for instance, the plays of jonson, congreve, wilde and shaw. on the lowest level, there is physical comedy such as is found in burlesque and farce, with emphasis on a madcap situation and fast-paced, highly visual action. the plays of goldoni, goldsmith, sheridan and even the keystone kops or tom and jerry cartoons come to mind. the venetian twins represents the more physical or situation comedy. it evolved from the commedia dell'arte tradition. in the commedia, there were no written scripts, only scenarios, and the actors improvised their dialogue and bits of stage business as they performed. in this connection, it might be appropriate for me to recall something that i actually witnessed on the broadway stage. the great zero mostel was starring in a funny thing happened on the way to the forum. and the night that i saw the performance, he decided to pick on a young man who was a member of the chorus and who was well-known in the company, as i later on found out, for breaking up, that is to say, being made to laugh easily on the stage. zero was