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The 20 defining comedy sketches of the past 20 years - From Rick James on a couch to enjoying a "Lazy Sunday" at the movies, these are the sketches that helped shape our comedic sensibility.
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Ubiquitous
Oct 25, 2019, 2:35:19 PM10/25/19
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Sketch comedy has changed a lot since its vaudeville days.
Once confined to a stage, sketches unleashed themselves on our big glowing
boxes (TVs) before lying in wait on the Internet, ready to be summoned at any
moment on our smaller glowing rectangles (phones).
The past two decades have been especially defining for the medium. The
Internet, social media, politics, social mores, and public discourse on race
and gender have altered dramatically; sketch comedy has not only reflected
that, but has also helped propel those changes forward.
I set out to make a list of 20 defining sketches that captured this sea
change, starting with the year 2000. For the purposes of this list,
"defining" does not mean the "best" sketches, or even objectively funny ones.
What we find funny rapidly evolves, and not all jokes can stand the test of
time.
"Defining" can be a nebulous descriptor, but let's try to give some form to
it: Which sketches helped alter sketch comedy itself? Which exemplified or
popularized a certain kind of comedic sensibility? What permeated our shared
psyche or charted a new way through changing media?
To qualify, here are some ground rules: Sketches had to involve characters in
a short vignette that was written and plotted out, rather than improvised.
They must have been televised. (Sorry, I'm not combing through the graveyard
of Vine for content to judge.) They had to come from American shows.
The final list, which is in no particular order, includes sketches you've
seen, ones you haven't and a lot of "Saturday Night Live" - the natural
outcome of being the longest-running and most widely watched sketch series.
Yes, your favorite bit may be missing.
Throughout comedy's evolution, sketches have held a prominent place within
our culture. They can still give us a new shared language for the mundane.
They can allow us to process the serious or painful aspects of our existence.
Or, they can simply make us laugh.
Note: Some of the clips include vulgar language and content.
SNL
"More Cowbell" (2000)
If we had to explain to future generations how things went "viral" before
that word was associated with anything but a contagious disease, we might
point to this 2000 SNL sketch about Blue Oyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) The
Reaper." It's very weird and non-topical, but it somehow managed to infect us
all. For years after, its legacy followed around the real-life band, who had
to deal with fans at shows yelling for more - ha ha, get it! - cowbell. Will
Ferrell's physical comedy - his too-small shirt creeping up his belly as he
wildly struck his humble instrument - and Christopher Walken's, well,
Walken-esque delivery may have sold the sketch. However, two lines in
particular - "I need more cowbell" and "I got a fever, and the only
prescription is more cowbell!" - took over our brains and still hasn't let
go. (People are still out here in 2019 putting "cowbell" jokes on their
dating profiles.) Somehow, we all knew to laugh at this, tell each other
about it and repeat the lines over and over, without the digital public
square of Facebook and Twitter.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVsQLlk-T0s
SNL
"Lazy Sunday" (2005)
This music video may be more Weird Al than classic sketch comedy, but what
"Lazy Sunday" accomplished secures its place on this list. When the rap by
Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell first aired in 2005, TV was still being made
with just TV in mind and YouTube was but a few months old. Their "digital
short" first blazed what is now a well-worn path for sketch comedy, becoming
one of the first bits from television that found a second life online,
amassing millions of views within days. After NBC raised a fuss to get the
YouTube clip taken down, people posted ripped versions. Regular people made
their own parody versions in a harbinger of viral challenges to come. "Lazy
Sunday" was asking for it: Its hardcore beat and lyrics that so ludicrously
contrast with a sweet premise (how to enjoy a lazy Sunday) were irresistible.
"The Office's" Michael Scott even made his own Scranton, Pa.-specific
version.
"Lazy Sunday" also raised the profile of comedy-factory the Lonely Island
(made up of Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer), and set a precedent
for infectious SNL song parodies that became instant viral sensations, such
as the Emmy Award-winning "D--- in a Box" and the rap Grammy-nominated "I'm
on a Boat."
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://youtu.be/sRhTeaa_B98
"Chappelle's Show"
"Frontline - Clayton Bigsby" (2003)
Dave Chappelle's presentation of a black white supremacist remains a fixture
of popular culture, still embedded in our public consciousness more than 15
years after it first aired. When Spike Lee first heard the pitch for
"BlacKkKlansman" - the 2018 movie based on a real story about a black cop
infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan in the '70s - he thought it was a remake of the
sketch.
"Clayton Bigsby" was inspired by a different, real event as "Chappelle's
Show" co-creator Neal Brennan has previously explained: After the
assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Chappelle's mixed-race, blind
grandfather boarded a bus in Washington, a city that was engulfed with riots.
Chappelle's grandfather overheard passengers talking about beating up a white
guy before he realized: Oh wait, I'm that white guy. The notion of a black
man unaware of his blackness was then taken to its extreme on the first
episode of "Chappelle's Show."
The premise is outrageous, as Chappelle plays a blind, black KKK member who
thinks he is white. The n-word is said by white people - repeatedly. There
are layers of jokes and an unforgettable exploding head. When Chappelle
introduced the sketch on air, he told the audience that a friend had already
watched it and said it set back the progress of black people. Chappelle
laughed about it then, but it was, and remains, a complex question: How does
one consider the audience when walking the line between skewering and
perpetuating racism? It is a question that would also be at the heart of
Chappelle's decision a few years later to walk away from the wildly
successful Comedy Central series.
