The Sketch Show 

Sketch comedy series featuring a range of different humour styles.

Stars:

Lee Mack, Jim Tavaré, Karen Taylor

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Lee Mack	...	Various Characters / ... 16 episodes, 2001-2004
Jim Tavaré	...	Various Characters 16 episodes, 2001-2004
Karen Taylor	...	Various Characters / ... 16 episodes, 2001-2004
Tim Vine	...	Various Characters 16 episodes, 2001-2004
Kitty Flanagan	...	Various Roles 8 episodes, 2003-2004
Ronni Ancona	...	Various Characters / ... 8 episodes, 2001

Storyline

Sketch comedy series featuring a range of different humour styles.

---

Plot Keywords:

sketch comedy | british comedy | british | 

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Did You Know?

Quotes

[a couple deciding on where to go on a holiday]
Man: All right, I'll stick a pin on this map and wherever it lands, that's where we'll go.
[sticks pin]
Woman: Siberia.
Man: Too cold.
[sticks pin]
Woman: Sahara Desert.
Man: Okay new rule, it's got to be somewhere that can sustain human life.
[sticks pin]
Woman: The Indian Ocean.
[...]

---

Connections

Version of Shorts (2004)

User Reviews

Strangely Hilarious

I don't know what it is about the Sketch Show that appeals to me. IT has all the elements that I usually hate and will usually turn me off a show forever; a lot of the sketches are either really bad puns or are highly predictable, and the cast, all made from British stand-up comedians of varying fame, are all incredibly smug and very sure of themselves without really being brilliant at acting. But having said all this, it works, and really well.

The show is hilarious at best and grimace-forming at worst but it still always makes you smile. Perhaps it's because it doesn't always try to be funny, and when it isn't being funny, it knows it, and so do the cast. I first saw Jim Tavare doing a piece at the Montreal comedy festival some 15 years ago with his double bass, and the humour is very much the same. I love it.

Lee Mack is especially good, he has some very good routines that he accomplishes with a smarmy and very unlikeable air but the fact is he is more often than not playing very smarmy and unlikeable characters and in the process is poking fun at them.

And with all those comments also said, occasionally they will come up with an absolute pearler of a sketch that stands out in the history of sketch comedy. The one in the men's toilets, for example, or the sign language sketch- neither of them particularly clever or witty but both just make you fall about laughing. I thoroughly recommend this, particularly to my fellow countrymen who are bored as I am with the tired and hopelessly predictable comedy of Skithouse and Comedy Inc. 4 stars out of 5.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 September 2001 (UK)

Also Known As:

Se sketsishow

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Avalon Television, Baby Cow Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color