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 small group of comedic actors, either on stage or through a video medium such as television.

Notable contemporary stage sketch comedy groups include The Second City, the Upright Citizens Brigade, and The Groundlings.

Notable television sketch comedy shows include Saturday Night Live, SCTV, the Upright Citizens Brigade, and Mr. Show.

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 radio with such shows as ITMA and then television with such shows as Monty Python and Not the Nine O'clock News.

Historically the sketches tended to be unrelated, but more recent groups have introduced overarching themes that connect the sketches within a particular show, and running characters that return from week to week or appear throughout an episode. Examples of running characters include "Ted & Ralph" from The Fast Show; the "Head Crusher" from The Kids in the Hall; Martin Short's "Ed Grimley", a running character from both SCTV and Saturday Night Live; and "Kevin & Perry" from Harry Enfield and Chums .

In America, contemporary sketch comedy is largely an outgrowth of the improvisational comedy scene that flourished during the 1970s. British ensembles, in contrast, have always been built on writing talent - often working in pairs.

List of sketch comedy groups

Australia

• Big Bite
• Comedy Inc.
• Fast Forward
• Full Frontal
• The D-Generation
• Australia, you're standing in it
• The Comedy Company
• The Late Show
• Skithouse
• The Micallef Pogram

Canada

• CODCO
• The Frantics
• History Bites
• Kids in the Hall
• Radio Free Vestibule AKA The Vestibules
• Rick Mercer's Monday Report
• The Royal Canadian Air Farce
• SCTV
• This Hour has 22 Minutes
• You Can't Do That on Television

Ireland

• Bull Island

UK

• Big Train
• The Dave Allen Show
• The Fast Show
• Goodness Gracious Me
• Harry Enfield's Television Programme/Harry Enfield and Chums
• I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again (radio)
• The League of Gentlemen
• Little Britain
• Monty Python's Flying Circus
• Not the Nine O'clock News
• The Two Ronnies
• The Sketch Show
• Smack the Pony
• Spitting Image
• Hale and Pace
• The Goon Show
• The Liberal Revue

See also Arthur Mathews, Graham Linehan and Rory McGrath for sketch writers who do not usually appear in the sketches they write.

USA

• Bent Pennies
• Last Call Cleveland
• Habitat East
• The Van Gogh-Goghs
• All That
• The Amanda Show
• Chappelle's Show
• Gag Reflex
• The Groundlings
• In Living Color
• Lester McFwap
• Mad TV
• Mr. Show with Bob and David
• Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
• Saturday Night Live
• The Second City
• The Silly Spider Monkey Fiasco
• Olde English
• The State
• The Tracey Ullman Show
• TROOP!
• The Upright Citizens Brigade
• "Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre"
• You Can't Do That on Television
• Elephant Larry
• The Carol Burnett Show

External links

• Gag Reflex
• The Groundlings
• The official Upright Citizens Brigade Theater website
• Kilroy Sketch Comedy
• Lester McFwap's Sketch Comedy Show
• Olde English
• The Silly Spider Monkey Fiasco
• SketchFest
• TROOP! Sketch Comedy
• Elephant Larry
• Steam Powered Media