To watch the sketch, click here and here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBC-9k3y1ew
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7oXFmuUHLQ
"Key & Peele"
"Obama's Anger Translator" (2012)
President Barack Obama brings out actor Keegan-Michael Key from "Key & Peele"
to play the part of Luther, the president's "anger translator," during his
remarks at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in 2015 in
Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)
SNL usually leads the pack for political sketch comedy, but it didn't do many
memorable pieces during the Obama presidency. "Key & Peele," however,
peppered its shows with some of the most cutting and unique societal
commentary during the era of the first black president, including the "Anger
Translator" sketches.
The recurring sketch featured Jordan Peele's "no drama Obama," as he was
called during his presidency, having to keep his cool in public, so he
enlists the services of an anger translator, Luther (Keegan-Michael Key).
When people such as Donald Trump circulated the conspiracy theory that Obama
wasn't born in the United States, or when Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) yelled
"you lie!" during Obama's State of the Union address, the real-life Obama
"couldn't come off like an angry black man, especially early on, so what
Luther says are things that ring true to us, and we felt like we were giving
the truth a voice in a lot of ways," Peele explained to NPR in 2013.
Every sketch features Peele's pitch-perfect Obama impression, calmly
discussing the matters before him, and then Key's Luther yells and lets
loose. Luther punctuated pivotal moments in Obama's presidency, such as in a
victory sketch that was posted online before Mitt Romney uttered a word of
his concession speech. Luther also stood alongside the real Obama as he gave
a speech at the White House correspondents' dinner in 2015.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX8tL3PMj7o
"Chappelle's Show"
"Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories - Rick James" (2004)
This sketch did many things. It put "Chappelle's Show" on the map; revived
Rick James's career, giving him newfound relevance after years away from the
spotlight; and spawned a catchphrase that would dog Chappelle for years. The
comedian heard, "I'm Rick James, bitch!" everywhere, with hecklers ruining
his stand-up performances and even family trips. (During a visit to Disney
World, people bombarded Chappelle with the phrase. "Hey man, hey," Chappelle
quipped during his 2004 stand-up special. "You mind not calling me a bitch in
front of my kids?")
The sketch was silly and unpredictable, featuring Charlie Murphy telling an
apparently true story about partying with the singer in the 1980s. (Murphy
also told a story about Prince in a different memorable sketch.) Chappelle
portrayed an outrageous young James, and the "Super Freak" himself gave his
side of the events and described his behavior with a now-classic line:
"Cocaine is a hell of a drug."
To watch the sketch, click here and here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdVAH8Z5O90
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddIz-ydl6Yk
SNL
"Debbie Downer" (2004)
It can feel cheap to get laughs from breaking in a sketch, as Liz Lemon
explains on "30 Rock," but sometimes the chaos of seasoned performers
breaking so intensely can be transcendent. Rachel Dratch introduced us to her
Debbie Downer character in this sketch, which made a murderers' row of
comedians laugh so severely that there was no use in hiding it. Horatio Sanz
used a waffle to wipe away his tears. The cast reportedly didn't know there
would be a sad trombone sound after Debbie said super depressing stuff, which
is what kicked off the cascade of onstage laughs. What followed from that
moment felt like a shared experience between cast and audience, one that's
just as resonant today as it was when it first aired. "I still believe that
sketch may be a cure for low-level depression if watched regularly," Amy
Poehler, one of its stars, wrote in her autobiography.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfE93xON8jk
SNL
"Black Jeopardy With Tom Hanks" (2016)
Making funny and unique political sketches during Trump's campaign and
presidency has been a challenge: The humor is often predictable, and the
subject matter of the jokes, fleeting. This edition of "Black Jeopardy,"
which aired on the eve of the 2016 presidential election, stands as one of
the best examples of recent political sketch comedy.
The fake game show quizzes contestants on aspects of black culture. In this
version, Tom Hanks plays a rural, white, MAGA-hat-wearing voter, and to the
surprise of everyone, turns out to have a lot in common with the two black
contestants on the show. The sketch managed to offer timely, funny and
incisive political commentary without a single Trump impersonation, and it
spawned think-pieces about how voters are depicted by the media. "It had more
to say about class and race than a thousand tenderly crafted portraits of the
white working class," wrote one prominent political columnist. It also
achieved another rare feat in a hyper-polarized time: Both conservatives and
liberals found it funny.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://youtu.be/O7VaXlMvAvk
"MADtv"
"Ms. Swan" (2002)
No one is really basking in "Ms. Swan" nostalgia. These days, the sketches
featuring the recurring character mostly get sent around to prove a point
about the kind of "problematic" stuff TV networks used to air.
Fox's "MADtv" tried to give "Saturday Night Live" a run for its money by
showcasing a different kind of comedic taste. It had a more diverse cast than
SNL, and it focused heavily on pop culture parodies. The "Ms. Swan" sketches,
among the most widely remembered of "MADtv's" work, were also a harbinger of
future debates over comedy and representation. (Sound familiar?)
Alex Borstein, who has Hungarian, Mongolian, Russian and Polish roots, wrote
in a Los Angeles Times op-ed that her character, who hailed from the
fictional country of Kuvaria, was based on her own "spunky" grandmother, "an
immigrant who toys with her ability to speak and understand English as it
suits her." Ms. Swan was "an amalgamation of many nationalities," but many
people saw, and still see, Ms. Swan as a stereotypical Asian lady with an
exaggerated accent - an example of the sort of "edgy" comedy from the early
aughts that more overtly trafficked in racial stereotypes.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U0GHVrurDg
"Kroll Show"
"Too Much Tuna" (2013)
John Mulaney and Nick Kroll on "Kroll Show." (Luke Fontana)
Like starting a food truck before opening a restaurant, a comedy sketch can
be a manageable testing ground for a much grander pursuit. The comedy sketch
to movie evolution has been done over and over, but the sketch to Broadway
performance to Netflix special? "Too Much Tuna" blazed a different kind of
path. Nick Kroll and John Mulaney had performed as Gil Faizon and George St.
