Examples of some of the numerous lazzi:

Various ladder lazzi: Ladders can be used to try to reach lovers' windows or to rob a house and the trouble
they bring when characters try to climb them and stay upright. They can be used as unexpected stilts. Just the
attempts at acquiring or moving one can lead to much slapstick with a wildly swinging ladder. Audiences
familar with this lazzo eagerly and verbally await the ladder's arrival.

Lazzo of searching: Two Masks (often the lovers) are trying to find each other, however as soon as one leaves
the stage, the other appears. This can be repeated several times at once or throughout the play, often
accompanied with shouting for each other, believing they heard a noise, and complaints to the audience.

Hunger: To show the audience just how famished they are, some zanni will begin to try to eat their shoes,
props, or anything else they can find on the stage. Alternatively, the actor could actually pull out some food
and eat it (as if the actor was hungry) while staying in character who hasn't eaten.

Lazzo of tooth extraction: Dottore (or someone in disguise as a doctor) either wants to play a trick or has a
grudge against Pantalone and convinces him he has bad breath and needs a rotten tooth removed. This is
sometimes even a significant subplot to a play.

Various nightfall lazzi: Establishing to the audience it is very dark, the Masks wander around stage as if they
can't see anything. They bump into each other, go into the wrong houses, grope at random objects and believe
them to be something else (often some crime like a murdered body). Many characters can get scared and run
screaming, their noise frightening the others.

Reoccurring abuse: One character yells at or strikes another character on stage and leaves. The "victim" takes
out his or her anger on the next passing character, and so on, until the lowest ranking zanni receives it (and by
now it has grown into sever violence!) or it comes back around to the first Mask.

Lazzo of silence: After much ridicule or abuse, Pedrolino (or other characters) will fall completely silent,
sometimes appear catatonic. After much effort by the others, Pedrolino will finally let out a shout that scares
everyone else and makes them run off stage.

Go-between: Two lovers are having a fight and refuse to speak to each other. A stupid but sympathetic zanni
attempts to patch things up by delivering messages between the two innamorati however he confuses the
words in ways that make it very much worse.

Animal mimicry: Various animals - often cats, apes, or donkeys - are imitated by the characters.

Attempted suicide: Arlecchino (or others) is in despair, often over love for Colombina. He decides to kill
himself but finds each way he ponders or tries to be impossible, too troublesome, or too painful.

Madness: Someone, often a lover, pretends to be insane so she or he can scare the others by mad ravings or
beatings in an attempt to get out of an arranged marriage or be close to their beloved.

Lazzo of falling asleep/unconscious: Certain servants (especially Arlecchino and Pedrolino) can fall asleep or
pass out at any time, in any place. This can bring the ire at their laziness or worry at their health (or even life).

Counting: A Mask tries to count to ten but stumbles along the way, often restarting. Other characters can try
to help or hinder him. This is especially funny when associated with the number of thrashings the counter is
supposed to give some transgressor.

Interruption of the performance: Actors walk out into the audience and begin to loudly ridicule the action and
dialogue happening on stage.
Characters
Each person should start with a “character type.” Remember that each of the commedia characters had a
basic trait:
Pantalone = being greedy, Il Dottore = being a “know it all,” Il Capitano = bragging, Arlecchino = tricky,
Columbina = clever, etc.
What’s your character’s basic trait? The more exaggerated it is, the funnier it is.

What’s the relationship between your characters? Are they

• complete strangers
• friends
• enemies or “frenemies”
• enemies but only one recognizes the other
• boss and employee
• lifeguard and beachgoer
• store clerk and customer
• doctor and patient
• professor and student
• waiter and food critic
• ticket agent and passenger

Conflict
The conflict in a scene has two elements – what does a character want, and what is getting in the way? Usually
the thing that’s getting in the way is something physical.

One character wants or needs . . . But he or she . . .

One of the major rules of improv is to always “say yes” – play along with whatever your partner is doing.
Saying “no” or opposing what your scene partner is trying to do will stop the scene from progressing. The
characters can disagree, but the actors are working together to create the scene.
For example:
“Saying no”
FOOD CRITIC: Waiter! Is this a grasshopper hiding in my salad?
WAITER: No it isn’t.
(Now the person playing the food critic has to come up with another idea, which stops the momentum of the
scene.)
“Saying yes”
FOOD CRITIC: Waiter! Is this a grasshopper hiding in my salad?
WAITER: Yes . . . but he’s really very shy, and you’re scaring him.

“Saying yes” (in a different way)

FOOD CRITIC: Waiter! Is this a grasshopper hiding in my salad?
WAITER: No it isn’t . . . it’s a slug. You didn’t say “no slugs,” that’s a dollar extra.

