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>still not sure. I've been to some camps where the level of >artistic integrity of a "skit" was incredible. I think it is >difficult to argue that location, age, or whether you're paid >or not has something to do with artistic integrity, or >"professionalism."
I would be fine if you called those incredible skits sketches. Just don't call my sketches skits, or those of the folks on Mr. Show, or SNL, or even Mad TV.
I am not suggesting that all professionals are brilliant or all amateurs aren't. What I'm saying is that these are contexts where you do different things. It's not really about quality. It's about context and intent.
>>For example, at my girlfriend's grandparents house, there is >a >>huge Christmas party, with all the family members, and the >>kids get up and do skits... impressions of their aunts & >>uncles and shit. > >What about professional comedians' impressions of political >figures? What if your impressions of family members are well >thought out?
Like standup comedians? It's not a scene.
There are standups who do sketch-like standup. Will Franken, who's performing in the Sketchfest, is a good example. He does voices, characters, practically one-person scenes. It's definately more standup than anything else, but it's a mix.
Well-thought-out impressions of family members intended for the consumption of other family members are skits.
Mike Meyers, at the SNL bowling party, doing an impression of Lorne Michaels with Dana Carvey as an NBC exec is a skit. If they went on SNL and did a similar scene, designed for a general audience, it'd be a sketch.
>> >>When I was in high school, in playwriting class, I wrote >>sketches, about comedic characters. They weren't that good, >>but they were definately sketches. >> >>In my introduction to the arts class, I wrote a skit about >the >>teachers which we performed in front of the class. That was >>definately a skit. > >Still don't know why. You WROTE it right? It had a script. >It was planned out to a certain degree. How is this different >than a SNL sketch impersonating Bush or some other public >figure?
Because one is a public performance of comedic art. The other is a goof that's more about the social group (these people who know each other and the teacher) than it is about the performance.
An SNL sketch is written and performed by people who take the process seriously, and are presenting their art to a mass audience. - Bullseye with Jesse Thorn A public radio show about things that are awesome. http://www.maximumfun.org "This is the kind of show people listen to in a more perfect world." - McSweeney's
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