Hoping for a laugh? These sketch comedy recommendations will not disappoint

Comedy has taken over the way we consume pop culture, news, and government policy more so than ever now. Like any genre, comedy too is diverse and has various nuanced versions. Sketch comedy is a format where actors use a series of short comical scenes to explore a particular character or idea. They can vary anywhere from 1 to 10 minutes and have grown to become a strong currency of popular comedy.

Shows that follow the sketch comedy format are aplenty. To make life a little less difficult, here is our list of 10 Sketch Comedy Series that we believe capture the different styles of the genre to binge as the perfect introduction into this hilarious format.

The Dana Carvey Show

As the opening episode, Dana Carvey dressed as President Bill Clinton and breastfed live baby animals from functioning teats attached to his chest on national television. Why? It was to depict his ‘nurturing and caring’ demeanour. The controversial content and edgy humour did not go well with the audiences at the time.  Notwithstanding, the cult comedy deserves a mention because it has gone on to become a strong reference point for presentational skits and bits that aim to bring out the silly in the simple and the dumb in the dull. Waiters nauseated by food  and the dubious pranksters who prank themselves, both featuring the infamous Steve Carell are a testimony to that.

Kids in the Hall

The name for this Canadian sketch comedy was inspired by  Sid Caesar, a popular stand-up comic at the time, who blamed “the kids in the hall” if a set failed or a joke didn’t land. The show was rooted in all things ordinary like dinner dates, bank personnel, family gatherings, relationship problems. Kids in the Hall is sketch comedy in the truest sense that is attuned to the art form with no real agenda but simply to exaggerate and unpack the oddities of the average and banal happenings of everyday life. Observational humour and situational circumstances interplay hilariously in all the sketches to enhance the ROFL effect.

 

Second City Television  

SCTV, as the Canadian show was popularly called, was set on a TV station. The sketches were all parts of the programming of a dysfunctional fictitious network. It had everything a typical network would have from soap operas, TV commercials, talk shows, movies (spoofs) and the prerequisite public service announcements on regular intervals with a penchant for the bizarre and eccentric.  Remember Phoebe losing it when she taught Joey French in F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Well they may or may not have been inspired by Catherine O’ Hara in English for Beginners on SCTV.

 

 

Monty Python’s Flying Circus

This is a prime example of when counterculture is drip fed through the surreal and absurd with innuendos, unusual tropes and visual gags. Broadcast by the BBC, the show was not the first of its kind but no doubt became a definitive symbol of sketch comedy worldwide. A lot of the ridicule was aimed at the quirks and idiosyncrasies of the English politics and social life through unorthodox but intelligent and risque skits. In fact,  a new adjective, ‘pythonesque’ was coined to describe the show’s unique brand of humour.  

Some Pythonesque intel for you: When  Guido van Rossum decided to call his computing language, Python- he was reading published scripts from the show! To find out how the rumoured origin story of SPAM, click here.

In Living Color

In living Colour, used black culture as its backdrop and paved the way for some revolutionary hip-hop parodies. The show’s hysterics enabled, at least in a small way, to establish rap and hip/hop to the mainstream audiences who were still apprehensive of it being ‘actual’ music. Watch this show to see how comedy is used to not just elicit laughs but trigger important discussions on race relations and cultural boundaries. The show still holds relevance in the current climate which explains Bruno Mars’ music video Finesse ft Cardi B. Yes the videography was a throwback to the show’s taping style and not the result of budget cuts.

Saturday Night Live aka SNL

Unless you have been living under a rock, it is hard to have missed the numerous sketches produced by SNL.  The brainchild of Dick Ebersol and Lorne Michaels, this tight 90-minute show involves a musical guest, a host and varied sketches in between with complete set and prop changes happening all on the go ( sometimes under 2 minutes!) rarely breaking the rhythm of the show.  The sketches are largely grounded in improvisational comedy and observational humour that vary from suburban parodies to political cold opens, often with characters that set the benchmark for impressions. Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin and Melissa McCarthy’s Sean Spicer are prime examples.