Geegland around New York before, but "Kroll Show" brought the
septuagenarians' fake public-access prank show before a national audience.
The platform gave the duo enough juice to sell out a five-month run of their
play, "Oh, Hello on Broadway." That production also helped Mulaney rebound
after his failed sitcom: He's now a bigger star than ever, selling out a week
of shows at Radio City Music Hall and winning an Emmy for his acclaimed "Kid
Gorgeous" stand-up special.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfdMsxSjY3o
"Inside Amy Schumer"
"Last F---able Day" (2015)
Sometimes a sketch is the best vehicle to articulate a phenomenon that's so
pervasive and long-standing that it's just the wallpaper to our culture. Amy
Schumer managed to nab three massive stars to play themselves in this sketch,
and each delivers a pitch-perfect performance. Tina Fey, Patricia Arquette
and Julia Louis-Dreyfus have all gathered in a picturesque meadow to
celebrate the last day "Veep" star Louis-Dreyfus is considered romantic-lead
material by the entertainment industry. "You know how Sally Field was Tom
Hanks's love interest in `Punchline,' and then like 20 minutes later, she was
his mom in `Forrest Gump?' " Louis-Dreyfus notes. The women let loose, both
figuratively and literally (yes, there is a fart), as they joke about ageism
and the double standard that women in Hollywood face. Remember, this was
before #TimesUp inclusion-rider Oscar speeches.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPpsI8mWKmg
"Key & Peele"
"Substitute Teacher" (2012)
This sketch, which almost became a movie, helped secure "Key & Peele's" place
as the purveyor of outlandish yet relatable and subversive comedy. Key's Mr.
Garvey, an instructor from the inner city who is a substitute teacher in an
all-white classroom, is a flip of the white-teacher-inner-city classroom
trope. Mr. Garvey has trouble taking attendance with ridiculous, hard-to-
pronounce names such as "Aaron" and "Blake." ("A-a-ron, where are you?") The
comedy duo hadn't planned to post the sketch online for whatever reason, but
it blew up when they did. The sketch is highly quotable, having a substitute
teacher is a universal experience, and it's the perfect clip to send to
anyone who has one of the names Mr. Garvey butchers. Seven years later, the
humor still holds up, and "Substitute Teacher" stands as Comedy Central's
most-viewed YouTube video, amassing some 175 million views and counting. As
Peele said in an interview with the Week, "It's taught us a lot about how the
Internet works."
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://youtu.be/Dd7FixvoKBw
SNL
"First Presidential Debate: Al Gore and George W. Bush" (2000)
Election years are SNL's bread and butter. The sketch show has a long,
storied history of shaping the public perception of various political
figures. Perhaps nowhere did that happen more than with George W. Bush and Al
Gore, specifically with this sketch. The spoof of their presidential debate
set the stage for Will Ferrell's impersonation of Bush as a dimwitted yet
lovable guy that many have argued made the real Bush much more likable. After
it aired, cable news programs replayed the sketch over and over, multiplying
its effect: Gore's aides reportedly showed him Darrell Hammond's portrayal to
help the vice president for his second debate, and a senior adviser has said
the sketch hurt Gore's campaign. While the references may be dated now, the
terms the sketch birthed - "strategery" and "lockbox" - still get bandied
about in political analysis.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDgRRVpemLo
"Key & Peele"
"Continental Breakfast" (2013)
This sketch gives us a glimmer of the genre-bending that was to come from
Peele, a sketch comedian who would go on to win an Oscar while reviving
horror as a prestige genre and sparking a conversation over what makes a
comedy a comedy. In it, a traveler rabidly enjoying a complimentary
continental breakfast goofily indulges in muffins, cereal and yogurt, backed
by the music of Strauss, and exclaims, "I love being in continent!" It could
have ended on the pure joy, but it takes a hard turn. Peele's character
eventually breaks into tears and the bit ends on a spooky note, with a
callback to the final scene in "The Shining." (It also hints at themes of
psychological imprisonment, potentially an early iteration of the "the sunken
place" that would be explored further in "Get Out.") The old-timey photograph
shown at the end of the sketch would later hang in Peele's offices. And,
after making hundreds of sketches, winning prestigious awards and making two
films, it is this photograph - specifically, the close-up of Peele's frozen-
in-time character - that is his Twitter avatar, serving as his public face to
the world.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st21dIMaGMs
"I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson"
"Focus Group" (2019)
It would seem that streaming services, without the same kind of time and
content limitations as regular TV, would be perfect for sketches, but few
have risen above the fray and turned into mini pop-culture wonders. Enter the
"Focus Group" sketch, a prime example of how sketch can thrive in a post-
cable and network TV world. The premise: A focus group brainstorms their
dream features for a car, during which an older male participant keeps
hammering his point: The car should have "a good steering wheel that doesn't
fly off while you're driving." He's totally out there, with a distinct
haircut (bald, but with long hair?) and an accent that's difficult to place.
