Satirical verses are characterized as a literature genre, genetically related to the comic entertaining performance and preserving to a greater or lesser extent functional relationship therewith. The materials of research are literary and variety show verses of the 19th century, belonging both to the well-known poets and to the creators of the repertoire for variety performers. The paper characterizes the genre picture of the world typical for variety show verses, the hero and the subject of speech as well as the discursive organization. Shown in the context of the historical typology of literary genres and narrative forms is the connection of satirical verses with a joke, a short story and a parable. A detailed analysis is made of the compositional structure of the text, characterized by a system of refrains and a specific plot organization. The rhymes specificity of the genre is revealed by comparing the statistic data on the satirical verses and poetry of the 19th century as a whole.