The article researches the play poetics of the theatre piece «Lickspittle» by I. Ilf, E. Petrov, M. Volpin on the level of the plot, characters, literary reminiscences, language humor. Functions of the co-authors’ play strategy are identified, such as achieving the synthesis of satire and vaudeville principles and the techniques of text structure. The link between «Lickspittle» and the novel by I. Ilf and E. Petrov «The Golden Calf» is revealed.