But the sketch takes an unpredictable turn away from "here's a weird guy with
bad ideas" when the others in the focus group stop reacting to him like he's
crazy and join him in making fun of another guy, Paul. What is this sketch
even about? Who cares. It's so zany and delightful, with a plethora of
memorable sound bites ("I think it's a good idea and I stand by") that can be
adapted to numerous scenarios - and, fittingly, have been turned into a bunch
of memes.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://youtu.be/8YDpvMYk5jA
"Inside Amy Schumer"
"12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer" (2015)
It seems a distant memory, but Schumer's show - which came before she turned
into a movie star and a somewhat divisive celebrity - was highly celebrated,
and this episode-long sketch shows why. The highly stylized black-and-white
parody spoofs the 1957 courtroom drama"12 Angry Men," except in this case,
the jurors have to decide whether Schumer is hot enough for TV. The sketch
has so many stars in it that just as you get a handle of your shock over one
(Jeff Goldblum), here comes another (Paul Giamatti). The cinematography is
excellent, and John Hawkes delivers an award-worthy acting performance as he
makes serious arguments and slowly convinces his fellow jurors that Schumer,
indeed, is hot enough. Along the way, we get to hear jokes about the double
standards women encounter. The entire sketch was a risk - how many Comedy
Central viewers have even seen the movie? - but the attempt at high lowbrow
humor became a big hit. And for this season, Schumer would go on to win the
Emmy for outstanding variety sketch series in the first year of the category.
To watch part of the sketch, click here.
http://www.cc.com/video-clips/1s36j0/inside-amy-schumer-a-reasonable-chub
"The Amanda Show"
"Judge Trudy" (2002)
Amanda Bynes as Judge Trudy on "The Amanda Show." (Nickelodeon)
Sadly, because of the time parameters we set, most sketches from the iconic
children's show "All That" don't qualify for this list. So, we've reserved
this spot for one of its inheritors. "The Amanda Show" was among a slew of
sketch comedy series that starred and targeted kids. At the time, Amanda
Bynes was considered a comedy prodigy, and her "Judge Judy" parody sketches
always ended with a bizarre, out-of-nowhere twist: dancing lobsters. It's so
out there and incongruent with the rest of the sketch, but it must have
seeped into a young generation's comedic temperament. We see it today via the
absurdist, nihilistic humor millennials use on Twitter. Those dancing
lobsters were the prelude to the break-dancing hot dog hanging with Soviet-
era icons.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3pbcMKsYi0
"Chappelle's Show"
"The Racial Draft" (2004)
This sketch first aired in 2004, but the premise - that races could have
delegations draft new members for their groups, much like in the NBA or NFL -
still resonates, as every so often, the joke comes back up on social media as
people argue over fictional trades. During the seven-minute Chappelle sketch,
Lenny Kravitz is drafted by the Jewish delegation, Tiger Woods gets drafted
by the black delegation and the same representative gives away Condoleezza
Rice to the white team. There are cameos from "Chappelle's Show" favorites
Mos Def (now known as Yasiin Bey) and the Wu-Tang Clan, who get drafted by
the Asian delegation. It's outrageous and silly, but it's also a cutting
examination of racial identity.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://youtu.be/2z3wUD3AZg4
"Portlandia"
"Put a Bird On It" (2011)
One of the clearest signs that a comedy sketch has made a dent is when people
start saying its signature line. Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein turned
the mundane into the magical by simply slapping images of birds on various
objects and exclaiming, "Put a bird on it!" After this, you saw bird patterns
on dresses (and "Portlandia" references) everywhere as the show became a
pioneer in how to make fun of distinct "hipster" habits. The vibe of this
sketch, which aired in the show's first episode, would set the tone for how
the series approached comedy: with highly specific settings and characters
who seemed normal but turned weird, all of whom were recognizable to you -
even if you had never been to Portland and asked about farm-raised chicken.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.ifc.com/shows/portlandia/video-extras/season-01/episode-02/put-
a-bird-on-it
"Robot Chicken"
"The Emperor's Phone Call" (2013)
"Robot Chicken" emerged during that strange time when entertainment companies
were figuring out how to make TV for the Web. Sony's Web streaming service,
Screenblast.com, developed and first aired the stop-motion sketch series.
Adult Swim picked it up, turning it into one of Cartoon Network's staple
programs and, eventually, into one of its longest-running shows. The series
specialized in skewering pop culture and indulging in more nostalgic
touchstones, such as in this particular Star Wars sketch, which is among its
most widely known. In it, Darth Vader calls Emperor Palpatine to report that
the Death Star has been destroyed, and Palpatine is just an exasperated boss
who puts Vader on hold so he can order a turkey club for lunch. Star Wars
creator George Lucas saw the sketch, and two years later, LucasFilms
participated in an entire episode dedicated to the space franchise, involving
the real-life Lucas as well as Luke Skywalker actor Mark Hamill; it was
nominated for an Emmy. The entire series showed that Internet sensibilities
could be adapted for a regular TV audience, who would, in turn, memeify
televised sketches.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F1d3QWsyk0
"Sarah Palin and Hillary Address the Nation" (2008)
So much of comedy is about timing. When all of the stars align so perfectly,
you end up with this sketch. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) and "Saturday Night
Live" maven Fey had two very different lives until they intersected in this
sketch, for which Palin - I mean, Fey - won an Emmy. Yes, it's uncanny that
Fey is essentially Palin's doppelganger, but the performance went beyond,
"Wow, they look alike!" The sketch birthed a catchphrase - "I can see Russia
from my house!" - that was, and still is, misattributed to the former
Republican vice presidential candidate. (The real-life Palin said, "You can
actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.") The
approach of this sketch showed how to poke fun at an unconventional
candidate. This was a time when repeating a slight variation of a
politician's own words in a comedy sketch was all you needed to do to
devastatingly make fun of them. How quaint.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSOLz1YBFG0
--
Watching Democrats come up with schemes to "catch Trump" is like
watching Wile E. Coyote trying to catch Road Runner.
