Comedy of errors

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A comedy of errors is dramatic work (often a play) that is light and often humorous or satirical in tone, in which the action usually features a series of comic instances of mistaken identity, and which typically culminates in a happy resolution of the thematic conflict.

A slight variation of the "Comedy of Errors" discipline is Farcical theatre, which revolves around humour caused by the foolish mistakes of unintelligent characters and the chaos that derives from it. Examples of farcical comedies include Fawlty Towers and Men Behaving Badly - Both from British Sitcom.

William Shakespeare wrote such a play, appropriately titled The Comedy of Errors. Also, Romeo and Juliet is like a comedy of errors, except that the "last-minute save" is a minute too late, and, as a result, the play ends tragically. A Midsummer Night's Dream is another well-known Shakespearean example of a comedy of errors.

Many modern television situation comedies use comedy of errors as a standard plot device, often in every episode. Three's Company is considered a classic example of such a sitcom.

Many episodes of the American Sitcom Frasier exemplify the qualities of this sort of comedy.