Editing Sketch comedy

{{short description|Series of short comedy scenes or vignettes}}
{{redirect|Sketch show|the English TV programme|The Sketch Show{{!}}''The Sketch Show''|the Japanese band|Sketch Show (band)}}
[[File:Nightmare On Overwhelmed St 8-22-18 29.jpg|thumb|Sketch comedy actors of Nightmare on Overwhelmed Street in 2018|alt=A white man holds the neck of another grimacing white man while two white women talk.]]

'''Sketch comedy''' comprises a series of short, amusing [[Scene (drama)|scenes]] or [[Vignette (literature)|vignettes]], called "sketches" or, "skits",<ref>{{cite news |title=Skit |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/skit |access-date=13 April 2025 |work=[[Collins English Dictionary]]}}</ref> commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in [[music hall]] in Britain and [[vaudeville]] in North America, today it is used widely in [[variety show]]s, as well as in late night [[talk show]]s and even some [[sitcom]]s. While sketch comedy is now associated mostly with adult entertainment, certain [[children's television series]] such have used it, too. The sketches may be [[Improvisational theatre|improvised]] live by the performers, developed through improvisation before public performance, or scripted and rehearsed in advance like a play. 

==History==
Sketch comedy has its origins in [[music hall]] and [[vaudeville]], where many brief humorous acts were strung together to form a larger programme. In the 1890s, music hall impresario [[Fred Karno]] developed a form of sketch comedy without dialogue, and in 1904 he produced a sketch called ''Mumming Birds'' for the [[Hackney Empire]] in London, which included the [[Pieing|pie in the face]] gag among other innovations.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ellis |first1=Samantha |authorlink=Samantha Ellis |title=Champagne and winkles |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2004/jan/28/theatre2 |access-date=22 February 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=28 January 2004}}</ref><ref name="Louvish">{{cite news |last1=Louvish |first1=Simon |authorlink=Simon Louvish|title=Tramps like us |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/mar/06/charlie-chaplin-film |access-date=22 February 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=6 March 2009}}</ref> His troupe, advertised as "Fred Karno's London Comedians", included [[Charlie Chaplin]] and [[Stan Laurel]].<ref name="Louvish"/>

[[File:Dead Parrot O2 Arena.jpg|thumb|right|[[John Cleese]] (right) and [[Michael Palin]] of [[Monty Python]] recreating the "[[Dead Parrot sketch]]" (aired in 1969) in 2014]]
In Britain, it moved to stage performances by [[Cambridge Footlights]], such as ''[[Beyond the Fringe]]'' and ''A Clump of Plinths'' (which evolved into ''[[Cambridge Footlights Revue|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 ''[[The Benny Hill Show]]'', ''[[Not Only... But Also]]'', ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]],'' ''[[The Two Ronnies]]'', ''[[Not the Nine O'Clock News]]'' (and its successor ''[[Alas Smith and Jones]]''), and ''[[A Bit of Fry and Laurie]]''. Making his television debut in 1949, [[Benny Hill]], who developed his parodic sketches on BBC variety shows before having his own show in 1955, was described as "a comic genius steeped in the British music hall tradition".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3622509/Way-of-the-world.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3622509/Way-of-the-world.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Way of the world|author=Craig Brown|date=21 January 2006|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|access-date=5 July 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[Charles Isherwood]] writes that Monty Python, like Benny Hill, "derived their sketch formats in part from the rowdy tradition of the music hall."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Isherwood |first1=Charles |title=Why the British Killed King Leer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/weekinreview/22isherwood.html |access-date=22 February 2025 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

An early, perhaps the first, televised example of a sketch comedy show is ''[[Texaco Star Theater]]'' aka ''The Milton Berle Show'' 1948–1967, hosted by [[Milton Berle]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shoes |editor1=Tim Brooks |editor2=Earle Marsh |edition=sixth |isbn=0345397363}}</ref> In Mexico, the series ''[[Chespirito (TV series)|Los Supergenios de la Mesa Cuadrada]]'', 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 [[Gumbys|Mr. Gumby]] from ''Monty Python's Flying Circus''; Ted and Ralph from ''[[The Fast Show]]''; [[The Family (sketch)|The Family]] from ''[[The Carol Burnett Show]]''; the [[Mr. Tyzik|Head Crusher]] from ''[[The Kids in the Hall (TV series)|The Kids in the Hall]]''; [[Martin Short]]'s [[Ed Grimley]], a recurring character from both ''[[Second City Television|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 (film)|The Blues Brothers]]'' (1980), ''[[Wayne's World (film)|Wayne's World]]'' (1992) and ''[[Superstar (1999 film)|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 (sketch show)|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 [[Brave New Workshop|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 (TV series)|Mad]]'' and ''[[Right Now Kapow]]''.

Australian television of the 1980s and 1990s featured several successful sketch comedy shows, notably ''[[The Comedy Company]]'', whose recurring characters included [[Col'n Carpenter]], [[Kylie Mole]] and [[Con the Fruiterer]].

===Films===
An early British example is the influential ''[[The Running Jumping & 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) (film)|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 ''[[Monty Python's The Meaning of Life|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 [[revue]]s in Britain included seasons at the [[Edinburgh Fringe|Edinburgh Fringe Festival]].{{Further|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 Festival]]

==See also==
*[[Brave New Workshop]]
*[[British Comedy Awards]]
*[[List of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches]]
*[[List of sketch comedy groups]]
*[[List of sketch comedy television series]]
*[[Nininbaori]]
*[[Saturday Night Live TV show sketches]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodinsider.com/sketch-comedy-history/|title=A Brief History of Sketch Comedy and its Evolution From 1959–2020|work=hollywoodinsider.com|date=2 November 2020|access-date=15 October 2023|first1=Armando|last1=Brigham}}

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[[Category:Sketch comedy| ]]
[[Category:Television sketch shows| ]]
[[Category:Television genres]]