Examples of Traditional Lazzi

Running-Around-The-Balcony Lazzo
Arlecchino, pursued, or to prove his identity as Arlecchino, leaps from the stage to the first spectator box and
runs around the railing or the three sets of balconies.

Lazzo of unspilled Wine Startled, Arlecchino, holding a full glass of wine, executes a complete backward
somersault without spilling the wine.
Slapping Lazzo
A Zanni, with either his hands bound or holding plates of food, slaps another character in the face with his
foot.

Innocent Bystander Lazzo

Arlecchino and Pedrolino meet each other face-to-face and are armed to the teeth. They heap abuse on each
other, relying on others to hold them back physically. Finally, when the Captain seeks to separate them, they
strike out at each other with the Captain receiving most of the blows.

The Gist:
A guy enters the stage looking up. (Hmm ... what's he looking up at?) He is followed by a second person, who
follows suit. (Really? What's he looking up at?) Now, the third person enters the stage. What do you think he
does? Surprise!! He too observes the other two and starts looking up. (Ok great, now what's up there,
seriously?) This continues until all the people join the bandwagon. Suddenly, one of them, after looking up for
while turns to the person next to him and asks, "What are we all staring at?" (Really!!) The person replies, "I
don't know!" He turns to the person next to him and repeats the same question. This question continues until
it reaches the first guy who started it all. He answers, "I have no clue what you all are looking at, but I have a
stiff neck!". Take a bow gentlemen! What do we have with us? ... 7 embarrassed souls not knowing where to
look!

The Gist:
Three men are standing/sitting by the lake reels in hand though still without a catch. They are joined by a
young lad who stands a little distance away. He throws in his reel and waits. In a matter of seconds he is seen
reeling in a good catch. The other three men are amazed at the quickness of the catch and put it off as sheer
luck. Minutes later the young boy is reeling in another catch, this continues for a couple of times. Intrigued by
his luck, the man standing closest to the boy turns and asks, How is it possible that, we have been standing
here for over an hour but haven't got a catch while you have caught a dozen odd fish? The boy responds Ru
raffra reep re rorms rarm. Assuming it to be a foreign language they ask the young lad, Ru raffra reep what?
The young lad reels in another catch saying, Ru raffra reep re rorms rarm. Unable to contain their curiosity, the
three men turn to the boy and say, Look we did not understand a word of what you said, can you speak in a
language that we can understand. The boy looks at them for a moment before he spits out the bait into his
palms and says, You simply have to keep the worms warm. (Eww! That's disgusting). That's about it, we have
three disgusted men and a young boy contended with his catch.

The Gist
It's a scorching day, a boy is seen stumbling across the stage searching for water. A few minutes later he meets
a salesman. He asks him for a glass water. A true salesman that he is, he persuades the thirsty wanderer to
purchase a tie. (What's the connection between a tie and a glass of water?) The thirsty wanderer dismisses the
salesman and carries on. The scorching heat and the sand around him makes him dizzy. (Oh, that poor soul!)
He carries on stumbling and searching for some water to quench his thirst. Along the way, he comes across
another tie salesman. (Are you kidding me? Another tie salesman!) After a brief but heated argument with the
salesman, the thirsty traveler pursues his search for water. A while later he reaches a bottling factory. (That's
some relief!) Relieved he reaches the factory gate and knocks at the huge gates. The guard opens the
peephole and asks why he was being disturbed? (What now?) The thirsty traveler asks for water. The guard
opens the gate and just as the traveler is about to enter slams the gate shut. (Why, oh why?) Weary that he is,
he knocks again. To his dismal the guard screams, No entry without a tie! The weary traveler realizes his folly,
only too late to mend.
The Gist:
A man/woman enters the stage holding his/her tummy and wincing in pain, looks around at the empty
reception and sits down. A few seconds later he/she is joined by another patient with their hand on the head
as though in pain. The one who enters first now has a hand over his/her stomach and the head wincing in pain.
Another patient is seen entering the stage this time with a limp. (Guess what happens next?) The first patient
now gets up and walks across to the magazine stand with a limp, a hand each on his stomach and his head,
cringing in pain. Another patient enters coughing and sneezing. (Any guesses what's happening here?) The first
patient howls in pain as he now shows symptoms of a cold, is limping and has a stomach ache as well as a
heavy head. This goes on for a few more minutes till a heavily pregnant woman is seen entering the lobby. The
first patient now shows all the symptoms including that of being heavily pregnant. ( Just imagine!) Just then
his/her number is called and he/she enters the doctor's cabin and forgets the purpose of his/her visit

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