7 Across. They often appear in Pantomimes. Most folk seem to favour Comics but comedy is usually provided by the Dame or the Ugly Sisters. Would Ponies ,already suggested,not be a more suitbale answer. Just a thought.
I think the answer is comics in the sense of comedians/comics acting in a pantomime as opposed to a comic as a role, although one of the traditional roles in a pantomime is the comic lead