Slapstick? More like, slap Henshall
Commedia dell’arte relies on slapstick humor and stock characters to entertain the audience. Slapstick comedy involves plenty The harlequin stock character (not to be mistaken with Joker’s girlfriend) used to be cowardly, superstitious, and plagued by a continual lack of money and food as described by Richard Pallardly. Since then, the character has been altered to fit the changing times and diverse audiences.
The harlequin in One Man, Two Guv’nors is played by James Corden. He carries the play with his witty humor, mindless use of violence, and breaking of the fourth wall all throughout. His sense of slapstick humor carries on through his interactions with other characters.
In one particular scene, Francis Henshall (Corden’s character) is in an unfortunate situation where he has to serve his two guv’ners at the same time while preventing them from running into each other. He is seen running across the stage with plates of food throughout the scene, it’s hard to keep in a chuckle when his efforts look like failures. His lack of experience with food is evident as he gives his dead yet alive assistant (Alfie) the task of serving food. The dynamic between Alfie and Henshall adds more flavor to the play than any of the food Henshall prepares. Alfie’s lack of mobility causes him to continuously fall down the stairs to which Henshall is oblivious.
Henshall seems to find himself in very confusing situations, after all, he is aware that he gets confused quite easily. Instead of the slapstick humor being between Henshall and another character, he creates a new character from himself and argues with it. Corden’s performance makes it seem as if there really are two different characters slapping each other and arguing when in reality, it’s just good old Henshall talking to himself. He even goes as far as rolling on the floor and smacking his head with the lid of a metal trash can. Now, violence isn’t the best thing to find amusement in. But, it can be enjoyable to see a character like Henshall trying to tell himself not to be confused, then immediately confusing himself leading to a few bruises. His genuine airhead personality adds fluff to the violence which makes the play very lighthearted and comedic.
