CentralNotice From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation , search For the album by Little Brother, see The Minstrel Show . Detail from cover of The Celebrated Negro Melodies, as Sung by the Virginia Minstrels , 1843 The minstrel show , or minstrelsy , was an American form of entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music. The shows were performed by white people in make-up or blackface for the purpose of playing the role of black people . There were also some African-American performers and all-black minstrel groups that formed and toured. Minstrel shows lampooned black people as dim-witted, [1] lazy, [1] buffoonish, [1] [2] superstitious and happy-go-lucky. [1] Minstrel shows emerged as brief burlesques and comic entr'actes in the early 1830s and were developed into full-fle...