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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 comedyImprovisational comedy (also called improv or impro is comedy that is performed with a little to no predetermination of subject matter and structure. The performers discover their lines and actions spontaneously, typically following a general theme and fo scene that flourished during the 1970s. British ensembles, in contrast, have always been built on writing talent - often working in pairs.

1 List of sketch comedy groups

1.1 AustraliaAustralia is the sixth-largest country in the world (geographically), the only one to occupy an entire continent, and the largest in the region of Australasia. Australia includes the island of Tasmania, which is an Australian State. Its neighbouring count

• Big BiteBig Bite is an Australian sketch comedy broadcast on the Seven Network in an evening timeslot. A notable figure in the show is Shiela, a send-up of SBS news reporter Lee Lin Chin. Australian television comedy Seven network shows Sketch comedy.
• Comedy Inc.Comedy Inc. is an Australian sketch comedy television program which originally aired in early 2003 in the new wave of Australian sketch comedy shows, along with Big Bite and Skithouse. This show has proved to be far more successful in Australia than its r
• Fast ForwardFast Forward was a long-running Australian sketch comedy television show. Situation comedy Kath and Kim on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation is a spin-off following the further adventures of three of the show's characters. Cast Peter Moon Steve Viza
• Full FrontalFull Frontal may refer to: Full Frontal (TV series) an Australian sketch comedy series which debuted in 1993. Full Frontal (movie) a film by Steven Soderbergh. Full Frontal (band).
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• Australia, you're standing in it
• The Comedy Company
• The Late ShowThis article deals with the Australian coemdy show of the early 1990s. The Late Show is also a commonly used name for the American television show The Late Show with David Letterman''. It is also the name of a 1977 movie: The Late Show (movie) The Late Sh
• SkithouseSkithouse is an Australian sketch comedy television series produced by Roving Enterprises for the Ten Network. It features many leading Australian comedians, including comedy-band Tripod. It can also be seen on the Comedy Channel on pay-for-view televisio
• The Micallef Pogram