ACROBATIC LAZZI

Running-Around-The-Balcony Lazzo
Arlecchino, pursued, or to prove his identity as Arlecchino, leaps from the stage to the first spectator
box and runs around the railing or the three sets of balconies.

Lazzo of Unspilled Wine

Startled, Arlecchino, holding a full glass of wine, executes a complete backward somersault without
spilling the wine.

Slapping Lazzo
A Zanni, with either his hands bound or holding plates of food, slaps another character in the face
with his foot.

VIOLENT LAZZI

Innocent Bystander Lazzo

Arlecchino and Pedrolino meet each other face-to-face and are armed to the teeth. They heap abuse on
each other, relying on others to hold them back physically. Finally, when the Captain seeks to separate
them, they strike out at each other with the Captain receiving most of the blows.

"Defend Me" Lazzo

The inamorata takes offense at something and demands that other characters should duel to protect her
honor.

Shield Lazzo
Arlecchino, about to be hit, grabs the nearest other character to use as a shield.

Revival Lazzo
Woman pretends to faint or die. Zanni enters and suggests that the way to revive her is pull her hair or
twist her limbs.

Undead Lazzo
A zanni has either been mistaken for dead or has deliberately feigned death. When he gets up, other
characters believe he's a zombie or a vampire and try to kill him.

Chair Lazzo
Arlecchino (or Pierrot) pulls the chair away from the Captain just before he is to sit down. Or the
Captain's cape is pulled, so he is forced from the chair.

LANGUAGE LAZZI

Lazzo of Latin
The Doctor attempts to conjugate English words as if they are Latin (e.g. complaining he’s been
attacked by “hoodla” instead of “hoodlums” or speaking of going “inside and exside.”)
Lazzo of the Foreign Language
Covielle (or any other Zanni) pretending to have met a foreign nobleman, quotes him by using made-
up words or words associated with whatever culture the made-up nobleman is supposed to have come
from. (“Dirka-dirka mohammed jihad!”) He then gives ridiculous and improbable translations for
these phrases.

Lazzo of La Fontaine’s Fable

Using a mixture of Italian and French, Arlecchino manages to tell in a ridiculous and obscene manner
the story of La Fontaine’s “The Miller, The Son and The Ass”

Lazzo of Greeting
Pulcinella greets the Captain or another character with apparent reverence. “Son of Jove, new moon,
twice the last name of Alexander!” Then, Pulcinella explains, “The son of Jove is Bacchus. Bacchus is
a goat. The new moon is horned, and the last name of Alexander is Magno, which, when taken twice,
becomes magno-magno. Thus the whole greeting becomes: ‘Manga-manga, becco cornuto!’” (Eat it
up, eat it up, you horned goat <cuckold>)

Learning French Lazzo

The inamorata is learning French (or any other language) from an instructor, and every word which
she is taught sounds like a swear word, appalling her.

Lazzo of the List

German innkeeper (or any character with an accent) reads from a shopping list. Everything is
mispronounced, so “four chickens” becomes “four broken pillars” and so forth.

FOOD LAZZI

Water and Wine Lazzo

Turchetta faints. Coviello goes to fetch water for her. When Turchetta comes to, Fedelindo faints as
he calls for water. At this point Coviello decides to faint and calls for wine.

Barber's Water Lazzo

Disguised as a barber, Arlecchino pours the dirty and soapy water into the Doctor's drinking glass as
he shaves him.

Tasting Lazzo
A zanni is cooking a pot of something for dinner. He continually seasons the dish, then tastes it, then
adds more seasoning, tastes again, and this goes on until there is no food left in the pot.

Cherries Lazzo
While Scapino is speaking, Arlecchino shows his indifference by taking imaginary cherries out of his
hat, eating them, and throwing the pits at Scapino.

Fire Lazzo
At the beginning of the meal, Harlequin arrives in a panic, saying that the kitchen is on fire. Don Juan
and all the valets run there. In the meantime, Harlequin sits down and eats all he can. Optionally,
when the others return complaining that there was no fire, Harlequin replies: “I said THE kitchen was
on fire. I didn’t mean YOUR kitchen was on fire.”

Doggie Treat Lazzo

Brighella (or Columbina) offers Arlecchino food, which he eats with great enthusiasm. Brighella then
pulls out more food, making whistling/calling noises as for a dog, then tosses the food across the
stage. Arlecchino runs after the food and eats it off the floor.

