Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Present participle of corpse.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • A stand-up comic acquaintance calls it 'corpsing', and that's a very apt term.

    "A minor show-business miracle took place." Ann Althouse 2006

  • Both performers were often seen 'corpsing' on the show which added to viewers 'enjoyment.

    Home | Mail Online 2009

  • Tutus are in the air this season – veteran pantomime dame Berwick Kaler similarly soars at York Theatre Royal, his swan not so much dying as royally corpsing.

    You Can't Take it With You – review 2012

  • Laughing on stage, what I now know is called ‘corpsing’.

    My first appearance on stage, age 11 (Part 2) « Ken Wilson's Blog 2010

  • Laughing on stage, what I now know is called ‘corpsing’.

    2010 May « Ken Wilson's Blog 2010

  • Wigs that fly off, prop sausages that prove all but inedible, characters corpsing - it's all part of the frivolity.

    Archive 2007-10-01 DAVID BISHOP 2007

  • Before this, the shrieks of laughter had their effect on bringing on a fit of corpsing that never quite left the second half of the play.

    Review: The Mystery of Irma Vep K. A. Laity 2006

  • Before this, the shrieks of laughter had their effect on bringing on a fit of corpsing that never quite left the second half of the play.

    Archive 2006-11-01 K. A. Laity 2006

  • Matt Lucas's George Dawes gave us many a hilarious moment - including making the consumption of jacket potatoes a poignant and romantic pursuit - but his corpsing while attempting to shout the word "peanuts" to a jaunty organ while dressed in figure hugging tracksuit was his finest minute.

    The Guardian World News Johnny Dee 2011

  • Best bits are Tracy's pretend corpsing, the live take on flashbacks and Jane Krakowski, an experienced Broadway regular, clearly thriving on the chance to perform to a crowd.

    The Guardian World News 2011

  • This is true today. In my experience, most of the funniest moments in improv rely on the grey area between performers’ self-awareness and their commitment to the world they are creating; this grey area is often spotlighted by ‘corpsing’ – when laughter bubbles up uncontrollably among the actors themselves.

    No Laughing Matter? What the Romans Found Funny - Antigone Antigone 2022

Comments

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  • "In another featurette the two creators expound on 'The Art of Corpsing,' the term for the uncontrollable laughter that, judging by outtakes also included, was epidemic on the show’s set....This word has a long-ish tradition in the British entertainment media; it certainly goes back 50 years, and quite possibly much more." (From Double-Tongued Dictionary)

    July 6, 2008