The History of Sketch Comedy: A Journey through the Art and Craft of Humor

This boisterous debut from Keegan-Michael Key, half of the sketch comedy duo Key & Peele, and his wife Elle, a director and producer, adapts their podcast of the same name to the page. Examining how humor has evolved since ancient times, they note that the first written joke dates back to 1900 BCE Sumer (“Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband’s lap”) and that the bent toward the scatological continued as the Greeks developed the art of theater around 600 BCE, with poop jokes scattered throughout Aristophanes’s plays. Tracing the emergence of sketch comedy, the Keys discuss how vaudeville acts adapted their stage routines for radio in the early 20th century before such comedians as Sid Caesar found success putting on sketches for variety television shows, anticipating the rise of Saturday Night Live and similar programs. The authors are as funny as one would expect (For “the longest time, it was just straight up... white people, white people, white people, Dave Chappelle, white people,” Key writes), and brief essays from Carol Burnett, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bob Odenkirk, and other comedy heavyweights offer revealing insights into their craft (Jordan Peele suggests the endurance of toilet humor stems from the “exultation” that comes from discussing taboo topics). This is a hoot. Illus. (Oct.)