straight man

English

Noun

straight man (plural straight men)

1. (idiomatic) A member of a team of comic performers who plays a supporting role by helping to set up jokes and punch lines through engaging in preparatory dialog with the principal comedian; a foil who plays such a role in theatrical comedy.

   For many years Bud Abbott served brilliantly as Lou Costello's deadpan straight man.

Related terms

• second banana
• top banana

Translations

supporting comic

• Finnish: tavallinen mies (fi)
• German: Stichwortgeber (de) m, Stichwortgeberin (de) f

• Japanese: 引き立て役 (ja) (ひきたてやく, hikitateyaku), ぼけ役 (ja) (ぼけやく, bokeyaku)
• Portuguese: escada (pt)
• Turkish: komedyen yardakçısı (tr), şamaroğlanı (tr)