Peanut gallery

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A "peanut gallery" is an audience which heckles the performer. The term originated in the days of vaudeville as a nickname for the cheapest (and therefore rowdiest) seats in the theater; the cheapest snack served at the theater would often be peanuts, which the patrons would sometimes throw at the performers on stage to signify their disapproval.

In the 1950s, the Howdy Doody show adopted the name to represent their audience of 40 kids.

[edit] Related terms

  • During the Jim Crow era and in segregated parts of the United States, "Nigger Heaven" was often used to refer to the balcony of a movie theater where blacks sat.
  • Similar seats in British theatres are often called "The Gods" because of the seats' higher elevation (eg 'We've got seats in the gods for the play tonight').

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