“Slapstick was named after the battacio, or ‘slap stick,’ which made a dramatic popping sound when actors hit one another with it and which was used in the Commedia dell’arte, an Italian stage tradition whose blend of stereotype, sketch and shtick was passed down through circus and pantomime to vaudeville and burlesque and into cinema.”

“Slapstick was named after the battacio, or ‘slap stick,’ which made a dramatic popping sound when actors hit one another with it and which was used in the Commedia dell’arte, an Italian stage tradition whose blend of stereotype, sketch and shtick was passed down through circus and pantomime to vaudeville and burlesque and into cinema.”

— David Parkinson