Sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Comedy (from the Greek κωμωδίαkomodia has a popular meaning (any discourse generally intended to amuse especially in Television, Film, and 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. Improvisational theatre (also known as improv or impro) is a form of Theatre in which the Actors use Improvisational acting techniques

An individual sketch or vignette is a brief scene or skit formerly used in vaudeville and used today on variety shows, comedy programs, adult entertainment, talk shows, or certain children's television programs (such as Sesame Street). Vaudeville was a Genre of variety entertainment prevalent on the stage in the United States and Canada, from the early 1880s Sesame Street is an American educational Children's television series and a pioneer of the contemporary educational television standard combining Such a sketch can include footage of a "man on the street" on evening comedy television interview programs like the "Tonight Show. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as appropriate --> The Tonight Show is a long-running "

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. Vaudeville was a Genre of variety entertainment prevalent on the stage in the United States and Canada, from the early 1880s Music hall is a form of British theatrical Entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960 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 It's That Man Again and I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again and then to television with such shows as Monty Python's Flying Circus and Not the Nine O'clock News. Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge England, run by the students Beyond the Fringe was a British Comedy stage revue written and performed by Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett Cambridge Circus is a comedy revue that played in London in 1963. I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again (often abbreviated ISIRTA was a BBC Radio comedy programme that originated from the Cambridge University Monty Python’s Flying Circus (also known as Flying Circus or during the final series just Monty Python) is a BBC Sketch comedy Not the Nine O'Clock News is a Comedy Television programme shown on the BBC 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; "Miss Swan" from Mad TV; and "Kevin & Perry" from Harry Enfield and Chums. The Fast Show, known as Brilliant in the US was a BBC comedy sketch show programme that ran for three series from 1994 to 1997 Mr Tyzik (aka The Headcrusher) is a character portrayed by Mark McKinney on the sketch comedy show Kids in the Hall. The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian Sketch comedy group formed in 1984 consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Martin Hayter Short, CM (born March 26, 1950) is a Canadian Comedian, Actor, writer, Singer and Edward Mayhoff 'Ed' Grimley was a character introduced on the Television series SCTV and later used in Saturday Second City Television (SCTV was a Canadian television Sketch comedy show offshoot from Toronto's The Second City troupe that ran between Saturday Night Live ( SNL) is a weekly late-night 90-minute American Sketch comedy / Variety show based in New York City MADtv, is an American Sketch comedy television series based on the humor magazine Mad. Harry Enfield's Television Programme is a British Sketch show starring Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse. 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 League of Gentlemen is a quartet of British comedy writer/performers formed in 1995 by Jeremy Dyson, Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton Royston Vasey is a small fictional town in the north of England.

In North 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. Improvisational theatre (also known as improv or impro) is a form of Theatre in which the Actors use Improvisational acting techniques Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. British ensembles, in contrast, have more usually been built on writing talent - with writers often working in pairs.

Notable contemporary stage sketch comedy groups include The Second City, the Upright Citizens Brigade, and The Groundlings. The Upright Citizens Brigade is an Improvisational comedy and Sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago 's ImprovOlympic in 1990 The Groundlings is an Improvisational comedy troupe based in Los Angeles, California, USA

