Comic relief
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- For the charity organisation of this name, see Comic Relief.
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character or scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.
Comic relief often takes the form of a bumbling, wisecracking sidekick. A sidekick used for comic relief will usually comment on the absurdity of the hero's situation and make comments that would be inappropriate for a character who is to be taken seriously. For example, in the first two James Bond films starring Roger Moore, an American sheriff named J.W. Pepper serves as comic relief.
The appropriateness of comic relief in some works is debatable, as some find them annoying or unwelcome additions. A notable example is Jar Jar Binks featured in Star Wars: Episode I. The presence of the aforementioned character (along with several other reasons) turned many fans from the franchise.
William Shakespeare often included comic elements in his tragedies; the recurring character Falstaff and the door-keeper in Macbeth are examples. Sometimes his inclusion of puns or jokes in otherwise serious scenes can seem inappropriate to a modern audience.
In the film adaptations of the The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Gimli the dwarf was often used for comic relief.