As it is the season of pantomime, I have three questions:
Can anyone think of a name for the traditional comic contretemps between the show's villain and kids in the audience when the former shouts something like 'Oh no I didn't (throw the cat in the loo!)' and the audience screams 'Oh yes you did!'?
If a 'double entendre' is a joke with two meanings, what is a joke which has a funny meaning which the kids can laugh at, and a deeper, usually obscene, meaning which the mums and dads find hilarious?
What do we call the age at which you stop laughing at the simple meaning and first understand that the Grand Dame is actually talking about her testicles?
Best Answer
When the audience and performer interact in this way, it's referred to as "call and response."
When the actor speaks to the audience, pretending that the other actors cannot hear, it is called an "aside."