comic relief

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

com′ic relief′, 

1. Literature an amusing scene, incident, or speech introduced into serious or tragic elements, as in a play, in order to provide temporary relief from tension, or to intensify the dramatic action.
2. Literature relief from tension caused by the introduction or occurrence of a comic element, as by an amusing human foible.
• 1815–25