Some unexpected things came up this week that totally devoured all my free time, so this week I’m doing the equivalent of a substitute teacher rolling in the TV cart. Rather than breaking down a sketch I figured this week we’d just share them. Or, really, any short piece of comedy. Share something that makes you laugh. An old classic or something totally new. Something you keep coming back to.
I’ll share something that isn’t a sketch, but is something I read many, many times when I was working a crummy job trying to get a comedy career going. It’s both funny and inspirational!
the Kids In The Hall sketch "Can I Keep Him" is one of my favorite pieces of comedy of all time. Masterclass in absurdism. It's ridiculous, weirdly heartfelt and also incredibly stupid. Enjoy here (at 14:44) (but really, just watch the whole episode, why not) https://youtu.be/kDYvCgMvbho?t=884
This is an odd one. Right when YouTube was making its transition from "regular folks filming themselves and putting it online" to "dedicated internetainers making a career out of it", there was a comedy duo called Barats and Bereta. Tragically they haven't made any new videos in almost ten years, though they're both still doing things in the online video space. One of the last high-quality things they made was this video I keep coming back to called Hypnosis.
A new one that I just found recently that really made me laugh is this one by Joel Haver. I wasn't familiar with the channel, but it's really solid. https://youtu.be/6VZlWIW5ZdM
It's both a comedy sketch and an existential horror short film.
Whenever I'm sad I re-read the Clickhole article, "5 Times The Animatronic Fox On Splash Mountain Addressed Me By Name And Told Me He Was Going To Marry My Dad". It just brings me to hysterics whenever I think about it.
I've really enjoyed all three of Daniel Thrasher's "Accidentally Writing Songs that Already Exist" sketch series, they seem like shining examples of modern sketches where you can still see all the classic sketch elements really clearly (straight man, game, heightening with each beat, etc). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD-IQaxHcE4
I've also saved some Tik Toks I've found that are really neat examples of how the sketch format works specifically in that medium. Happy to share those as well if others are interested :)
This might have stayed in my head more because of the Ween soundtrack than the comedy, but I still think about The State’s In The Bathroom sketch all the time:
This isn’t a sketch, but it is a joke, kind of? Portsmouth Sinfonia was a record where a bunch of orchestral musicians got together and tried to play one another’s instruments. It went poorly. The build up and timing on their version of Also Sprach Zarathustra is among the funniest things I have ever listened to.
One of my all time favourite bits of comedy is a 2 minute animation by Grickle called "channels". It's an extremely bizarre little thing but it's brilliantly funny without a line of dialogue (aside from near-constant screaming) https://youtu.be/3Rc3FoOPT9Q
His tonight show is pretty weak but Late Night With Fallon had some of my favorite recurring sketches. One of them is Head Swap, which never fails to make me laugh very hard. https://youtu.be/MvDKpBhdyNo
The Studio C sketch "Poker Face" (and its sequel) really hit in the deadpan outside/freaking out inside comedy that I love. It also gives everyone a clear - and silly - character, which is always fun.
Here is one of my faves "The World's Worst Translator" - I love the idea behind it, and I think they executed it so well. I'd love to see the actual script to see how its written because it seems like a complicated one to put on paper: https://youtu.be/foT9rsHmS24
Deep in the College Humor/ Dropout fixation at the moment. I truly won't stop thinking about the "Coolest Accidental Death" episode of Rank Room when Katie presents parasailing shark. I don't know why it has such a hold on me but it has brought me to full tears on multiple occasions.
I'm pretty much an occasional lurker so I'm mainly posting this to see if anyone else knows of this sketch existing on the internet in text or video form. (I used to have it on VHS ages ago.) Back in the mid 1980s Emma Thompson had a very short lived comedy variety show "Thompson" and did the Victorian mouse sketch. I can only find a clip in this interview https://youtu.be/SEWYzLDmoBI?t=856 (If the link doesn't take you to the correct moment, it starts at 14:18. The other actors in the sketch are her mother Phyllida Law and sister Sophie Thompson. She does also talk about differences between how women write comedy vs men) It particularly appealed to me and my little group of Anglophile friends who adored British comedy and literature and BBC costume dramas.