PROP LAZZI

Hat Lazzo
Male character is glared at or otherwise given a seductive glance by female character. The look is so
powerful that it causes his hat to fly off.

Glassware Lazzo
While spying or dancing, Arlecchino tips over a basket of glassware or dishes, breaking them.

Straw Lazzo
Arlecchino uses a long straw to steal drinks of another character's beverage.

Stolen Silverware Lazzo

A zanni stands still while an entire banquet's worth of stolen silverware falls from his clothing, where
he's hidden them. The last item that falls out is a coffeepot or centerpiece. This is best done at a time
in the play when the zanni is swearing to his honesty or innocence.

CLASS REBELLION LAZZI

Spitting Lazzo
One of the zanni asks his master for permission to spit. The master agrees on condition that he not spit
on anything important. The zanni proceeds to spit on another zanni or vecchio.

Lazzo of Silence
Pedrolino (or Pulcinella) becomes dumbfounded when his master shouts at him for doing what he
thought was a duty that his master requested. Other characters enter the stage, each with a ridiculous
reason for scolding Pedrolino. All this time, Pedrolino is silent. When the Captain pinches Pedrolino
to see if he is awake, he gives out a frightened cry that scares away the other characters, and calmly
exits.

Wine Lazzo
Mezzetino serves wine at a dinner, but keeps drinking it all himself before/between filling the cups of
the guests. He feigns shock at the empty bottle, apologizes and runs off to get more wine; and the
lazzo repeats.

Shut-Up! Lazzo
Pulcinella interrupts his master's discourse. Three times his master tells him "Shut up!" Later, the
master calls Pulcinella who shouts back to him "Shut up!" three times.

Fly Lazzo
Pulcinella has been ordered to guard his master's house. When the master returns and asks if there is
anyone in the house, Pulcinella attests: "Not a fly!" But his master enters and finds hoards of people.
He scolds Pulcinella, who replies: "Well, you didn't find a fly. Just people."

Why Don't You? Lazzo

Coviello is ordered to do something difficult by the Captain, like capture a robber in the dark or enter
a cave. Coviello continually replies, "Why don't you?"

STAGE/LIFE LAZZI

Lazzo of the Inside

To create the illusion of ferociousness, Pulcinella, hidden from the Captain by a door, speaks in
several fake voices, such as servants begging Pulcinella not to beat them anymore.

Psychic Lazzo
A character makes an obvious error about the historical era they're in, such as mentioning an event
that takes place several hundred years in the future. Another character acts amazed that first character
has suddenly become psychic, and demands fortune telling services. (A rumpologyreading is
particularly suitable.) This is a good cover-up lazzo for improvised shows where an actor makes a
mistake that is unfunny and would risk confusing the audience.

STUPIDITY LAZZI

Cowardice Lazzo
Pantalone and Zanni search for the man who has beaten them. They practice dueling. But when the
Captain appears, they suddenly forget how to hold their swords in their fright. Pantalone and Zanni try
to persuade each other to fight, pushing the other toward the Captain.

Illiteracy Lazzo
An illiterate zanni is given a letter and a basket of 12 figs by his master, and told to deliver it to the
Doctor (or some other character.) Zanni eats several of the figs before making the delivery. The
Doctor reads the letter, which says how many figs should be in the delivery, and points out that the
number is wrong, because "The letter says there should be 12." Zanni calls the letter a liar. Doctor
commands the zanni to come back with the right number of figs. Zanni goes home, gets more figs. He
proceeds to eat several again but makes a particular point of hiding the letter while he does so, so it
won't witness the act this time.

Insult Lazzo
The Doctor mispronounces Pantalone's name in stupid and embarrassing ways and then asks for
sexual favors from his wife or daughter.

Leeches Lazzo
An inamorato or vecchio, or a smart zanni like Brighella, reluctantly goes to the Doctor as a patient.
The Doctor promises to offer his best remedy. Patient: "Let me guess. Leeches?" Doctor: "Oh, I didn't
know you were a medical man!"

Forgotten Name Lazzo

First character begins to speak to second but cannot remember the second character's name. ("Lee..."
"Leandro." "Leo..." "Leandro." "La..." "Leandro." "Leandro, right.")

Stupid Discovery Lazzo

The Doctor, seizing upon some trivial and well-known fact, pretends that he has made the discovery,
which is of the utmost importance.

