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, and is used widely in variety shows, comedy talk shows, and some sitcoms and children's television series. 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")[1] while a sketch is a comedic exploration of a concept, character, or situation.[2]
The actors of Nightmare on Overwhelmed Street performing in 2018.
Since 1999, the growing sketch comedy scene has precipitated the development of sketch comedy festivals in cities all around North America. Noted festivals include:
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Sketch show redirects here For the English TV programme see The Sketch Show For the Japanese band see Sketch Show band 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 and is used widely in variety shows comedy talk shows and some sitcoms and children s television series 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 1 while a sketch is a comedic exploration of a concept character or situation 2 The actors of Nightmare on Overwhelmed Street performing in 2018 Contents 1 History 1 1 Films 1 2 Festivals 2 See also 3 ReferencesHistory EditSketch comedy has its origins in vaudeville 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 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 created by Mexican comedian Roberto Gomez Bolanos under the stage name Chespirito was broadcast between 1968 and 1973 creating such famous characters as El Chavo del Ocho and El Chapulin 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 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 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 Chicago and Toronto 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 Edit An early British example is the influential The Running Jumping amp Standing Still Film 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 Livres chez vous sans contact Festivals EditMany of the sketch comedy revues in Britain included seasons at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival Further information Edinburgh Comedy Awards 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 FestivalSee also EditBritish Comedy Awards List of sketch comedy groups List of sketch comedy television series Nininbaori List of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches Saturday Night Live TV show sketches Brave New WorkshopReferences Edit Skit Merriam Webster online Retrieved 2014 04 01 Sketch definition 3b Merriam Webster online Retrieved 5 4 2019 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sketch comedy amp oldid 1111855107, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
