Audiences have laughed to sketch comedy shows for decades. The formula is simple: come up with the most absurd characters, put them into ridiculous situations, and make them poke fun at everyday life, society, and pop culture. Despite the exaggeration, when done well, sketch comedy can be the pot of gold that is the perfect balance of wit, weird, and wild entertainment.
As for the 2010s, it was a thriving landscape for comedy. The sketch shows spread across clever and outrageous premises garnered the most laughs. These shows brought everything – from celebrity parodies and nonsensical backstories to political satire and awkward infomercials. They glorified the little moments and quirks that make us human and made honest fun with them.
Filled with biting jokes and stretchy silences, the sketch comedy shows of the 2010s refused to hold back. They confidently and fearlessly made fools of themselves to make the audiences laugh. And it is from these uncomfortable places where humor flourishes. The decades best remind us that there is joy in the strange, stupid, and embarrassing moments of life and how important it is to inject comedy into culture so we can always have something to laugh about. Let’s dive into sketch comedy shows that are a remedy for our souls
14 Alternatino with Arturo Castro
If you’re someone who’s spent their life feeling like an outcast, like you don’t belong, or like you can never be in your element at a certain place, then Arturo Castro’s show will give the feeling a humorous spin. Alternatino with Arturo Castro is a sketch show created by and starring Arturo Castro as he pulls in his own experiences as a Mexican-American growing up in the Midwest and shows how he built a life around it. Through hilarious sketches, he highlights the strangely relatable micro-aggressions of daily life and how he deals with awkward cultural differences. A couple of standout sketch feature Castro going about his early career days and attending cocktail parties as the only brown guy in the room. Airing only in 2019, Alterantino’s short but relatable comedy left a lasting and cultural impact on television comedy.
13 Friends of the People
Aired on TruTV in 2014, Friends of the People is a collection of bizarre characters in absurd situations that somehow strike a chord and feel oddly familiar. Kevin Barnett, a fantastic stand-up comedian who wrote for Broad City and The Carmichael Show, co-created the show with a bunch of comedic geniuses. Each sketch introduced an unbelievable duo, from wannabe mobsters to mediocre superheroes, vying for laughs with their weird and unhinged physical comedy and line delivery. With a star cast including Jennifer Bartels, Jermaine Fowler, Lil Rel Howery, The Lucas Bros., and more, Friends of the People crafted a world of its own, filled with crazy characters stuck in utterly deranged situations, earning its name as one of the most original and imaginative sketch comedies of recent years.
12 Adam Ruins Everything
Adam Ruins Everything spins a fun take around some of the most popular and universal misconceptions that we, as a society, accept without question. It debunks the truths behind everything we hold close to our hearts but does it hilariously. Hosted by Adam Conover, the three-season comedy assigns doubts to basic ideas about culture, history, science, and entertainment. In each episode, Conover ruins something for the audience. From ruining sitcoms and night-outs to calling out Christmas and sleep, he leaves nothing out. Along the way, he tears apart basic logic and alternative facts using smug observations. But all the slashing does not, in any way, lessen the humor. In fact, the jokes turn out to be educating, whether you like it or not.
11 Kroll Show
Kroll Show flawlessly blends cringe comedy and nonsensical stages to create this three-season sketch anthology where he mocks pop culture and reality TV. Nick Kroll and a bunch of other comedians like Seth Morris, Jenny Slate, and John Mulaney, get together an introduce new characters and pretentious situations – all while maintaining the humor and energy it demands. The show uses comedy violently, it creates an environment of strained social politeness, but the characters make you laugh through all the discomfort. A few particularly memorable episodes come from the cast playing fan-favorite characters like the Too Much Tuna guys and Liz and Liz with their publicity company known as ‘PubLIZity’. Basically, Kroll Show had one rule when it came to comedy. Cringe is king.
10 Key & Peele
Kegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele’s sketch comedy show needs no introduction. Through Key & Peele, the long-serving comedians paved the way for humor in national conversations. They used brilliant jokes and subversive satire to tackle issues that remain uncomfortable and untouched in society. The sketches covered topics from far and wide. Slavery, urban legends, superhero movies, and presidential politics, you name it. The duo’s willingness to go there and see the importance in speaking about things that matter earned Key & Peele widespread acclaim as well as two Prime Time Emmys and a Peabody Award. Their spot-on impressions have made them comedy legends, and their show remains a landmark of humor and sketch comedy.
9 Comedy Bang! Bang!
On the surface, Comedy Bang! Bang! seems like any other talk show with its interview-styled staging and hearty jokes here and there. But the sketch variety show that takes after Scott Aukerman’s popular podcast of the same name is actually a fun maneuver toward comedy using over-the-top characters, unfiltered and hilarious dialogue, and bizarre celebrity guests between segments. Every episode swerves into a new direction as Aukerman crafts his comedic genius into memorable sketches. From new guests showing how to prepare for a zombie apocalypse and bragging about their banjo skills to recurring characters battling to rise up the ranks, Comedy Bang! Bang! uses odd logic and crams more and more jokes into its 30-minute time.
