the.com/deadpan
comedy delivered with a straight face, so the joke does all the laughing for you.
means a style of humor where the speaker shows no emotion or reaction, letting the absurdity of the words carry the punchline.
from american slang from the 1920s, combining dead with pan, old theater and diner slang for face, literally a dead face.
pan meant facevaudeville slang for face before it meant cookware
buster keatonnicknamed the great stone face for zero expression
opposite techniquemugging, exaggerated facial reaction, its comedic enemy
for instance
buster keaton — never smiled onscreen across 1920s silent films, still hilarious
leslie nielsen — played it straight in airplane, 1980, made absurdity land
the office uk — tim canterbury's camera glances, 2001, built on straight-faced despair
steven wright — stand-up monotone delivery since the 1980s, jokes as flat facts