Abstract
This chapter examines the rapport between performers and their audiences in live comedy, identifying techniques used by music-hall performers that remain central in contemporary comedy. The evolution of the practice of ‘gagging’ or improvised interaction with audiences in nineteenth-century theatre and music hall is traced and its significance as a key element of popular forms examined. The work of practitioners, humour theorists and comedy studies scholars including Lawrence Mintz, John Morreall, Oliver Double and Ian Brodie are used to address the concept of comic licence and establish how, despite the regulatory constraints placed on their work, music-hall performers encouraged audiences to participate in the creation and enjoyment of sometimes challenging comic meanings. This chapter includes a micro-history of Bessie Bellwood.
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