cheeky authority-defying playlets such as "jail mum" (1896) in which prisoners play tricks on warders and "early birds" (1903), where a small man defeats a large ruffian in london's east end, can be seen as precursors of movie silent comedy. film producer hal roach stated: "fred karno is not only a genius, he is the man who originated slapstick comedy. we in hollywood owe much to him."