Once confined to a stage, sketches unleashed themselves on our big glowing
boxes (TVs) before lying in wait on the Internet, ready to be summoned at any
moment on our smaller glowing rectangles (phones).
The past two decades have been especially defining for the medium. The
Internet, social media, politics, social mores, and public discourse on race
and gender have altered dramatically; sketch comedy has not only reflected
that, but has also helped propel those changes forward.
I set out to make a list of 20 defining sketches that captured this sea
change, starting with the year 2000. For the purposes of this list,
"defining" does not mean the "best" sketches, or even objectively funny ones.
What we find funny rapidly evolves, and not all jokes can stand the test of
time.
"Defining" can be a nebulous descriptor, but let's try to give some form to
it: Which sketches helped alter sketch comedy itself? Which exemplified or
popularized a certain kind of comedic sensibility? What permeated our shared
psyche or charted a new way through changing media?
To qualify, here are some ground rules: Sketches had to involve characters in
a short vignette that was written and plotted out, rather than improvised.
They must have been televised. (Sorry, I'm not combing through the graveyard
of Vine for content to judge.) They had to come from American shows.
The final list, which is in no particular order, includes sketches you've
seen, ones you haven't and a lot of "Saturday Night Live" - the natural
outcome of being the longest-running and most widely watched sketch series.
Yes, your favorite bit may be missing.
Throughout comedy's evolution, sketches have held a prominent place within
our culture. They can still give us a new shared language for the mundane.
They can allow us to process the serious or painful aspects of our existence.
Or, they can simply make us laugh.
Note: Some of the clips include vulgar language and content.
SNL
"More Cowbell" (2000)
If we had to explain to future generations how things went "viral" before
that word was associated with anything but a contagious disease, we might
point to this 2000 SNL sketch about Blue Oyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) The
Reaper." It's very weird and non-topical, but it somehow managed to infect us
all. For years after, its legacy followed around the real-life band, who had
to deal with fans at shows yelling for more - ha ha, get it! - cowbell. Will
Ferrell's physical comedy - his too-small shirt creeping up his belly as he
wildly struck his humble instrument - and Christopher Walken's, well,
Walken-esque delivery may have sold the sketch. However, two lines in
particular - "I need more cowbell" and "I got a fever, and the only
prescription is more cowbell!" - took over our brains and still hasn't let
go. (People are still out here in 2019 putting "cowbell" jokes on their
dating profiles.) Somehow, we all knew to laugh at this, tell each other
about it and repeat the lines over and over, without the digital public
square of Facebook and Twitter.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVsQLlk-T0s
SNL
"Lazy Sunday" (2005)
This music video may be more Weird Al than classic sketch comedy, but what
"Lazy Sunday" accomplished secures its place on this list. When the rap by
Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell first aired in 2005, TV was still being made
with just TV in mind and YouTube was but a few months old. Their "digital
short" first blazed what is now a well-worn path for sketch comedy, becoming
one of the first bits from television that found a second life online,
amassing millions of views within days. After NBC raised a fuss to get the
YouTube clip taken down, people posted ripped versions. Regular people made
their own parody versions in a harbinger of viral challenges to come. "Lazy
Sunday" was asking for it: Its hardcore beat and lyrics that so ludicrously
contrast with a sweet premise (how to enjoy a lazy Sunday) were irresistible.
"The Office's" Michael Scott even made his own Scranton, Pa.-specific
version.
"Lazy Sunday" also raised the profile of comedy-factory the Lonely Island
(made up of Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer), and set a precedent
for infectious SNL song parodies that became instant viral sensations, such
as the Emmy Award-winning "D--- in a Box" and the rap Grammy-nominated "I'm
on a Boat."
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://youtu.be/sRhTeaa_B98
"Chappelle's Show"
"Frontline - Clayton Bigsby" (2003)
Dave Chappelle's presentation of a black white supremacist remains a fixture
of popular culture, still embedded in our public consciousness more than 15
years after it first aired. When Spike Lee first heard the pitch for
"BlacKkKlansman" - the 2018 movie based on a real story about a black cop
infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan in the '70s - he thought it was a remake of the
sketch.
"Clayton Bigsby" was inspired by a different, real event as "Chappelle's
Show" co-creator Neal Brennan has previously explained: After the
assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Chappelle's mixed-race, blind
grandfather boarded a bus in Washington, a city that was engulfed with riots.
Chappelle's grandfather overheard passengers talking about beating up a white
guy before he realized: Oh wait, I'm that white guy. The notion of a black
man unaware of his blackness was then taken to its extreme on the first
episode of "Chappelle's Show."
The premise is outrageous, as Chappelle plays a blind, black KKK member who
thinks he is white. The n-word is said by white people - repeatedly. There
are layers of jokes and an unforgettable exploding head. When Chappelle
introduced the sketch on air, he told the audience that a friend had already
watched it and said it set back the progress of black people. Chappelle
laughed about it then, but it was, and remains, a complex question: How does
one consider the audience when walking the line between skewering and
perpetuating racism? It is a question that would also be at the heart of
Chappelle's decision a few years later to walk away from the wildly
successful Comedy Central series.
To watch the sketch, click here and here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBC-9k3y1ew
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7oXFmuUHLQ
"Key & Peele"
"Obama's Anger Translator" (2012)
President Barack Obama brings out actor Keegan-Michael Key from "Key & Peele"
to play the part of Luther, the president's "anger translator," during his
remarks at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in 2015 in
Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)
SNL usually leads the pack for political sketch comedy, but it didn't do many
memorable pieces during the Obama presidency. "Key & Peele," however,
peppered its shows with some of the most cutting and unique societal
commentary during the era of the first black president, including the "Anger
Translator" sketches.
