A double act, also known as a comedy duo, is a comic pairing in
which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two
partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin and
profession, but drastically different personalities or behavior.
Often one of the duo members, the straight man, feed, dead wood,
or stooge is portrayed as reasonable and serious, and the other
one, the funny man, banana man or comic is portrayed as funny,
less educated or less intelligent, silly, or unorthodox. If the
audience identifies primarily with one character, the other is
often referred to as a comic foil. The term feed comes from the
way a straight man will set up jokes for—or "feed" them to—his
partner. Despite the names given to the roles, the "straight
man" need not be humorless, and it is not always the comic who
provides the act's humor. Sometimes, it is the straight man who
gets the laughs through his or her sarcastic reactions to the
comic's antics, as was often the case with Stewart Lee's
deadpan, reasoned