Straight man
The straight man is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. Role. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically, the straight man is expected to maintain composure. Whatever direct contribution to the comedy a straight man provides, usually comes in the form of a deadpan. A straight man with no direct comedic role has historically been known as a stooge. Typically he is expected to feed the funny man lines that he can respond to for laughs (and is hence sometimes known as a feed), while seeking no acclamation for himself . If a straight man unintentionally breaks composure and laughs, it is known in British English as corpsing. History. In vaudeville, effective straight men were much less common than comedians. The straight man's name usually appeared first and he usually received 60% of the take. This helped take the sting out of not being the laugh-getter and helped ensure the straight man's loyalty to the team. Abbott and Costello, one of America's most popular comedy duos of the 1940s and 50s in radio, film and television, began as nightclub performers when the straight-faced Bud Abbott contrasted  against the bumbling Lou Costello; Abbott, unusually, allowed Costello a larger paycheck to keep him on the team. Women. Despite the usual name, women can fulfill an equivalent role, although they are often described as a "comedic foil". Examples of noteworthy female foils include Margaret Dumont, who often performed with the Marx Brothers in their films, Bernardine Flynn up against Art van Harvey on "Vic and Sade", and Pam Dawber, who performed with Robin Williams on the television series, "Mork & Mindy". Popular culture. On "Saturday Night Live" and in "Black Sheep" and "Tommy Boy", Chris Farley was the comic and  David Spade was the straight man. The role is still found today in sitcoms and several Japanese comedy anime, where they are known as tsukkomi. Some notable tsukkomi characters include Gintama's Shinpachi Shimura and Toshiro Hijikata, Himeko from Sket Dance, Saiki Kusuo from The Disastrous Life of Saiki K., Yuuko from Nichijou, or Tadakuni from Daily Lives of High School Boys.