The recurring sketch featured Jordan Peele's "no drama Obama," as he was
called during his presidency, having to keep his cool in public, so he
enlists the services of an anger translator, Luther (Keegan-Michael Key).
When people such as Donald Trump circulated the conspiracy theory that Obama
wasn't born in the United States, or when Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) yelled
"you lie!" during Obama's State of the Union address, the real-life Obama
"couldn't come off like an angry black man, especially early on, so what
Luther says are things that ring true to us, and we felt like we were giving
the truth a voice in a lot of ways," Peele explained to NPR in 2013.
Every sketch features Peele's pitch-perfect Obama impression, calmly
discussing the matters before him, and then Key's Luther yells and lets
loose. Luther punctuated pivotal moments in Obama's presidency, such as in a
victory sketch that was posted online before Mitt Romney uttered a word of
his concession speech. Luther also stood alongside the real Obama as he gave
a speech at the White House correspondents' dinner in 2015.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX8tL3PMj7o
"Chappelle's Show"
"Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories - Rick James" (2004)
This sketch did many things. It put "Chappelle's Show" on the map; revived
Rick James's career, giving him newfound relevance after years away from the
spotlight; and spawned a catchphrase that would dog Chappelle for years. The
comedian heard, "I'm Rick James, bitch!" everywhere, with hecklers ruining
his stand-up performances and even family trips. (During a visit to Disney
World, people bombarded Chappelle with the phrase. "Hey man, hey," Chappelle
quipped during his 2004 stand-up special. "You mind not calling me a bitch in
front of my kids?")
The sketch was silly and unpredictable, featuring Charlie Murphy telling an
apparently true story about partying with the singer in the 1980s. (Murphy
also told a story about Prince in a different memorable sketch.) Chappelle
portrayed an outrageous young James, and the "Super Freak" himself gave his
side of the events and described his behavior with a now-classic line:
"Cocaine is a hell of a drug."
To watch the sketch, click here and here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdVAH8Z5O90
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddIz-ydl6Yk
SNL
"Debbie Downer" (2004)
It can feel cheap to get laughs from breaking in a sketch, as Liz Lemon
explains on "30 Rock," but sometimes the chaos of seasoned performers
breaking so intensely can be transcendent. Rachel Dratch introduced us to her
Debbie Downer character in this sketch, which made a murderers' row of
comedians laugh so severely that there was no use in hiding it. Horatio Sanz
used a waffle to wipe away his tears. The cast reportedly didn't know there
would be a sad trombone sound after Debbie said super depressing stuff, which
is what kicked off the cascade of onstage laughs. What followed from that
moment felt like a shared experience between cast and audience, one that's
just as resonant today as it was when it first aired. "I still believe that
sketch may be a cure for low-level depression if watched regularly," Amy
Poehler, one of its stars, wrote in her autobiography.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfE93xON8jk
SNL
"Black Jeopardy With Tom Hanks" (2016)
Making funny and unique political sketches during Trump's campaign and
presidency has been a challenge: The humor is often predictable, and the
subject matter of the jokes, fleeting. This edition of "Black Jeopardy,"
which aired on the eve of the 2016 presidential election, stands as one of
the best examples of recent political sketch comedy.
The fake game show quizzes contestants on aspects of black culture. In this
version, Tom Hanks plays a rural, white, MAGA-hat-wearing voter, and to the
surprise of everyone, turns out to have a lot in common with the two black
contestants on the show. The sketch managed to offer timely, funny and
incisive political commentary without a single Trump impersonation, and it
spawned think-pieces about how voters are depicted by the media. "It had more
to say about class and race than a thousand tenderly crafted portraits of the
white working class," wrote one prominent political columnist. It also
achieved another rare feat in a hyper-polarized time: Both conservatives and
liberals found it funny.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://youtu.be/O7VaXlMvAvk
"MADtv"
"Ms. Swan" (2002)
No one is really basking in "Ms. Swan" nostalgia. These days, the sketches
featuring the recurring character mostly get sent around to prove a point
about the kind of "problematic" stuff TV networks used to air.
Fox's "MADtv" tried to give "Saturday Night Live" a run for its money by
showcasing a different kind of comedic taste. It had a more diverse cast than
SNL, and it focused heavily on pop culture parodies. The "Ms. Swan" sketches,
among the most widely remembered of "MADtv's" work, were also a harbinger of
future debates over comedy and representation. (Sound familiar?)
Alex Borstein, who has Hungarian, Mongolian, Russian and Polish roots, wrote
in a Los Angeles Times op-ed that her character, who hailed from the
fictional country of Kuvaria, was based on her own "spunky" grandmother, "an
immigrant who toys with her ability to speak and understand English as it
suits her." Ms. Swan was "an amalgamation of many nationalities," but many
people saw, and still see, Ms. Swan as a stereotypical Asian lady with an
exaggerated accent - an example of the sort of "edgy" comedy from the early
aughts that more overtly trafficked in racial stereotypes.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U0GHVrurDg
"Kroll Show"
"Too Much Tuna" (2013)
John Mulaney and Nick Kroll on "Kroll Show." (Luke Fontana)
Like starting a food truck before opening a restaurant, a comedy sketch can
be a manageable testing ground for a much grander pursuit. The comedy sketch
to movie evolution has been done over and over, but the sketch to Broadway
performance to Netflix special? "Too Much Tuna" blazed a different kind of
path. Nick Kroll and John Mulaney had performed as Gil Faizon and George St.
