Sketch comedy - Sketch comedy 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, Saturday Night Live and Not the Nine O'clock News. Sketch comedy seems a bit out of vogue at the moment but some new sketch shows are still made. Sketch comedy programs consist of a series of short unrelated 'sketches' rather than anything more sustained, and relatively few sketch comedy programs are successful. However, the ones that become popular often remain on air for a long period of time, and survive the test of time. The sketches are.
British comedy - British comedy British comedies have set themselves apart from the TV shows of other countries by providing consistently quirky characters, settings and plots for many years. One of the most notable is the seventies show Monty Python's Flying Circus, a sketch comedy show that introduced us to such comedy luminaries as John Cleese, Eric Idle, and Terry Gilliam. Other sketch shows include French and Saunders, Alas Smith and Jones, Rutland Weekend TV and Spike Milligan's Q series. As well as sketch shows, the situation comedy is another genre of peculiarly British humour. Popular British sitcoms have included Absolutely Fabulous, The Young Ones, Murder Most Horrid, Fawlty Towers, and Are You Being Served. See Also List of British comedians, List of Comedies, British sitcom, UK topics.
Comedy - Comedy simple:Comedy Comedy to start with was any play that ended happily such as in Shakespeare. It is now considered a (maybe so-called) humorous performance in the performing arts such as theater/theatre (including stand-up) television and film. People are divided about what is funny-some people prefer the slapstick approach, others prefer a gentler sort of humour. One interpretation of comedy is when things seem normal (in a joke for instance) and suddenly things get turned on their head. Commedia dell'arte Comedians Vaudeville Jesters Sketch comedy Stand-up comedy Improvisational comedy Situation comedy Farce Comedy film Comedy club Radio comedy Television comedy Just for laughs festival British comedian American comedian List of comedians See also tragedy, tragicomedy, List of comedies, laughter.
Sketch - Sketch A sketch is a drawing or other composition that is not intended as a finished work. Sketches usually serve to store ideas for later use. In a similar manner, the word can be used to indicate an impression of something, as in the title to Miles Davis's album Sketches of Spain. The word is also used to describe a series of short comedic performances; see sketch comedy. See also: study, doodle.
Kath and Kim - with her "hunk of spunk" Kel and her her twenty-something daughter Kim. Kim's husband Brett and Kim's second best friend Sharon add chaos. The characters were originally developed in the early 1990s with the highly succesful "Fast Forward" comedy sketch show. The strong script and highly developed alternative vocabulary and mis-pronunciation of words by the two main characters was a feature of the show. "It's ny-oice, it's different, it's un-ewes-yewl!" The theme song is Anthony Newley's "The Joker", and is peformed by Gina Riley. Characters Kathleen Darleen Day (Jane Turner) -- An empty nester who is proud of her home and how she looks. She likes to keep herself trim. Kim Craig (Gina Riley) -- Despite her "people skills" her call centre employer can somehow do without her. Sharon Strzlecki (Magda.
Kerri Kenney - Larry Kenney, who is best known for his classic voiceover work. Kerri joined with an improv comedy group called The State and in 1994 their work was picked up for a sketch comedy show on MTV. Even after the show's cancellation in 1995 (after three seasons) Kenney continued working with her fellow troupe-members. In 1996 the variety show spoof that she co-wrote and starred in, Viva Variety, was picked up by the network Comedy Central. The show ran for two seasons, not an entirely unsuccessful run for the network. In 2000 Kenney followed in her father's footsteps, voicing the character of "Gravitina" in the children's cartoon Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. Kenney was cast as a series regular on The Ellen Show, which failed in 2001, then found some success with.
Kids in the Hall - Kids in the Hall The Kids in the Hall was a Canadian sketch comedy group, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin MacDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson. It was also the name of the group's television show that ran from 1989-1994 on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The name comes from a story about the Tonight Show with Steve Allen. Apparently, on his way to deliver a monologue, Allen would pass by up-and-coming comedians who tried to sell him jokes to use that night. These writers were reffered to as "the kids in the hall." Though it was produced by Lorne Michaels, who also produced Saturday Night Live, the show's sketches were more reminiscent of the British sketch show, Monty Python's Flying Circus for they were often of a quirky.