P.S. Hyperlinked videos have high possibilities of having you in stitches and maybe even crying a tad bit.

MADtv

Following closely in the footsteps of SNL, MADtv also tackled the political, mundane, societal, racial and topical issues with a dash of of pop culture and the occasional animated Spy vs Spy  shorts in their sketches. A lot of times the comic relief played off stereotypes like Miss Swan, a popular character who was an Asian manicurist played by a very white Alex Borstein. The show succeeded in keeping the masses entertained despite the alternative and oddball style because of the cast’s impeccable delivery and impressions. Despite a strong following , the show was the proverbial underdog struggling to stay on air on account of minimal promotions and insufficient funding till its network[Fox] pulled the plug on it after 14 seasons.   

 

Upright Citizens Brigade

Matt Besser, Matt Walsh, Ian Roberts, and Amy Poehler joined forces to perform improvisation sketch comedy in the early 90s. In addition to their well-received shows, they started offering improv classes, both of which are popular to date. They soon followed this up with the Upright Citzens Brigade and The UCB show.  The premises are often quite intriguing and tend to tiptoe around the ludicrous. Somedays the viewers are treated to incoherent chaos by crazy cooks and other days the viewers are given the most practical solution to boost self-esteem. Want to know how to build that confidence? Follow this link here and get yourself some Ass Pennies.

Portlandia

Staying true to its title, the series is set and filmed in and around Portland, Oregon. Although the show is based specifically in Portland, it pokes fun at the larger hipster trends and lifestyle choices that people follow and sometimes impose on others a bit too seriously (hint: the liberalised cults who love organic farming). The show effortlessly uses satire to set in motion, a much-needed introspection among the viewers. However, the locale of Portland slowly turned sour to the show and the local bookstore where a lot of the skits were shot cut off all ties with the show.  The primary complaint was that Portland’s affordability decreased significantly with the show pushing tourism opportunities and pulling new dwellers who locals felt were looking to enjoy the Portlandia descriptions and disparaging the authenticity of the town.

Key and Peele

When two MADtv recruits decide to start their own sketch series, you know it cannot fall short. Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele use comedy as a trope to explore the black identity and racial discourse in their vignettes. A character that went viral on the show was Luther who plays Barack Obama’s anger translator. In fac,t he was invited by the former American president to accompany him on stage at the White House Correspondents’ dinner. As the former president addressed the gathering with poise and calmness,  Luther provided a play by play interpretation of the statements in his true hot-blooded eloquence.  Equipped with some tight observations and its slice of life narrative approach, Key and Peele is definitely a show to add on to the list.

Inside Amy Schumer

Inside Amy Schumer shows you the inside story of couples counselling and the ramifications of being a size 12  with a sophistication that is undercut by witty observations and subtle sarcasm. Her sketches portray with unapologetic abandon the ridiculous standards women are expected to meet and adhere to while balancing it with a   fair number of bits parodying exclusively female cultural artefacts like female friendships, women’s magazines, fad diets etc. While the show has its spotlight turned on women, the premises are universally funny and cater to the funny bone regardless of gender.

The Living Room

India’s claim to this foray is an improv sketch comedy show called The Living Room. The show was kickstarted  by our very own ‘chai enthusiast’ and ‘paavam boy’ Kenneth Sebastian. Kanan Gill, Abish mathew, Kaneez Surka, Naveen Richards and many more comedians all have cameos playing a number of characters from the awkward salesman to the fussy sassu ma.  With just 20 episodes under its belt, the episodes deal with everything commonplace from break- ups , stranger interactions, newlyweds, robotic door salesmen with simple gags all under just 5 minutes!

 

Disclaimer : Sketch comedies are likely to be a hit or miss because there are no plot driven cliff hangers or mysteries to pull the entire show together but individual episodes that rely on details and characters.  So remember to watch sketch is to laugh at the silly and enjoy the fine print that often goes unaddressed. It’s not always about the BIG PICTURE!!