dry wit

[Bushwhacker]

In a text making contrast between film slapstick and dry wit, both ingredients of a comedy movie, what can be understood for "dry wit", please?

Thank You

[Anglika]

Dry wit is a humorous statement/comment/riposte/story told with complete seriousness. I think it is best found in spoken contexts, rather than in written ones.

[Ouisch]

"Slapstick" comedy is physical comedy - a pie in the face, a person slipping on a banana peel, that sort of thing.

"Dry wit" is dialog-based comedy. Statements that are humorous because of their context or based on some sort of pun, rather than an outright joke. The TV series Frasier is a good example of dry wit. Some examples:

(after his brother has made a particularly self-serving statement): "Niles, I've got news for you. Copernicus called and you're NOT the center of the universe."


Frasier (talking to a caller on his radio program): "There's an incredible piece of scientific equipment known as the Tunneling Electron Microscope. Now, this microscope is so powerful that by firing electrons you can actually see images of the atom, the infinitesimally minute building block of our universe. If I were using that microscope right now, I still wouldn't be able to locate my interest in your problem."