marx Brothers , and the Three Stooges .