Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic compositio ...

, and is used widely in variety shows, comedy talk shows, and some

sitcoms A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

and

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early eveni ...

. The sketches may be improvised live by the performers, developed through improvisation before public performance, or scripted and rehearsed in advance like a play. Sketch comedians routinely differentiate their work from a "skit", maintaining that a skit is a (single) dramatized joke (or "bit") while a sketch is a comedic exploration of a concept, character, or situation.Sketch
definition 3b, Merriam-Webster online. Retrieved 5/4/2019

History

Sketch comedy has its origins in

and music hall, where many brief humorous acts were strung together to form a larger programme. In Britain, 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 ''

It's That Man Again ''It's That Man Again'' (commonly contracted to ''ITMA'') was a BBC radio comedy programme which ran for twelve series from 1939 to 1949. The shows featured Tommy Handley in the central role, a fast-talking figure, around whom the other ...

'' and '' I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again'', then to television, with such shows as '' Not Only... But Also'', '' Monty Python's Flying Circus,'' '' Not the Nine O'Clock News'' (and its successor '' Alas Smith and Jones''), and '' A Bit of Fry and Laurie''. In Mexico, the series ''

Los Supergenios de la Mesa Cuadrada ''Los Supergenios De La Mesa Cuadrada'' (often shortened to ''Chespirito'') is a Mexican television sitcom, popular in Latin America, Spain, and the United States, among other countries. ''Chespirito'' first appeared in 1968 was produced by Tele ...

'', created by Mexican comedian Roberto Gómez Bolaños under the stage name Chespirito, was broadcast between 1968 and 1973, creating such famous characters as El Chavo del Ocho and El Chapulín Colorado. While separate sketches historically have tended to be unrelated, more recent groups have introduced overarching themes that connect the sketches within a particular show with recurring characters that return for more than one appearance. Examples of recurring characters include Mr. Gumby from '' Monty Python's Flying Circus''; Ted and Ralph from '' The Fast Show'';

The Family A family is a domestic or social group. Family or The Family may also refer to: Mathematics *Family of curves, a set of curves resulting from a function with variable parameters *Family of sets, a collection of sets *Indexed family, a family wh ...

from '' The Carol Burnett 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 ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serve ...

''; The Nerd from '' Robot Chicken''; and Kevin and Perry from '' Harry Enfield and Chums''. Recurring characters from ''Saturday Night Live'' have notably been featured in a number of spinoff films, including '' The Blues Brothers'' (1980), '' Wayne's World'' (1992) and '' Superstar'' (1999). The idea of running characters was taken a step further with shows like '' The Red Green Show'' and '' The League of Gentlemen'', where sketches centered on the various inhabitants of the fictional towns of Possum Lake and Royston Vasey, respectively. In '' Little Britain'', sketches focused on a cast of recurring characters. In North America, contemporary sketch comedy is largely an outgrowth of the improvisational comedy scene that flourished during the 1970s, largely growing out of '' The Second City'' in

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and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

, which was built upon the success in Minneapolis of The Brave New Workshop and Dudley Riggs. Notable contemporary American stage sketch comedy groups include The Second City, the Upright Citizens Brigade, and The Groundlings. In South Bend, Indiana, area high school students produced a sketch comedy series called '' Beyond Our Control'' that aired on the local NBC affiliate WNDU-TV from 1967 to 1986. Warner Bros. Animation made two sketch comedy shows, '' Mad'' and '' Right Now Kapow''.

Films

An early British example is the influential ''

The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film ''The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film'' is a 1959 British sketch comedy short film directed by Richard Lester and Peter Sellers, in collaboration with Bruce Lacey. The film was released in 1959. It was filmed over two Sundays in 1959, at a ...

'' (1959). Sketch films made during the 1970s and 1980s include '' If You Don't Stop It... You'll Go Blind'' and the sequel '' Can I Do It... 'Til I Need Glasses?'', '' The Groove Tube'', '' Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)'', '' The Kentucky Fried Movie'' and its sequel '' Amazon Women on the Moon'', and Monty Python's '' And Now for Something Completely Different'' and '' The Meaning of Life''. More recent sketch films include '' The Underground Comedy Movie'', '' InAPPropriate Comedy'', '' Movie 43'' and '' Livrés chez vous sans contact''.

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. Noted festivals include: * Chicago Sketch Fest * SF Sketchfest * Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival

References

{{Authority control Television genres

History

Films

Festivals

See also

References