. A man slips on a banana peel or falls down an open manhole—that is one of the oldest and funniest gags in comedy’s joke book. The art of walking entails a simple pattern of putting one foot in front of the other. Once you master it, it’s unconsciously accomplished forever more. When you stumble, the pattern is broken. In that startling moment you realize “Hey, I’m still here.”

The violent physical actions characteristic of slapstick usually inflict no permanent damage. Old fashioned Punch and Judy puppet shows and the Three Stooges all demonstrate this art, with no bloodshed, but lots of slaps and punches…followed by lots of laughter.

Wisecracks are fast and fun, too. “She has more money than she can afford.” Shakespeare projected use of the word “crack”, with “break” used in his jests. A witcracker was consequently a person who made jests or cracked jokes. Most of us feel that wisecracks are even-tempered insults or witticisms that exaggerate. Ridicule of someone’s unique traits by using an absurd illustration feels OK. The nonsensical becomes the ordinary through fantasy…truth has no importance here. Dorothy Parker, on the other hand, a lady who knew what she was snarling about, described wisecracks as being calisthenics. AF 7/7′10