Geegland around New York before, but "Kroll Show" brought the
septuagenarians' fake public-access prank show before a national audience.
The platform gave the duo enough juice to sell out a five-month run of their
play, "Oh, Hello on Broadway." That production also helped Mulaney rebound
after his failed sitcom: He's now a bigger star than ever, selling out a week
of shows at Radio City Music Hall and winning an Emmy for his acclaimed "Kid
Gorgeous" stand-up special.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfdMsxSjY3o
"Inside Amy Schumer"
"Last F---able Day" (2015)
Sometimes a sketch is the best vehicle to articulate a phenomenon that's so
pervasive and long-standing that it's just the wallpaper to our culture. Amy
Schumer managed to nab three massive stars to play themselves in this sketch,
and each delivers a pitch-perfect performance. Tina Fey, Patricia Arquette
and Julia Louis-Dreyfus have all gathered in a picturesque meadow to
celebrate the last day "Veep" star Louis-Dreyfus is considered romantic-lead
material by the entertainment industry. "You know how Sally Field was Tom
Hanks's love interest in `Punchline,' and then like 20 minutes later, she was
his mom in `Forrest Gump?' " Louis-Dreyfus notes. The women let loose, both
figuratively and literally (yes, there is a fart), as they joke about ageism
and the double standard that women in Hollywood face. Remember, this was
before #TimesUp inclusion-rider Oscar speeches.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPpsI8mWKmg
"Key & Peele"
"Substitute Teacher" (2012)
This sketch, which almost became a movie, helped secure "Key & Peele's" place
as the purveyor of outlandish yet relatable and subversive comedy. Key's Mr.
Garvey, an instructor from the inner city who is a substitute teacher in an
all-white classroom, is a flip of the white-teacher-inner-city classroom
trope. Mr. Garvey has trouble taking attendance with ridiculous, hard-to-
pronounce names such as "Aaron" and "Blake." ("A-a-ron, where are you?") The
comedy duo hadn't planned to post the sketch online for whatever reason, but
it blew up when they did. The sketch is highly quotable, having a substitute
teacher is a universal experience, and it's the perfect clip to send to
anyone who has one of the names Mr. Garvey butchers. Seven years later, the
humor still holds up, and "Substitute Teacher" stands as Comedy Central's
most-viewed YouTube video, amassing some 175 million views and counting. As
Peele said in an interview with the Week, "It's taught us a lot about how the
Internet works."
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://youtu.be/Dd7FixvoKBw
SNL
"First Presidential Debate: Al Gore and George W. Bush" (2000)
Election years are SNL's bread and butter. The sketch show has a long,
storied history of shaping the public perception of various political
figures. Perhaps nowhere did that happen more than with George W. Bush and Al
Gore, specifically with this sketch. The spoof of their presidential debate
set the stage for Will Ferrell's impersonation of Bush as a dimwitted yet
lovable guy that many have argued made the real Bush much more likable. After
it aired, cable news programs replayed the sketch over and over, multiplying
its effect: Gore's aides reportedly showed him Darrell Hammond's portrayal to
help the vice president for his second debate, and a senior adviser has said
the sketch hurt Gore's campaign. While the references may be dated now, the
terms the sketch birthed - "strategery" and "lockbox" - still get bandied
about in political analysis.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDgRRVpemLo
"Key & Peele"
"Continental Breakfast" (2013)
This sketch gives us a glimmer of the genre-bending that was to come from
Peele, a sketch comedian who would go on to win an Oscar while reviving
horror as a prestige genre and sparking a conversation over what makes a
comedy a comedy. In it, a traveler rabidly enjoying a complimentary
continental breakfast goofily indulges in muffins, cereal and yogurt, backed
by the music of Strauss, and exclaims, "I love being in continent!" It could
have ended on the pure joy, but it takes a hard turn. Peele's character
eventually breaks into tears and the bit ends on a spooky note, with a
callback to the final scene in "The Shining." (It also hints at themes of
psychological imprisonment, potentially an early iteration of the "the sunken
place" that would be explored further in "Get Out.") The old-timey photograph
shown at the end of the sketch would later hang in Peele's offices. And,
after making hundreds of sketches, winning prestigious awards and making two
films, it is this photograph - specifically, the close-up of Peele's frozen-
in-time character - that is his Twitter avatar, serving as his public face to
the world.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st21dIMaGMs
"I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson"
"Focus Group" (2019)
It would seem that streaming services, without the same kind of time and
content limitations as regular TV, would be perfect for sketches, but few
have risen above the fray and turned into mini pop-culture wonders. Enter the
"Focus Group" sketch, a prime example of how sketch can thrive in a post-
cable and network TV world. The premise: A focus group brainstorms their
dream features for a car, during which an older male participant keeps
hammering his point: The car should have "a good steering wheel that doesn't
fly off while you're driving." He's totally out there, with a distinct
haircut (bald, but with long hair?) and an accent that's difficult to place.
