Research Proposal
Originating as far back as Ancient Greece, comedy is a popular and long-standing form of entertainment that has branched out into numerous subgenres. My parents don’t have a career in it but, like most people, they’ve always had an interest in comedy and have passed that on to me. As my sense of humor and appreciation for it grew, my mom or dad would insist on showing me some television show or movie that’s general focus was being funny. While my parents and I find similar things amusing, we do have different senses of humor that allow us to be exposed to new types of comedy. Due to my love for it and due to its popularity through mediums such as Monty Python, Chappelle’s Show, and Saturday Night Live, I plan on researching the history, evolution, and impact of sketch comedy. The question that I’m researching in order to answer is “What important texts are within the sketch comedy community, what genre do those texts belong to, how do they function within the community, and what overall impact do they have?” To start my research, I plan on interviewing a close friend of mine who is a member of a sketch comedy team and hopefully some other members of her team so that I can learn more about the community from a personal viewpoint and identify some important texts. From there, I will be able to research more specific aspects of sketch comedy so that I can answer my question.