History of Sketch Comedy, Improvisational Comedy.

Following Ms. Gergely's advice to seek more history of comedy, I've decided to gander at my style of my project, which would be sketch comedy, and improvisational comedy.

Definition of sketch comedy: Sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long.

-It is typically performed by comedians, on stage, radio, or on television.

-Skits are usually to be a dramatized joke, while a sketch is a comedic exploration of a concept, character, or situation.

-Origins are from the entertainment style of vaudeville.

-Vaudeville: Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill.

-Exploded in the 1970's in North America from the rise of improvisational comedy

Improvisational theatre: "Improvisational theatre (also known as improv or impro) is a form of theatrein which the improvisational actors/improvisers use improvisational acting techniques to perform spontaneously"

Brief History: Improvisational theatre is one of the oldest arts of performances. The two largest progressions of the art though was the Italian Commedia dell'arte performers in the 16th-18th centuries, and with theatrical theorists like Konstantin Stantislavski and Jacques Coupou, who'm heavily acting theory with training of improv and rehearsal. It also was helped pioneered by the comedy scene of Chicago, where it was said that the current "rules of improv" were formed, in around roughly the 70's. With the take off of skit comedy shows like SNL, the art it's self have engulfed itself in the entertainment/comedic industry.

Source:

"Short History of Improvisation." ImprovComedy.Org. Web. 24 May 2011. .