Notable television sketch comedy shows include Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Mary Whitehouse Experience, Newman and Baddiel in Pieces, French & Saunders, Saturday Night Live, Not the Nine O'Clock News, Alas Smith and Jones, All That, The Amanda Show, SCTV, the Upright Citizens Brigade, The Red Skelton Show, Your Show of Shows, The Kids in the Hall, CODCO, Mad TV, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, In Living Color, Mr. Show, The D-Generation, Goodness Gracious Me, Chappelle's Show, The Carol Burnett Show, Whitest Kids U'Know, Little Britain, The Sketch Show, Fridays, The Micallef Programme, Almost Live!, The Catherine Tate Show, Mitchell and Webb, Air Farce Live, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and The State. Monty Python’s Flying Circus (also known as Flying Circus or during the final series just Monty Python) is a BBC Sketch comedy The Mary Whitehouse Experience was a British topical Sketch comedy show produced by the BBC in association with Spitting Image Productions Newman and Baddiel in Pieces was a Sketch comedy television show written by and starring Comedians Robert Newman and David Baddiel, French & Saunders is a British Sketch comedy Television show written by and staring BAFTA Award -nominee Dawn French Saturday Night Live ( SNL) is a weekly late-night 90-minute American Sketch comedy / Variety show based in New York City Not the Nine O'Clock News is a Comedy Television programme shown on the BBC from 1979 to 1982 Alas Smith and Jones was a British Comedy sketch television series featuring Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. All That is an American The Amanda Show is an American Live-action Sketch comedy and Variety show that aired on Nickelodeon from November Second City Television (SCTV was a Canadian television Sketch comedy show offshoot from Toronto's The Second City troupe that ran between The Upright Citizens Brigade is an Improvisational comedy and Sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago 's ImprovOlympic in 1990 The Red Skelton Show was a staple of American Television for almost two decades from the early 1950s through the early 1970s Your Show of Shows was a live 90-minute Sketch comedy Television series appearing weekly in the United States on NBC, from 1950 The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian Sketch comedy group formed in 1984 consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, CODCO was a Canadian comedy troupe from Newfoundland, best known for a Sketch comedy series which aired on CBC Television from 1987 MADtv, is an American Sketch comedy television series based on the humor magazine Mad. A Bit of Fry and Laurie, commonly known as ABOFAL was a British Television series starring former Cambridge Footlights members Stephen This article is about the television series For the band see Living Colour. Mr Show (also known as Mr Show with Bob and David) was a Sketch comedy series featuring former Saturday Night Live writer/comedy The D-Generation was a popular and influential Australian TV Sketch comedy show produced and broadcast by the Chappelle's Show is an American Comedy Television The Carol Burnett Show is a Sketch comedy Television show starring Carol Burnett, Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, The Whitest Kids U'Know is an American Sketch comedy troupe based in New York City. Little Britain is a character-based comedy Sketch show first appearing on BBC radio and then television The Sketch Show was a British Television Sketch comedy program featuring many leading British comedians The Micallef Program is an Australian Sketch comedy TV series hosted by Shaun Micallef that ran from 1998 to 2001 on ABC TV Almost Live! is a local Sketch comedy television show in Seattle Washington, USA produced and broadcast by NBC affiliate KING-TV The Catherine Tate Show is an award-winning British Television Sketch comedy written by Catherine Tate who stars in all of the show's Mitchell and Webb are a British Comedy Double act, comprising David Mitchell and Robert Webb. Air Farce Live (simply credited as Air Farce, previously Royal Canadian Air Farce, now Air Farce--Final Flight! Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job! is an American Television series, created by and starring Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, which This Hour Has 22 Minutes is a weekly Canadian Television comedy that airs on CBC Television.

The latest wave of sketch comedy is being distributed online, from amateurs to organized groups. Millions currently watch sketch comedy on such notable video sites as YouTube, Super Deluxe, ScrewAttack, and iFilm. YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload view and share Video clips YouTube was created in February 2005 by three former PayPal employees Super Deluxe is an ad-supported online broadband service provided by TBS Networks. Screwattack is a video game-related website that showcases original entertainment for an audience of Video game enthusiasts ifilmcom was 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. The Edinburgh Fringe (officially the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, commonly just The Fringe) is the world’s largest Arts festival.

Further information: If.comedy award

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, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles, Montreal, Toronto, Boston, Vancouver and Portland, Oregon. The ifcomedy awards, formerly the Perrier comedy awards, are a group of prizes awarded annually to comedy shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West Montreal, or Montréal in French ( pronounced in French, in English) is the largest city in the Canadian province of Quebec Toronto (təˈrɒntoʊ colloquially pronounced or) is the largest city in Canada and is the provincial capital of Ontario Vancouver (vænˈkuːvɚ is a coastal Portland is a city located in the Northwestern United States, near the Confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers

Amateurs

Besides such more professional, properly theatrical performers, there is also a tradition of amateur fun. There are many purposes: to entertain crowds or troops when no professional entertainment is available, sometimes with a mild hope of fund-raising.

See also

• British Comedy Awards
• List of sketch comedy groups