James Henry Leigh Hunt - Shelley, a few weeks later, destroyed every prospect of success for the Liberal. Hunt was now virtually a dependant upon Byron, whose least amiable qualities were called forth by the relation of patron to an. unsympathetic dependant, burdened with a large and troublesome family. He was moreover incessantly wounded by the representations of his friends that he was losing caste by the connexion. The Liberal lived through four quarterly numbers, containing contributions no less memorable than Byron's "Vision of Judgment " and Shelley's translations from Faust; but in 1823 Byron sailed for Greece, leaving his coadjutor at Genoa to shift for himself. The Italian climate and manners, however, were entirely to Hunt's taste, and he protracted his residence until 1825, producing in the interim Ultra Crepidarius, a Satire on William Gifford.
Jane Kennedy (actor) - and Judith Lucy amongst others, whilst working on Melbourne commercial radio on the "D-Generation Breakfast Show". The group stayed together to later write, direct and produce "The Late Show", a comedy sketch show, and "Frontline", a widely-acclaimed spoof of television current affairs in which Kennedy played an ambitious reporter. Since the mid-1990s Kennedy has mostly stayed behind the camera as a producer for various Working Dog productions, including their panel talk show "The Panel", and the movies The Castle and The Dish. Kennedy is believed to live with Sitch in Melbourne. The pair have never commented publicly on their relationship..
Jennifer Saunders - 1958 in Sleaford, Lincolnshire) is a British comedienne, actress and comedy writer. She is most widely known for playing Edina Monsoon in the British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous. Saunders attended the Central School for Speech and Drama in London. There she met Dawn French, and the two performed together after graduation, working the festival, cabaret, and stand-up circuits. They were a central part of the alternative comedy scene in the early 1980s. It was around this time that both then worked with comedy troupe The Comic Strip, where they performed with many of the comedians who were to become their generation's leading comedy performers. She and French then created French & Saunders, a popular sketch comedy show for the BBC. Jennifer Saunders came to international attention for her sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, which.
Jessica Stevenson - The Baby of Mâcon. She teamed up with future Spaced co-star Katy Carmichael in a stage double-act called The Liz Hurleys, then went on to television parts in the nursing drama Staying Alive (1995-7) and short-lived sketch shows Six Pairs of Pants and Asylum where the Spaced team of Stevenson, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright first assembled. In 1998 she was cast in the supporting role of neighbour Cheryl in sitcom The Royle Family, which became a surprise hit, and in 1999 cowrote and starred in Spaced. Since then she has had parts in Bob and Rose on TV, Born Romantic on the big screen and also on the West-End stage and has been signed up to write and star in a Hollywood spy comedy called Double Au Pair..
Jim Carrey - shifts each day after school. Eventually, the Carrey family escaped life at Titan by living on a relative's lawn out of the family Volkswagen van until they could move back downtown. Carrey dropped out of high school, and began to work in comedy clubs and develop his act, which included impersonations of celebrities such as Michael Landon and James Stewart. In 1979 he moved to Los Angeles and started working in The Comedy Store, where he was noticed by comedian Rodney Dangerfield. Dangerfield liked Carrey's act so much that he signed Carrey up to open Dangerfield's tour performances. Carrey began to work occasionally in television and small parts in movies, which eventually led to a friendship with Damon Wayans. Wayans's brother, Keenen Ivory Wayans, was in the process of putting together.
John Sergeant - up in various locations including Jerusalem and Oxford. He studied politics at Magdalene College, Cambridge, and made a name for himself in student comedy revues, with the result that, after graduation, he starred with Alan Bennett in a series of sketch shows on BBC. He progressed via newspaper, radio and television journalism to become one of the BBC's top political correspondents, and subsequently moved to ITN to take on a leading role there. One of his most memorable moments was when he waited outside the British embassy in Paris for Margaret Thatcher, in the hope of hearing her reaction to the first ballot in the party leadership contest of 1990, only to be pushed aside by her press secretary when she emerged from the building. Sergeant's impressive appearances on programmes such.
Julie Brown - girl character, and used this to great effect in various movie foles as well as in her stand-up comedy. Comedienne Lily Tomlin saw Brown at a comedy club and gave her a part in her 1981 film "The Incredible Shrinking Woman." A series of poorly received B-movies followed. In 1983 she married writer and actor Terrence McNally, who would become her collaborator for years. In 1985 she released her first E.P, a five song album called "Goddess in Progress." The album, parodies of popular eighties music combined with her valley girl personality, was quickly discovered by the Dr. Demento Show. The songs "'Cause I'm a Blonde" and "The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun" were given huge radio airplay across the world. The latter was a witty spoof on traditional 1950s songs.
