minstrel show

noun

a once popular type of stage show featuring comic dialogue, song, and dance in highly conventionalized patterns, performed by a troupe of actors traditionally comprising two end men, a chorus in blackface, and an interlocutor. Developed in the U.S. in the 19th century, this entertainment portrayed negative racial stereotypes and declined in popularity in the 20th century.

minstrel show

a theatrical entertainment consisting of songs, dances, comic turns, etc, performed by a troupe of actors wearing black face make-up

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70

It’s always a lot of pressure to return to the minstrel show, man.

From Ozy

What kind of minstrel show he gave to win his freedom is not known.

I started with a minstrel show, making eight bucks a night, three nights a week.

The idea that Cyrus staged what amounts to a minstrel show Sunday night is an interesting, though debatable, one.

In a tradition that goes back to the days of the minstrel show, the banjo player doubled as a comedian.

At one end, and acting as interlocutor for this impromptu minstrel show, - 50 -presides one of the best fellows in the world.

I found that a minstrel show had been thrown out of its regular route by a flood and was playing our town unexpectedly.

I attended a negro-minstrel show in Chicago, where we heard Dixie sung.

One might be Beethoven's loveliest symphony, the other but a minstrel show.

He must satisfy the boys who want to have a minstrel show, or the townspeople who offer to entertain the boys.

April 19, 2024tortuous

[tawr-choo-uhs ]

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