Sketch comedy means a series of short comic strips which are performed by actors on stage or through an audio/visual medium. These sketch comedies may span from one to ten minutes. The sketch comedy is also published in many magazines or publications sometimes.
Origin and Facts
Sketch comedy originated in vaudeville and music hall, as a large number of short yet humorous acts were performed in these shows. In England, sketch comedy gradually moved to stage performances by Cambridge Footlights and then to television shows like Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Earlier the sketches were not related to each other but then gradually they became interlinked, with the same characters making repeated performances. Some of the running characters include the Head Crusher from The Kids in the Hall, Miss Swan from Mad TV, Kevin and Perry from Harry Enfield and Chums and several others. In America, however, sketch comedy is basically an extended version of improvisational comedy where artists take suggestions from the audience on different matters. Some of the famous contemporary stage sketch comedy groups are The Second City, The Upright Citizens Brigade and The Groundlings. The well-known sketch comedies on television include Monty Python’s Flying Circus, The Amanda Show, The Red Skelton Show, Mad TV, Goodness Gracious Me, Chappelle’s Show, In Living Color, The Kids in the Hall and others. The sole motto of the sketch comedy is to evoke laughter and they are not meant to hurt sentiments of people.
Resources of Sketch Comedy
There are many online sources of sketch comedy as well. In many festivals held all over the world sketch comedies are performed and receive great applause. Some of these sketch comedy festivals are held in New York City, Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Vancouver, Portland, Oregon and Los Angeles. Sometimes, these sketch comedies are organized for fund-raising purposes by different organizations.
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