Sketch shows feel like a concept of yesteryear. Occasionally you may receive one or two, reliant on some kind of gimmick or expectation, but more often than not audiences will expect a fully-fledged sitcom to give them bang for their buck. It’s odd, really, that there’s a shortage of mainstream sketch content, because the dawn of Tiktok has made attention spans shorter than ever. You’ve probably stopped paying attention to this article already. Perhaps Tiktok has served that need, with users serving up sixty second comedy skits. The difference is, unlike the genius shows which are about to be discussed, they’re not funny. Quite the juxtaposition of humour, in fact, are these cringe-inducing, misjudged pieces of mess.
Perhaps the controversies surrounding the most mainstream British sketch show, Little Britain, ended public interest in shows like these being made. It was in lockdown that the show was removed from BBC Iplayer and repeats stopped being administered, even during the weekly broadcasts of classic comedies which BBC Two have made into tradition of late. Matt Lucas and David Walliams were the stars of the controversial sketch series which unpacked the stereotypes present in Britain. Sure, there were some sketches you wouldn’t, and shouldn’t, get away with now, but the whole point of the show was that it was meant to dissect every kind of British person. The sloth who pretends to be disabled, the only gay in the village, the “I am the Lady” people. These are riotous examples of sketches that are almost expected to offend. Don’t take this at face value, because Williams and Lucas are not racist, sexist, transphobic, homophobic, or any of the words thrown at them. It’s the same in Come Fly With Me. These stereotypes are meant to push the boundaries. Perhaps it’s right that time has moved on and humour has evolved, but you take Little Britain by its intentions and you have a hilarious show.
Another show which received controversy was The League of Gentlemen, for the apparent blackface of Papa Lazarou, which was supposed to evoke a nightmarish creature, not a black stereotype. Putting that aside, it’s a genius show which Lucas and Williams borrowed a lot of inspiration from, and made a lighter version of. Shearsmith and Pemberton’s show ran for two great seasons, a less successful third series which took away the circular narrative that made the sketch show so captivating in the first place, and a wonderful resurrection trilogy which rounded off the paths of its characters. The characters in Royston Vasey really were whacky in all the right ways: Pauline from the job centre (Who Margery Dawes from fat fighters is a poor imitation of, though she is the best character in Little Britain), The Dentons, and most of all, Tubbs and Edward: “You lied to me, Edward, there is a Swansea.”
Some sketch shows create new characters each episode so they can very much standalone. Others continue storylines and threads. Both of the shows above took a vastly different approach. Little Britain starts afresh each time, and each episode could be watched alone, but the whole joy of League of Gentlemen is that it’s a deconstruction of the sketch show format, not just in its surreal humour, but also in the cliffhangers and ongoing threads which break the gimmick. It’s the cleverest sketch show there is, and more proof to Inside No 9 fans that Shearsmith and Pemberton are genius storytellers.
Like these two programmes, The Fast Show revolves around the same characters, but each episode is sort of the same, so every instalment is accessible. A good sketch show relies on repetitivity and good recurring characters to form a solid basis, because everybody loves something to find the right balance between familiar and unfamiliar. If you’re talking about Harry Hill’s brilliant Channel Four show, where he started of, it’s always so obvious, and the poor quality is the fun of it. You can always guarantee Burt Kwok and Ken Ford, the man from the joy of sex books, will turn up to their theme tunes, and there’ll be a big musical number at the end to Morrisey or Busted or something. The Fast Show features sensational and memorable sketches, like Unlucky Alf, Ted and Ralph, The Brilliant Kid and Arthur Atkinson. Plus, the kid that always pops in and says everything’s brilliant, and the best one of all: Jazz club.
The founder of the sketch format was the Monty Python troop. Surreal humour often works best in sketch format, because although shows like The Mighty Boosh are great, it’s sometimes too difficult to take in larger doses, which is why the third season of League of Gentlemen didn’t work so well. Flying Circus brought new characters and sketches every week, but the best sketches are not the ones we all know. The dead parrot sketch is overrated. It’s things like “I’d like to buy an argument” and The Funniest Joke in the World which should get everybody chuckling. Fun fact: The famous four gentleman sketch, which stands as one of Python’s funniest, does not feature in the original Flying Circus programme. The sketches were later compiled into the And Now For Something Completely Different film, which removes the many dispensable sketches from the show. Naturally, The Holy Grail and especially Life of Brian are the finest Python productions, but flying circus was where it all began.
Inspired by this, comedy duo Vic and Bob came along, and produced their surreal shows Big Night Out and The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer. The latter of these in particular is worth checking out, with Charlie Chuck in a starring role, lots of saucepan assaults, and hallucinogenic adverts with vegetable headed humans. Comedy duos are at the centre of most known sketch shows. French and Saunders, Fry and Laurie, Mitchell and Webb, Kay and Peele. It must be the key to their success.
What is that key we speak of to a good sketch show? It’s good writing. It could easily be a problematic genre, which either forces us to relive a joke again and again, or fall in love with a new roster of characters and a sense of humour we’ll only know for a matter of minutes, but if the writing’s good, and it’s essentially funny, then either can pay off. It’s time to see some more great sketch shows to dive into the Tiktok market, because there are surely people who could do it so well, hidden and waiting to shine. Give us anything as long as Mrs Brown stays off our television sets.
Writers' Room Reviews 