sight gag

noun

1. a comic effect produced by visual means rather than by spoken lines, as in a play or motion picture.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sight gag¹

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

And the “memoir” we’re invited to observe is a wounding one, rife with heartbreak and trauma — but also, as it turns out, raunchy humor and slapstick pratfalls, literate puns and winking sight gags.

From Los Angeles Times

There is also an inspired sight gag involving the development of the Julia Child severing her arm sketch that the show later made famous.

From Salon

She also alleged that Cohen pitched a sexual sight gag for the film.

From Los Angeles Times

And even though “Beavers” is feature-sized rather than Looney Tunes length, its woozy, giggly high of outlandish sight gags is remarkably sustained.

From Los Angeles Times

The simplicity of a brain plopped in a pail for scientific research becomes something of a mordant sight gag.

From New York Times