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. Comedy is the use of humor in the form of theater, where it simply referred to a play with a happy ending, in contrast to a tragedy. ...

History

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. Vaudeville is a style of multi-act theatre which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. ... Music Hall is a form of British theatrical entertainment which reached its peak of popularity between 1850 and 1960. ... Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, run by the students of Cambridge University. ... Album of Beyond the Fringe Published by EMI in 1996 Beyond the Fringe was a British comedy stage revue written and performed by Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller. ... Cambridge Circus is a comedy revue that played in London in the 1960s. ... ITMA was a 1940s BBC radio comedy programme. ... Im Sorry, Ill Read That Again was a long-running radio comedy programme that originally grew out of the Cambridge University revue Cambridge Circus. ... Monty Pythons Flying Circus (also known as Flying Circus, MPFC or just Monty Python during the fourth season) was a popular, surreal BBC sketch comedy show from Monty Python, and the groups initial claim to fame. ... Not the Nine OClock News (DVD) Not the Nine OClock News was a comedy television programme shown on the BBC, broadcast from 1979 to 1982. ...

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. The Fast Show was a BBC comedy sketch show programme which ran for four series from 1994 to 2000, starring Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Mark Williams, John Thomson, Arabella Weir and Caroline Aherne (1994-1997). ... The Kids in the Hall were a Canadian sketch comedy group, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson. ... Martin Hayter Short, CM (born March 26, 1950) is an actor, writer, and producer best known for his comedy work, particularly on the TV programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live. ... SCTV DVD cover, showing Ed Grimley (second from right-top) Edward Mayhoff Ed Grimley was a character introduced on the television series SCTV and later used in Saturday Night Live. ... Second City (Volume 1) DVD Second City Television, or SCTV, was a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from the Toronto troupe of The Second City. ... Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a weekly late-night 90-minute American comedy-variety show based in New York City which has been broadcast by NBC nearly every Saturday night since its debut on October 11, 1975. ... Harry Enfields Television Programme is a British sketch show starring Harry Enfield. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Royston Vasey is: the real name of Roy Chubby Brown the fictional setting of The League of Gentlemen (comedy) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

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. Improvisational comedy (also called improv or impro) is comedy that is performed with a little to no predetermination of subject matter and structure. ... The second city of a country is the city that is (or was) the second-most important, usually after the capital or first city, according to some criteria. ...

Notable contemporary stage sketch comedy groups include The Second City, the Upright Citizens Brigade, The Groundlings and The Pushers. The Second City is a long-running improvisational comedy troupe based in the Old Town neighborhood of Chicago, with offshoot troupes in other cities, most notably Toronto. ... The Upright Citizens Brigade is an improvisational comedy and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicagos ImprovOlympic. ... The Groundlings is an improvisational comedy troupe based in Los Angeles, California, USA. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin to produce sketches and improvised scenes. ...

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. Monty Pythons Flying Circus (also known as Flying Circus, MPFC or just Monty Python during the fourth season) was a popular, surreal BBC sketch comedy show from Monty Python, and the groups initial claim to fame. ... Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a weekly late-night 90-minute American comedy-variety show based in New York City which has been broadcast by NBC nearly every Saturday night since its debut on October 11, 1975. ... Second City (Volume 1) DVD Second City Television, or SCTV, was a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from the Toronto troupe of The Second City. ... The Upright Citizens Brigade is an improvisational comedy and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicagos ImprovOlympic. ... The Red Skelton Show was a staple of American television for almost two decades, from the early 1950s through the early 1970s. ... The Kids in the Hall were a Canadian sketch comedy group, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson. ... CODCO was a Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian troupe that aired on CBC from 1988-1992. ... In Living Color was an American sketch comedy television series which ran on the Fox Broadcasting Company from 1990 to 1994. ... Mr. ...

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. Online means being connected to the Internet or another similar electronic network, like a bulletin board system. ... YouTube Screenshot YouTube is a website that allows users to upload, view, and share video clips. ... iFilm is an online archive of short films, movie trailers, and other video clips of interest. ...

Festivals

Many of the sketch comedy revues in Britain included seasons at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. A street performer on the Royal Mile (2004). ...

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. New York, New York redirects here. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Emerald City Location Location of Seattle in King County and Washington Coordinates , Government Country State County United States Washington King County Incorporated December 2, 1869 Mayor Greg Nickels Geographical characteristics Area     City 369. ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland and northern Illinois Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 606. ... Flag Seal Nickname: The City by the Bay; The City That Knows How; Golden Mountain (historic Chinese name) Location Location of the City and County of San Francisco, California Coordinates , Government City-County San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom Geographical characteristics Area     City 600. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City on a Hill, Beantown, The Hub of the Universe (The State House, according to Oliver Wendell Holmes, is the hub of the Solar System), Athens of America Location Location in Massachusetts Government Counties Suffolk County Mayor Thomas Menino (Dem) Geographical characteristics Area     City 232. ... Vancouver (pronounced ) is a Canadian city in the province of British Columbia. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Roses, Stumptown, Bridgetown Location Location in Multnomah County and the state of Oregon Coordinates , Government Country State County United States Oregon Multnomah County Mayor Tom Potter Geographical characteristics Area     City 145. ...

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). The Christmas Pantomime colour lithograph bookcover, 1890 In Great Britain, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand pantomime (informally, panto) refers to a theatrical genre, usually performed around the Christmas and New Year holiday season. ... Hazing is often ritualistic harassment, abuse or humiliation with requirements to perform meaningless tasks; sometimes as a way of initiation into a social group. ...

See also

• List of sketch comedy groups

This is a list of sketch comedy groups by country: // Australia Brazil Casseta & Planeta Hermes & Renato TV Pirata Canada China Zhao Benshan and Crew Finland Kummeli Studio Julmahuvi India The Great Indian Comedy Show Indonesia Extravaganza Ireland Bull Island Stew Japan Downtown (Dauntaun in Katakana) United Kingdom See also: The...

External links

• 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
• 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