Corpsing

Corpsing is British theatrical slang for unintentionally laughing during a non-humorous performance or when a role in a humorous performance is intended to be played "straight".[1][2] In North American TV and film, this is considered a variation of breaking character[3] or simply "breaking".

For the Toby Litt novel, see Corpsing (novel). For the extreme metal band, see Corpsing (band).

The term appeared as "I should have been corpsed without a prompter." in 1840 in the book "Playing about: Or Theatrical Anecdotes and Adventures". [4] In 1853 Charles Dickens' Household Words provided this definition: "If an actor forgets his part while on the stage, he is said to "stick" and to "corpse" the actors who may be performing with him, by putting them out in their parts." [5] (in a theatrical context the term "out" meant "at a loss")[6]

Examples

A significant aspect of the phenomenon is the frequently deliberate and usually benign attempts among actors to cause this in cast members. During the "Pete and Dud" sketches in the BBC comedy series Not Only... But Also, Peter Cook would ad lib in an attempt to make Dudley Moore corpse, and often succeeded.[7]

Johnny Carson frequently corpsed during sketches on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. For example, during a Carnac the Magnificent sketch, Carson read the punchline "Three Dog Night", but started laughing when delivering the question ("What's a bad night for a tree?"). Also, in one Art Fern sketch, Carson's fake mustache fell off, drawing howls of laughter from the audience. Carson and Matinee Lady Teresa Ganzel's comical attempts to reattach the mustache eventually caused them to openly burst out laughing as well.

In the final scene of the Fawlty Towers episode "Gourmet Night", when Basil (John Cleese) delves into the trifle with his hands and pulls it apart, actress Prunella Scales, who plays his wife Sybil, can clearly be seen in the background trying to suppress her laughter.

In the Monty Python film Life of Brian, there is a scene where Michael Palin (as Pontius Pilate) talks about a friend with the name Biggus Dickus, which causes several actors playing Roman soldiers to laugh. In character and in a long, drawn out fashion, he confronts the soldiers and dares them to laugh while repeating the name. Palin himself nearly corpses, most obviously when he asks the guard if he finds it 'wisible' ('risible', as spoken by his character thanks to a speech impediment) when he says the name Biggus Dickus. The men completely lose composure when he mentions Biggus Dickus' wife's name is Incontinentia Buttocks. Ad-libbing like this was intentional to create an authentic reaction from the actors.[8]

The "Church Police" sketch in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl contains a considerable amount of corpsing, particularly from Eric Idle and Terry Jones. Also, at the point where the eponymous Church Police arrive, Jones loses his wig, prompting more corpsing (and the other actors attempting to cover for Jones so he can recover the wig).

The Irish sitcom Mrs. Brown's Boys regularly features Agnes Brown (Brendan O'Carroll) ad libbing lines to make the other cast members corpse. An example of this is when a cast member stumbled on a complicated line and Agnes commented that he "must have shit himself when he saw it in the script" and made him repeat it. These incidents are intentionally left in the episodes for effect.

Corpsing is also used to refer to moments when presenters laugh helplessly. A widely reproduced example occurred on the cricket programme Test Match Special in 1991, when Jonathan Agnew commented that a batsman "didn't quite get his leg over", causing Brian Johnston to break into helpless laughter.[9]

North American examples

Tim Conway and Harvey Korman would frequently corpse during The Carol Burnett Show. Instances include: Conway as an inept dentist who accidentally injects himself with Novocaine causing Korman to steadily lose composure while trapped in a dentist chair, Vicki Lawrence ad libbing during a Family sketch and making Carol Burnett lose focus during both tapings, and Conway ad libbing a story about a circus elephant during a family sketch and making the entire cast break down in tears laughing. This breaking character was generally acknowledged by the cast members as an important part of the show due to its popularity with both studio and home audiences.[10]

Similarly, during production of Mork and Mindy, Pam Dawber often found it impossible to maintain the proper composure in character at the sight of co-star Robin Williams's madcap comic improvisations during filming, and her amused reaction is visible. The show's creators specifically allowed gaps in the script in order to allow Williams to run freely with his improvisation, as he often came up with things that they considered superior to the original script.