Tim Robinson - Chunky. Simple and funny. So specific and lets you imagine other conversations the character might have had to get to this place in time. "You had all summer..."
the Kids In The Hall sketch "Can I Keep Him" is one of my favorite pieces of comedy of all time. Masterclass in absurdism. It's ridiculous, weirdly heartfelt and also incredibly stupid. Enjoy here (at 14:44) (but really, just watch the whole episode, why not) https://youtu.be/kDYvCgMvbho?t=884
This is an odd one. Right when YouTube was making its transition from "regular folks filming themselves and putting it online" to "dedicated internetainers making a career out of it", there was a comedy duo called Barats and Bereta. Tragically they haven't made any new videos in almost ten years, though they're both still doing things in the online video space. One of the last high-quality things they made was this video I keep coming back to called Hypnosis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UfZNbLOkRA
A classic that I often come back to is BriTANick's A Monologue for Three. https://youtu.be/mephJf3-zYE
A new one that I just found recently that really made me laugh is this one by Joel Haver. I wasn't familiar with the channel, but it's really solid. https://youtu.be/6VZlWIW5ZdM
It's both a comedy sketch and an existential horror short film.
Whenever I'm sad I re-read the Clickhole article, "5 Times The Animatronic Fox On Splash Mountain Addressed Me By Name And Told Me He Was Going To Marry My Dad". It just brings me to hysterics whenever I think about it.
https://clickhole.com/5-times-the-animatronic-fox-on-splash-mountain-addresse-1825122431/
Most things Mitchell and Webb:
*Vectron:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icTrzUuWlHI
Idea: Sci-Fi often has some crazy Fantasy names+religion, that contrasts with the the technocratic ambience.
*Ceasar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPGc9lYFyZ0
A Who's first with Julius Ceasar
*Mad Scientist Sketch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skl71urqKu0
A mad scientist that wants to help mankind, not destroy it
Two wordplay sketches:
The Two Ronnies - Four Candles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozpek_FrOPs
My blackberry is not working - BBC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI&t=12s
Not a sketch, but hilarious panel show moment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B94q7gUu75k
I've really enjoyed all three of Daniel Thrasher's "Accidentally Writing Songs that Already Exist" sketch series, they seem like shining examples of modern sketches where you can still see all the classic sketch elements really clearly (straight man, game, heightening with each beat, etc). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD-IQaxHcE4
I've also saved some Tik Toks I've found that are really neat examples of how the sketch format works specifically in that medium. Happy to share those as well if others are interested :)
This might have stayed in my head more because of the Ween soundtrack than the comedy, but I still think about The State’s In The Bathroom sketch all the time:
https://vimeo.com/412539878
This isn’t a sketch, but it is a joke, kind of? Portsmouth Sinfonia was a record where a bunch of orchestral musicians got together and tried to play one another’s instruments. It went poorly. The build up and timing on their version of Also Sprach Zarathustra is among the funniest things I have ever listened to.
https://youtu.be/hpJ6anurfuw
One of my all time favourite bits of comedy is a 2 minute animation by Grickle called "channels". It's an extremely bizarre little thing but it's brilliantly funny without a line of dialogue (aside from near-constant screaming) https://youtu.be/3Rc3FoOPT9Q
His tonight show is pretty weak but Late Night With Fallon had some of my favorite recurring sketches. One of them is Head Swap, which never fails to make me laugh very hard. https://youtu.be/MvDKpBhdyNo
For me nothing beats this Monty Python classic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKHFZBUTA4k&ab_channel=onemediamusic just perfect *chef kiss*
The Studio C sketch "Poker Face" (and its sequel) really hit in the deadpan outside/freaking out inside comedy that I love. It also gives everyone a clear - and silly - character, which is always fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ6_GdODuww
Here is one of my faves "The World's Worst Translator" - I love the idea behind it, and I think they executed it so well. I'd love to see the actual script to see how its written because it seems like a complicated one to put on paper: https://youtu.be/foT9rsHmS24
Deep in the College Humor/ Dropout fixation at the moment. I truly won't stop thinking about the "Coolest Accidental Death" episode of Rank Room when Katie presents parasailing shark. I don't know why it has such a hold on me but it has brought me to full tears on multiple occasions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPq_9lFI4bY (5:20- end of video).
Also, thank you Mr. Trapp for taking the time to do this even with a bunch of stuff going on! Appreciate you!! :)
I'm pretty much an occasional lurker so I'm mainly posting this to see if anyone else knows of this sketch existing on the internet in text or video form. (I used to have it on VHS ages ago.) Back in the mid 1980s Emma Thompson had a very short lived comedy variety show "Thompson" and did the Victorian mouse sketch. I can only find a clip in this interview https://youtu.be/SEWYzLDmoBI?t=856 (If the link doesn't take you to the correct moment, it starts at 14:18. The other actors in the sketch are her mother Phyllida Law and sister Sophie Thompson. She does also talk about differences between how women write comedy vs men) It particularly appealed to me and my little group of Anglophile friends who adored British comedy and literature and BBC costume dramas.
"Irish Mob" by Conner O'Malley
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oYLxkGz00d0
Tim Robinson - Chunky. Simple and funny. So specific and lets you imagine other conversations the character might have had to get to this place in time. "You had all summer..."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz7tTdwEL1s