Hokum blues celebrated both comedic lyrical content and a boisterous, farcical performance style. The work is ostensibly a comic opera in that the story is humorous, even farcical. They are written in a humorous, literary and sometimes farcical style. Topics of plays were often farcical and overdramatic. Fierce Creatures is a 1997 British-American farcical comedy film. The adjective "Ortonesque" refers to work characterised by a similarly dark yet farcical cynicism. The novel's farcical elements make use of punning and similar verbal playfulness. The farcical raid was doomed from the very start. Fayed's testimony at the inquest was roundly condemned in the press as being farcical. The proceedings rapidly descend into a farcical show trial. Hoke and the Mentors worked to gain attention through farcical demonstrations of political incorrectness. Nonetheless Pinero's attention continued to turn more to serious than to farcical topics. But the farcical elements outweighed the serious elements. It is more serious fare than its farcical counterpart. Ober often appeared in roles as a straight man in farcical circumstances.