Editing Lazzi (section)

== History ==

=== 17th and 18th century Italy ===
Evidence of ''lazzi''<nowiki/>'s conventionalization within the Italian ''commedia dell'arte'' includes visual iconography, paintings, fragmented writings, and personal manuscripts from prominent 16th and 17th century dramatists and actors. One of the earliest accounts can be found in the work of [[Flaminio Scala]], who listed 30 instances of ''lazzi'', though the word "''lazzi''" was not yet used.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Steele|first=Eugene|year=1976|title=Verbal Lazzi in Shakespeare's Plays|journal=Italica|volume=53|issue=2 |pages=14–142|doi=10.2307/478086|jstor=478086 }}</ref><ref name=":3" /> Nearly a century later, Andrea Petrucci described ''lazzi'' as a fixture of ''commedia'' in ''The Art of The Rehearsal Performance and Improvisation.'' In ''Selva over zibaldone di concetti comic raccolti dal P.D. Placidio'', Adriani di Lucca provides a list of ''lazzi'' from a manuscript that is one of the few extant and intact accounts of ''lazzi'' from 17th and 18th century Italy. The manuscript is currently held at the Library in Perugia.<ref name=":0" /> Most recently, Mel Gordon compiled a comprehensive collection of ''lazzi'' performed by ''commedia'' troupes between 1550 and 1750, and organized the descriptions into twelve categories that include 'acrobatic and mimic' as well as 'violence/sadistic behavior' ''lazzi''.<ref name=":2" />

In addition, visual iconography from the 17th and 18th century depicts elements of ''lazzi'' that often portray what would have been considered vulgar physical acts (i.e. a doctor administering an enema as seen in the image), though few of the written accounts describe such content. It has been proposed that the marked lack of documentation may be, in part, an attempt to evade rising censorship by authorities, especially in the case of Parisian [[Comédie-Italienne]] under the rule of [[Louis XIV]], who threatened troupes with the revocation of royal subsidies should their material be deemed subversive.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=Theatre Histories: An Introduction|last1=Zarilli|first1=Phillip B.|last2=McConchie|first2=Bruce|last3=Sorgenfrei|first3=Carol Fisher|publisher=Routledge|year=2010|isbn=9780415227278 |editor-last=Williams|editor-first=Gary Jay|edition=2nd|location=New York, NY}}</ref> In some cases, his censorship resulted in a troupe's expulsion from the country. Others theorize that ''lazzi'' often went undocumented so that it could not be imitated by competing troupes, as routines could not be patented.<ref name=":0" /> Also, it has been suggested that because of the oral and physical nature of the training, as well as the inbred legacy of performers within the troupe, there was less of a need to have written explanations of ''lazzi''.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Selfridge-Field|first=Eleanor|year=2004|title=La Commedia dell'Arte in Naples: A Bilingual Edition of the 176 Casamarciano Scenarios/La commedia dell'arte a Napoli: edizione bilingue dei 176 scenari Casamarciano (review)|journal=Music and Letters|volume=85|pages=436–437|doi=10.1093/ml/85.3.436}}</ref>

=== Elizabethan and Jacobean England ===
While the direct influence of Italy's ''commedia dell'arte'' on the England's [[Elizabethan era|Elizabethan]] and [[Jacobean era|Jacobean]] theatre is subject to much debate, verbal and visual ''lazzi'' were present in the plays of William Shakespeare.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Steele|first=Eugene|year=1976|title=Verbal Lazzi in Shakespeare's Plays|journal=Italica|volume=53|issue=2 |pages=214–222|doi=10.2307/478086|jstor=478086 }}</ref> Shakespeare's work implies a familiarity with Italian literature and theatrical practices, though it is not certain that he ever experienced a ''commedia'' performance firsthand.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Levith|first1=Murray J.|last2=Johnson-Haddad|first2=Miranda|year=1992|title=Review: [Untitled]|journal=Shakespeare Quarterly|volume=43|pages=253–257|doi=10.2307/2870897|jstor=2870897 }}</ref> It is as likely that [[Richard Tarlton]] served as the inspiration for Shakespeare's plays, as well as the ''lazzi'' of Italian ''commedia''.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fever|first=Charles S.|year=1963|title=The Commedia Dell'art and the English Drama in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries|journal=Renaissance Drama, A Report on Research Opportunities|volume=6|pages=24–34|doi=10.1086/renadramreporese.6.43264648 |s2cid=191385855 }}</ref> Verbal ''lazzi'' were used in the form of puns, proverbs, and malapropisms, while instances of physical ''lazzi'' were abundant, especially in the work of Shakespeare's clowns, whose improvisations during performances often vexed the playwright.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Steele|first=Eugene|year=1977|title=Shakespeare, Goldoni, and the Clowns|jstor=41152748|journal=Comparative Drama|volume=11|issue=3 |pages=209–226|doi=10.1353/cdr.1977.0027 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Befriending the Commedia dell'Arte of Flaminio Scala: The Comic Scenarios|last=Schmitt|first=Natalie|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=2014|isbn=978-1442648999}}</ref>

=== 1920s and modern ''lazzi'' ===
More recent appropriations of ''lazzi'' include the 1920s silent films of [[Charlie Chaplin]], the silent/sound films and stage productions of [[Laurel and Hardy]], and [[Punch and Judy]] puppet shows. While many similarities exist, a few parallels can be drawn in the use of pratfalls, fright jumps, and physical settings that enable the use of objects to perform the comedy. One popular comparison is Charlie Chaplin's cane to Arlecchino, or the Harlequin's stick when used as a comedic device.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Madden|first=David|year=1968|title=Harlequin's Stick, Charlie's Cane|journal=Film Quarterly|volume=22|issue=1 |pages=10–26 |doi=10.2307/1210036 |jstor=1210036 }}</ref>