Lazzi

[6] Evidence of lazzi's conventionalization within the Italian commedia dell'arte includes visual iconography, paintings, fragmented writings, and personal manuscripts from prominent 16th and 17th century dramatists and actors.

[5] In addition, visual iconography from the 17th and 18th century depicts elements of lazzi that often portray what would have been considered vulgar physical acts (i.e. a doctor administering an enema as seen in the image), though few of the written accounts describe such content.

It has been proposed that the marked lack of documentation may be, in part, an attempt to evade rising censorship by authorities, especially in the case of Parisian Comédie-Italienne under the rule of Louis XIV, who threatened troupes with the revocation of royal subsidies should their material be deemed subversive.

[9] While the direct influence of Italy's commedia dell'arte on the England's Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre is subject to much debate, verbal and visual lazzi were present in the plays of William Shakespeare.

While many similarities exist, a few parallels can be drawn in the use of pratfalls, fright jumps, and physical settings that enable the use of objects to perform the comedy.