Lazzo of Paying Homage to All Their Names

Pulcinella meets a number of characters. In an attempt to ingratiate himself with them, he begins to
praise their names in ridiculously insulting and long-winded fashions.

Suicidal History Lazzo

Harlequin has been rejected by his beloved, and threatens suicide. He begins comparing his situation
to those of famous people who committed suicide, but misremembering all the information: "Did not
the Roman Lucrece kill herself for Mark Antony, Cleopatra for Tarquin? Did not Aristotle die for
Galen?"

TRANSFORMATION LAZZI

Yes and No Lazzo

Zanni attempts to play a ruse on another character. When the other character asks a question, Zanni
answers yes. But when the ruse is about to be exposed, Zanni suddenly changes his mind about the
answer and replies no. This yes and no routine continues through a whole battery of questions.

Lying Lazzo
Zanni makes up lies and lies, each more stupid than the last. Optionally, the stupidest lie he thinks of
is what convinces the others of his honesty.

Movie Quotes Lazzo

The inamorata or inamorato quotes famous lines from movies in a romantic, classical Shakespearean
style. (e.g. "You talkin' to me? Well, who the hell else you talkin' to? &c. &c." recited in the
approximate tone of "O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?") The more vulgar or violent the
line recited, the better.

Laughter and Tears Lazzo

Arlecchino begins to laugh hysterically. Slowly, his laughing turns to weeping and tears.

TRICKERY LAZZI

Tart Lazzo
Pantalone’s wife puts a basket over his head, promising him a tart. As Pantalone bargains, his wife’s
lover slips out.

Stopped Music Lazzo

Lindor (the Inamorato) is disguised as a music teacher in order to see Rosine (the Inamorata.) The
Doctor boredly supervises the singing lesson, but begins to fall asleep. Once the Doctor is quite
unconscious, Lindor begins to kiss Rosine, which makes the singing stop. This causes the Doctor to
wake up, and the Inamoratti must quickly reset to their original positions. This continues several
times.

Monosyllable Lazzo
Weeping, Arlecchino enters the stage. The Doctor and Trivellino question him as to his behavior, but
Arlecchino only answers in monosyllables. Or, Arlecchino’s master questions him while Arlecchino
eats. Concerned about a widow, the master asks increasingly complicated questions about her, while
Arlecchino always manages to answer in monosyllables as he gobbles down the food.

Lazzo of Cussing Out the Master

Zanni #1 tells zanni #2 that his master (one of the vecchi) had treated him poorly so he cussed him
out. Zanni #2 is surprised that he got away with it, and runs off to see if he too can get away with
insulting the vecchio. Zanni #2 can be heard offstage insulting the vecchio and then crying out as he's
being beaten in retaliation. Zanni #1 admits to the audience, that while he had cussed out the vecchio,
he had not done so to his face.

Harlequin Doctor Lazzo

Harlequin disguises himself as a doctor, and prescribes ridiculous and obviously lethal remedies to his
patients.

Lazzo of Pantalone’s Story

Pantalone begins to tell ridiculous and impossible stories about adventures he has supposedly had
with well-known figures from medieval/ancient history.

PLOT DEVELOPMENT LAZZI

Sack Lazzo
A popular routine where the victim is either secreted or tricked into a cloth sack: A) Zanni (or
Arlecchino) hides in the sack which the Captain (or Scaramouche) trips over and begins to beat in
anger. B) Hoping to be sneaked into his beloved's house or a room full of riches, the Captain (or
Pantalone) is tricked into hiding in a sack; The Captain is then delivered into a pork butcher's hands,
whose sounds of delight and knife flourishing frightens the Captain. C) Several Commedia characters
are fooled into hiding in sacks; confused over the others' identities, they alternately attempt to beat
and seduce each other.

Gun Lazzo
Cola (or Pedrolino) hired to murder the Captain (or Zanni) fires his gun, but after the smoke clears,
his intended victim walks away. Realizing that he forgot to put a bullet in the gun, he jumps on it and
walks away.
Lazzi of Nightfall
As total darkness overtakes the scene, the characters grope around the street, climb ladders into
various houses, falling, bumping into objects and people, discovering what they think are bloody
corpses, putting their hands inadvertently down other characters' pants and blouses, mistaking
identities and conversations.

Recognition Lazzo
Often a concluding lazzo, this involves the exaggerated and frantic scene of sudden recognitions
between several pairs of characters.