Mindy Cohn on The Facts of Life also had trouble keeping a straight face during scenes and can be seen smiling throughout the series's run.

In the Friends episode "The One With Joey's New Brain", the ending has Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) screeching along with a bagpipe with castmate Jennifer Aniston sitting on the couch beside her and clearly trying to keep from laughing.[11]

The Saturday Night Live sketches featuring Debbie Downer (Rachel Dratch) are also notable for corpsing.[12] Jimmy Fallon was also known for breaking character by laughing on Saturday Night Live.[13][14][15]

In particular, Bill Hader would often corpse when performing as the "City Correspondent" Stefon on SNL's "Weekend Update". The jokes were often rewritten between dress rehearsal and broadcast, so Hader was seeing them for the first time and would frequently break down, much to the delight of the audience. Chris Farley got both David Spade and Christina Applegate to corpse during the first "Matt Foley" skit (David can be seen covering his face with his left hand to hide his laughter).

In the movie A Christmas Story, there are a couple of scenes where cast members obviously corpse. When the family has Christmas dinner at a Chinese restaurant, a duck is served to the family that still had its head attached. Melinda Dillon reacted and began laughing because she was intentionally given the wrong script, resulting in her losing her composure steadily throughout the scene.[16] She laughs uncontrollably when the server lops the head off the duck. This is done to get an authentic reaction from her, which was the filmmakers' intention.[17]

"The Beef Project", an episode of Canadian comedy The Red Green Show, contains a "game show" scene where many of the contestants corpse. The scene features a Jeopardy-style show where the contestants answer questions about cars; each is given a different noise-making device to use while "buzzing in". Ben Franklin's (Dave Thomas) car horn continuously malfunctions, causing Ben's brother Dougie (Ian Thomas, Dave's real life brother), to burst out laughing.

See also

References
  1. "Corpsing".
  2. arts.guardian.co.uk: "A greasepaint glossary," article on theatrical terms
  3. "Corpsing".
  4. Hill, Benson Earle (1840). "Playing About; or, Theatrical Anecdotes and Adventures By Benson Earle Hill".
  5. Dickens, Charles (1853). "Household Words :, Volumes 7-8 edited by Charles Dickens".
  6. Johnson, Samuel; Perry, William (1805). "The Synonymous, Etymological, and Pronouncing English Dictionary".
  7. Harry Thompson, Peter Cook: A Biography. Hodder and Stoughton, 1997.
  8. Diaries 1969–1979: The Python Years. Michael Palin (2006). ISBN 0-297-84436-9
  9. BBC Sport: Test Match Legends - Brian Johnston
  10. "The Carol Burnett Show". IMDB.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  11. Proudfoot, Jenny (23 June 2020). "Jennifer Aniston said 'no one could hold it together' through one iconic Friends scene". Marie Claire.
  12. Engvalson, Audrey. "18 Scenes That Made SNL Actors Break Character". BuzzFeed.
  13. Reiher, Andrea (Mar 15, 2014). "Jimmy Fallon and James Franco laugh about 'more cowbell' sketch from SNL on Tonight Show". Zap2it. Retrieved September 7, 2015. 'You always cracked up!' says Franco.
  14. Lifton, Dave (June 27, 2012). "Jimmy Fallon Recalls Famous Blue Oyster Cult / 'More Cowbell' Saturday Night Live Skit". ultimateclassicrock.com. Retrieved September 7, 2015. ... Fallon ... often had difficulty keeping a straight face. In a new interview, Fallon recalls why he broke up in the middle of the famous 'More Cowbell' sketch ...
  15. Winter, Jessica (July 25, 2013). "When Is It OK to Crack Up? Some Ground Rules for the Cast of SNL". Slate. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  16. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad9orCzczHY
  17. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad9orCzczHY
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