8 The Baroness Von Sketch Show
Seeing a female-led show in a sketch comedy world dominated by male comedians is as refreshing as it is entertaining. The Baroness Von Sketch Show is a Canadian show brought in for the American audience starring Carolyn Taylor, Aurora Browne, Meredith MacNeill, and Jennifer Wahlen as the cruise around the everyday challenges of women and society’s perceptions of their roles and responsibilities. From pretentiously ordering the perfect cup of coffee to voicing out their opinions on office politics, these ladies blend feminism into pointy humor and awkward pleasantries. It never gets as serious, though, and the sketch comedy holds its own while still blowing things out of proportion in an exceptionally entertaining way. Fans of Portlandia are sure to find it the most relevant.
7 W/ Bob & David
Starring Bob Odenkirk and David Cross in the reprisal of Mr. Show With Bob & David, the sketch comedy is the truest form of the art even seen on television. Bob and David started their comedy career with cross-country road trips and college radio before finally landing a big production. While Bob Odenkirk has had a prestigious run in drama thrillers like Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, David Cross has also won great praise in writing for SNL and The Ben Stiller Show. After a bunch of critically acclaimed appearances and playing fan-favorite characters, the duo used their experience and talent to add an absurd sensibility to W/ Bob & David. The show features ridiculous characters and deadpan dialogue delivery in a lo-fi setting. It’s a shame that the show is only four episodes long because it definitely had the potential to become a comedy classic.
6 Inside Amy Schumer
Amy Schumer’s sketch comedy show ranks high in its wit, humor, and sheer confidence. Inside Amy Schumer gives us a peek into the creatively clever brain of the comedian. Each episode features a selection of neatly fabricated sketches, sit-down interviews, bits and pieces from stand-up specials alongside original pieces. The sketches take a hilarious approach to taboo topics and poke fun at issues that otherwise circulate in hush-hush whispers. Some notorious sketches include “12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer”, “I’m Sorry”, and “Mom’s Night Out”. Inside Amy Schumer parody privilege and everyday misogyny, and Schumer uses the platform to unabashedly address truths about women and society. Overall, the show is outrageously funny, and Amy serves every joke as an insightful call to action.
5 A Black Lady Sketch Show
Thriving with representation, A Black Lady Sketch Show is a sketch comedy series created by and starring Robin Thede alongside a strong ensemble of women comedians like Ashley Nicole Black, Gabrielle Dennis, and Quinta Brunson. Every week, the show features a quality selection of sketches to showcase the unprecedented talent and engaging perspective of black women in entertainment. The show uses rhythmic talking to touch upon everyday topics and culturally prominent themes, such as anxiety, relationships, social media, and religion. Theda is well-versed in comedy and the industry’s expectations of women, and her experience only allows her to indulge in the need for diverse voices and create a show that is a deft counterpart to mainstream sketch comedy.
4 I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson
Tim Robinson is as creative as they come. Being an SNL alum, the comedian has incredible experience with writing and performing. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson is an absurd, short, and extremely entertaining sketch comedy series starring Robinson himself and a cast of previous and current SNL performers delivering awkward, cringe-worthy content in their deadpan style. The sketches parody infomercials, game shows, talk shows, and more. The catch, however, is that the cast gets to involved in the secondhand embarrassment and illogical premises that they end up driving someone so mad they want to leave. Whether it is through pointless arguments to ceaseless rants, I Think You Should Leave does not miss a chance to embrace comedy as an unbearable force of laughter.
3 Portlandia
Portland, Oregon’s hipsterdom, the people, places, and pastimes of the city come to life in Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein’s Portlandia. The sketch comedy, which was simply an internet thing before it was pitched to IFC, parodies the town and its absurdities with striking humor. From quirky small businesses and ironic trinkets to obscure hobbies and amusing moral dilemmas, the show doesn’t leave a single stone unturned. You’d think that limiting the material to Portland would constrain the comics after a while, but the show surpassed all expectations and had a solid run for eight long seasons, all of which were absolutely consistent in humor and deadpan delivery. Despite being ironic and pretentious, Portlandia develops a deep sense of belonging and nostalgia for a simpler time, cementing itself as a classic of the early 2010s counterculture.
2 Sherman’s Showcase
’70s dance favorites Solid Gold and Soul Train receive a hilariously fresh spin through IFC’s Sherman’s Showcase. Starring Bashir Salahuddin as Sherman McDaniels and Diallo Riddle as Dutch Shephard, the sketch comedy show creates the atmosphere of a fictional musical variety show as a homage to 40 years worth of music and entertainment. The show features a bizarre selection of skits, musical performances, and political roundtables channeled through the era’s aesthetic. It satirizes pop culture nostalgia, bad fashion, and cheesy imitations backed by funny songs and catchy choruses. Sherman’s Showcase is quite brilliant as it uses the familiarity of the ‘60s and ‘70s to capture strange insights into humanity and the growth seen by the industry.
1 The Birthday Boys
Initially, The Birthday Boys was simply a group of dude-comedians consisting of Jefferson Dutton, Dave Ferguson, Micheal Hanford, Tim Kalpakis, Matt Kowalick, Mike Mitchell, and Chris VanArtsdalen. When the bunch put their improv skills on camera, the result was an iconic sketch comedy show titled The Birthday Boys. Produced by Bob Odenkirk (who also pops up as a recurring character on screen), the show uses a combination of solo acts and multicast performances to influence the comedy world with its creatively funny take on real-life situations and pop culture joys. Its inspiration from sketch-comedy-holy-grails like Monty Python and Kids in the Hall is very prominent amidst dramatic monologues, awkward silences, and aimless tropes that are perfectly suited for a late-night watch. Overall, the crisp two-season outing weaves comedic gold out of written premises.