ImprovOlympic - is a theater in the Wrigleyville area of Chicago, Illinois dedicated to improvisational comedy. It was founded in the 1980s by Del Close and Charna Halpern. The ImprovOlympic approaches improvisation as an art form in and of itself; this differs from the Second City approach, where improv is used as a tool in creating sketch comedy. IO also concentrates on "long-form" improvisational structures, in contrast to the "short-form" or "improv game" format of Theatresports or the television show Whose Line Is It Anyway' ImprovOlympic's two theater spaces, the Cabaret and the Del Close Theater, run nightly shows mostly made up of teams of current and former students of IO's training center. IO is also involved in the annual Chicago Improv Festival. A companion theater, IO West, opened in Los Angeles, California.
Inherently funny word - Sunshine Boys, a character says: "Words with a 'k' in it are funny. Alkaseltzer is funny. Chicken is funny. Pickle is funny. All with a 'k'. 'L's are not funny. 'M's are not funny." Monty Python's "Woody and Tinny words" sketch features extensive play on the sounds of English words for their inherent humour. Dave Barry's "Dave Barry Talks Back" has a column on linguistic humour. He contrasts the phrase "Richard Nixon wearing a neck-tie" with "Richard Nixon wearing a neck-weasel", and concludes that "weasel" is a very funny word. In The Simpsons episode "Homer the Clown", written by John Swartzwelder, the fictional Krusty the Klown tells Homer during a lesson at his clown college: "Memorize these funny place names. Walla Walla. Keokuk. Cucamonga. Seattle." George Carlin talks about kumquats and.
In Living Color - In Living Color In Living Color was an American sketch comedy television series which ran on the Fox Television Network from 1990 to 1994 and was created and produced by Keenen Ivory Wayans. Starring Keenen Ivory Wayans with many members of his family as well as noted performers like David Alan Grier and Jim Carrey, the series strove to produce comedy with a strong emphasis on African American subject matter. However, it is now also known for the work of Jim Carrey who was cast as a token white guy. The show also featured a dance group known as the Fly Girls; one member during the series' run was Jennifer Lopez. Popular recurring sketches included: Homie the Clown - An convict who works as a clown for his parole agreement, but.
Hancock's Half Hour - Half Hour was a famous BBC radio comedy series of the 1950s starring Tony Hancock. Other regular cast members were Sid James, Hattie Jacques, Bill Kerr and Kenneth Williams. Andrée Melly appeared in some early episodes. The scriptwriters were Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, and the show's distinctive tuba-based theme tune was by Wally Stott. Some episodes were wiped; the rest have been released on CD box sets from 2000 to 2003. See below for details. A television version appeared in 1956 under the same name and alternated with the radio version until 1959. The basic situation was similar, but only Sid James transferred from the radio series, although Kenneth Williams made a few guest appearances in early episodes. The final series in 1961 was retitled Hancock because it was shortened.
Gilda Radner - Canada. Her first professional stage experience was a Toronto production of Godspell following which she joined the Toronto Second City comedy troupe. She first rose to widespread fame as one of the original "Not Ready For Prime Time Players" on Saturday Night Live. (She was the first actor cast for the show.) On that show from 1975 to 1980 she created such characters as Roseanne Rosannadanna, Baba Wawa, and Emily Litella. She had a knack for combining extreme physical comedy with soft, caring characters that were easy to love. (There is a legend that Radner broke several ribs during one comedy sketch that required her to slam herself against a door repeatedly, but the next day she went on as scheduled.) After leaving Saturday Night Live, Radner appeared on Broadway in.
Glenn Robbins - Glenn Robbins Glenn Robbins is an Australian comedy performer/writer. He is a graduate of Drama and Media at Melbourne State College and first moved into performing in 1981. Appearances on television comedy sketch shows include: Comedy Company Fast Forward Full Frontal Jimeoin The Russell Gilbert Show Whilst many characters were performed by Glenn throughout these shows his most prominent and notable would be that of "Uncle Arthur". Since 1998, Glenn has been a regular on the popular televison talk show "The Panel". More recent television shows have been: All Aussie Adventures as Russell Coight Kath and Kim as Kel Knight In 2001 Glenn played the role of Peter in the Australian feature film Lantana..