But the sketch takes an unpredictable turn away from "here's a weird guy with
bad ideas" when the others in the focus group stop reacting to him like he's
crazy and join him in making fun of another guy, Paul. What is this sketch
even about? Who cares. It's so zany and delightful, with a plethora of
memorable sound bites ("I think it's a good idea and I stand by") that can be
adapted to numerous scenarios - and, fittingly, have been turned into a bunch
of memes.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://youtu.be/8YDpvMYk5jA
"Inside Amy Schumer"
"12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer" (2015)
It seems a distant memory, but Schumer's show - which came before she turned
into a movie star and a somewhat divisive celebrity - was highly celebrated,
and this episode-long sketch shows why. The highly stylized black-and-white
parody spoofs the 1957 courtroom drama"12 Angry Men," except in this case,
the jurors have to decide whether Schumer is hot enough for TV. The sketch
has so many stars in it that just as you get a handle of your shock over one
(Jeff Goldblum), here comes another (Paul Giamatti). The cinematography is
excellent, and John Hawkes delivers an award-worthy acting performance as he
makes serious arguments and slowly convinces his fellow jurors that Schumer,
indeed, is hot enough. Along the way, we get to hear jokes about the double
standards women encounter. The entire sketch was a risk - how many Comedy
Central viewers have even seen the movie? - but the attempt at high lowbrow
humor became a big hit. And for this season, Schumer would go on to win the
Emmy for outstanding variety sketch series in the first year of the category.
To watch part of the sketch, click here.
http://www.cc.com/video-clips/1s36j0/inside-amy-schumer-a-reasonable-chub
"The Amanda Show"
"Judge Trudy" (2002)
Amanda Bynes as Judge Trudy on "The Amanda Show." (Nickelodeon)
Sadly, because of the time parameters we set, most sketches from the iconic
children's show "All That" don't qualify for this list. So, we've reserved
this spot for one of its inheritors. "The Amanda Show" was among a slew of
sketch comedy series that starred and targeted kids. At the time, Amanda
Bynes was considered a comedy prodigy, and her "Judge Judy" parody sketches
always ended with a bizarre, out-of-nowhere twist: dancing lobsters. It's so
out there and incongruent with the rest of the sketch, but it must have
seeped into a young generation's comedic temperament. We see it today via the
absurdist, nihilistic humor millennials use on Twitter. Those dancing
lobsters were the prelude to the break-dancing hot dog hanging with Soviet-
era icons.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3pbcMKsYi0
"Chappelle's Show"
"The Racial Draft" (2004)
This sketch first aired in 2004, but the premise - that races could have
delegations draft new members for their groups, much like in the NBA or NFL -
still resonates, as every so often, the joke comes back up on social media as
people argue over fictional trades. During the seven-minute Chappelle sketch,
Lenny Kravitz is drafted by the Jewish delegation, Tiger Woods gets drafted
by the black delegation and the same representative gives away Condoleezza
Rice to the white team. There are cameos from "Chappelle's Show" favorites
Mos Def (now known as Yasiin Bey) and the Wu-Tang Clan, who get drafted by
the Asian delegation. It's outrageous and silly, but it's also a cutting
examination of racial identity.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://youtu.be/2z3wUD3AZg4
"Portlandia"
"Put a Bird On It" (2011)
One of the clearest signs that a comedy sketch has made a dent is when people
start saying its signature line. Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein turned
the mundane into the magical by simply slapping images of birds on various
objects and exclaiming, "Put a bird on it!" After this, you saw bird patterns
on dresses (and "Portlandia" references) everywhere as the show became a
pioneer in how to make fun of distinct "hipster" habits. The vibe of this
sketch, which aired in the show's first episode, would set the tone for how
the series approached comedy: with highly specific settings and characters
who seemed normal but turned weird, all of whom were recognizable to you -
even if you had never been to Portland and asked about farm-raised chicken.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.ifc.com/shows/portlandia/video-extras/season-01/episode-02/put-
a-bird-on-it
"Robot Chicken"
"The Emperor's Phone Call" (2013)
"Robot Chicken" emerged during that strange time when entertainment companies
were figuring out how to make TV for the Web. Sony's Web streaming service,
Screenblast.com, developed and first aired the stop-motion sketch series.
Adult Swim picked it up, turning it into one of Cartoon Network's staple
programs and, eventually, into one of its longest-running shows. The series
specialized in skewering pop culture and indulging in more nostalgic
touchstones, such as in this particular Star Wars sketch, which is among its
most widely known. In it, Darth Vader calls Emperor Palpatine to report that
the Death Star has been destroyed, and Palpatine is just an exasperated boss
who puts Vader on hold so he can order a turkey club for lunch. Star Wars
creator George Lucas saw the sketch, and two years later, LucasFilms
participated in an entire episode dedicated to the space franchise, involving
the real-life Lucas as well as Luke Skywalker actor Mark Hamill; it was
nominated for an Emmy. The entire series showed that Internet sensibilities
could be adapted for a regular TV audience, who would, in turn, memeify
televised sketches.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F1d3QWsyk0
"Sarah Palin and Hillary Address the Nation" (2008)
So much of comedy is about timing. When all of the stars align so perfectly,
you end up with this sketch. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) and "Saturday Night
Live" maven Fey had two very different lives until they intersected in this
sketch, for which Palin - I mean, Fey - won an Emmy. Yes, it's uncanny that
Fey is essentially Palin's doppelganger, but the performance went beyond,
"Wow, they look alike!" The sketch birthed a catchphrase - "I can see Russia
from my house!" - that was, and still is, misattributed to the former
Republican vice presidential candidate. (The real-life Palin said, "You can
actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.") The
approach of this sketch showed how to poke fun at an unconventional
candidate. This was a time when repeating a slight variation of a
politician's own words in a comedy sketch was all you needed to do to
devastatingly make fun of them. How quaint.
To watch the sketch, click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSOLz1YBFG0
--
Watching Democrats come up with schemes to "catch Trump" is like
watching Wile E. Coyote trying to catch Road Runner.
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