Couplet

Couplets (German: Couplets, Polish: kuplety, Spanish: cuplés) were wittily ambiguous, political, or satirical songs in a number of European countries, usually performed in cabaret settings, usually with refrains, often used as a transition between two cabaret numbers. Couplets could also be independent stage numbers. A coupletist (Russian: куплетист, romanized: kupletist) is a poet, singer, or actor who specializes in couplets.

With sarcasm and humor, coupletists take on political dignitaries, the prevailing zeitgeist and lifestyle, in short, "all of the world's madness". Friedrich Wolf called the couplet "the direct involvement of the audience in the game" (German: die unmittelbare Einbeziehung des Zuschauers in das Spiel).