Sketch comedy
Sketch comedy consists of a series of short
comedy scenes, or 'sketches', commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comedic actors, either on stage or through an audio or/and visual medium such as broadcasting. Often sketches are first improvised by the actors and written down based on the outcome of these improv sessions, however improvisation is not necessarily involved in all sketch comedy.
Sketch comedy has its origins in
vaudeville and
music hall, where a large number of brief but humorous acts were strung together to form a larger program. In England, it moved to stage performances by
Cambridge Footlights, such as
Beyond the Fringe and
A Clump of Plinths (which evolved into
Cambridge Circus), to radio with such shows as
ITMA and
ISIRTA and then to television with such shows as
Monty Python's Flying Circus and
Not the Nine O'clock News.
Historically the sketches tended to be unrelated, but more recent groups have introduced overarching themes that connect the sketches within a particular show, and recurring characters that return for more than one appearance. Examples of recurring characters include "Ted & Ralph" from
The Fast Show; the "Head Crusher" from
The Kids in the Hall;
Martin Short's "
Ed Grimley", a recurring character from both
SCTV and
Saturday Night Live; and "Kevin & Perry" from
Harry Enfield and Chums. The idea of running characters was taken a stage further in
The League of Gentlemen where sketches all centre around the various inhabitants of the fictional town of
Royston Vasey.
In America, contemporary sketch comedy is largely an outgrowth of the
improvisational comedy scene that flourished during the 1970s, largely growing out of Chicago's
Second City. British ensembles, in contrast, have more usually been built on writing talent - with writers often working in pairs.
Notable contemporary stage sketch comedy groups include
The Second City, the
Upright Citizens Brigade,
The Groundlings and
The Pushers.
Notable television sketch comedy shows include
Monty Python's Flying Circus,
Saturday Night Live,
SCTV, the
Upright Citizens Brigade,
The Red Skelton Show,
The Kids in the Hall,
CODCO,
In Living Color and
Mr. Show.
The latest wave of sketch comedy is being distributed
online, from amateurs to organized groups. Millions currently watch sketch comedy on such video sites as
YouTube and
iFilm.
Festivals
Many of the sketch comedy revues in Britain included seasons at the
Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Since 1999, the growing sketch comedy scene has precipitated the development of sketch comedy festivals in cities all around North America, including festivals in
New York City,
Los Angeles,
Seattle,
Chicago,
Toronto,
San Francisco,
Boston,
Vancouver and
Portland, Oregon.
Amateurs
Besides such more professional, properly theatrical performers, there is also a tradition of amateur fun - as the whole thing is meant to be silly anyway, it is an ideal form of theater, like
pantomime, for simply ridiculous attempts (often involving cross-dressing), as put up to entertain crowds or troops when no professional entertainment is available, or in various societies, sometimes with a mild hope of fund-raising, sometimes just for the laughs; for example it is not uncommon as a task for pledges during
hazing (in which case there often is divesting and/or homo-erotic or other sexual elements or suggestion).
*
List of sketch comedy groups*
Anvil Fever*
The Pushers *
Zebro Sketch Comedy *
Big Game Hunters Official Website*
Forum for Australian Sketch Comedies*
Prank the Dean*
Kasper Hauser*
Gag Reflex*
The Groundlings*
The official Upright Citizens Brigade Theater website*
Kilroy Sketch Comedy*
Lester McFwap's Sketch Comedy Show*
National Comment Audio Sketch Comedy*
Slightly Known People*
Olde English*
RavenStake.com Sketch Comedy*
Pretty Things*
The Paris Business Review*
The Silly Spider Monkey Fiasco*
Sketchcenter > The Online Home of Sketch Comedy*
SketchFest*
Train of Thought Sketch Comedy*
TROOP! Sketch Comedy*
Elephant Larry*
Steam Powered Media*
A Week of Kindness*
OH! The Humanity*
Harvard Sailing Team*
Cleanest River in America*
Something Else TV*
Party Central USA - NYC Sketch Comedy*
Evil Empire Comedy - Bay Area Sketch Comedy*
Ms Divine's collection of one-lady comedy sketch films*
Murderfist Sketch Comedy*
FEARSOME*
The Royal We: NYC Sketch Comedy The Royal We*
Radio Vault
