Recurring Sketch Characters

I like sketch writing, but I've always shied away from writing anything catchphrase based. I say this partly through snobbery and partly because I think they're a lazy format. It's just repetition, but it can be done well with the right setups - see The Fast Show aka my favourite sketch show.

Anyway, I've written two sketches over the last day which feature the same character with some recurring phrases. I enjoyed doing it as it's a challenge to work within certain limitations.

How many people on here have written recurring characters? I don't think I've seen any examples in 'Critique' before.

Quote: Winterlight @ August 9 2008, 2:37 PM BST

I like sketch writing, but I've always shied away from writing anything catchphrase based. I say this partly through snobbery and partly because I think they're a lazy format. It's just repetition, but it can be done well with the right setups - see The Fast Show aka my favourite sketch show.

Anyway, I've written two sketches over the last day which feature the same character with some recurring phrases. I enjoyed doing it as it's a challenge to work within certain limitations.

How many people on here have written recurring characters? I don't think I've seen any examples in 'Critique' before.

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I tend to write in 3s. So do 3 variations on one 'joke' and then leave it at that.

I think you're right - catch-phrase stuff just encourages laziness.

Had a couple of goes, but find it difficult to do more than three without becoming laboured. But then I find that repeat characters in sketch shows become tiresome very quickly. As do catchphrases in sitcoms. These seem to be are a very British tradition, dating back to music hall. You don't get them so much in American shows.

I don't even think its about retelling the same joke, rather a truth about the character. If you look at Lou and Andy for Little Britain the truth is that Andy likes to be over-dependent on Lou. But he shows this with different jokes: "I don't like it", getting out of the wheelchair, rejecting any newcomers.

Of course they went onto exhaust this but it was better than just one joke being repeated all the time. At least you didn't know which 'joke' Andy would perform as soon as the sketch started.

The Fast Show's Ted & Ralph was like a mini sitcom each week, so they're a great example of how to do it.

Quote: Seefacts @ August 9 2008, 5:54 PM BST

The Fast Show's Ted & Ralph was like a mini sitcom each week, so they're a great example of how to do it.

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Exactly, the truth was Ralph's love for Ted but there were loads of jokes to keep it fresh. In fact they made it a sitcom for a one-off special. Very good example.

I've tried Recurring Characters. It can make something funnier when people get to know the character. Sometimes it's the knowledge you build up that you're laughing at. If it's different people it wouldn't be so funny - so maybe I'm contradicting mysef because it wouldn't maybe be funny otherwise.

I actually prefer writing sitcoms and sketches with recurring characters. I like their familiarity. It's like a party and not being sure who is going to show up and when they do, Yippeee!! Hello again! Nice to see you...

To the snobs who look down on recurring characters: If you would examine your characters throughout your sketches (say, 20) you would definitely find that you only have about 3-5 characters with similar traits. In other words, you DO write recurring characters but with different names and/or physical qualities but their psychological essence is still the same.

Don't get me wrong:
I can appreciate the goal of a show like Mr Show whose objective is to avoid repeating a character but that doesn't mean I like that goal better than shows who DO have recurring characters. Again, I like the familiarity of a character. I liked Little Britain because of the recurring characters (especially the "vomit lady"). Yes, I know what they are going to say or do and I wait for it like a dog waiting for a biscuit---and I am as appreciative as one, too.

It's a lovely day here in the south east of England. I cannot think of a place I'd rather be. I feel extremely fortunate to be allowed to live here. California has nothing on this place. NOTHING!

I'm always writing the same couple of characters in my stuff!

Well among others, but there's one or two that always turn up. Under different names of course. Sly bastards.

Ha!!

Actually no.

But, now I've seen the light, perhaps that will change...

Quote: Skibbington von Skubber @ August 10 2008, 12:38 PM BST

If you would examine your characters throughout your sketches (say, 20) you would definitely find that you only have about 3-5 characters with similar traits. In other words, you DO write recurring characters but with different names and/or physical qualities but their psychological essence is still the same.

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Not sure I agree with that. In real life people are infinitely varied, and superficial similarities are usually misleading. While you can only draw a character in the broadest brushstrokes in a sketch, in my head as I am writing each new character comes to life as an individual, and I would hope an actor approaching the part would feel the same. Sketches populated soley by stock characters would soon become very boring to write and perform, and, I should imagine, to watch.

But in sketches characters reveal so little of themselves that they could represent almost an infinity of individuals. In a sketch the characters are new to us, so we do not know how they will react, the humour deriving as often as not from the unexpectedness of the response. Which is quite the opposite of recurring character comedy, where the wit lies in the ingenuity that sets up the anticipated response.

Any one done that profiling thing at work where they place you in one of 36 personality types.

But yah most authors stick to fairly fixed personality types.

And to be fair most recent skit shows have the same runner characters in first to last episode.

Developing a truly original and enganging character is quite an acheivment.

Mark Haddon has a good trick - put jobs, hobbies, looks, backstories, likes etc... in different hats, mix them up and pick one out of each hat. You end up with some unusual characters with lots of depth. And many hats.

Quote: Griff @ August 10 2008, 6:27 PM BST

Characters should reveal their personalities in sketches otherwise the sketch doesn't work. And we should know from the setup of the sketch how they are going to react - are they prissy, angry, silly, pompous, lecherous or whatever.

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Most of us can be all of those things, which is what makes people so fascinating, you can never predict entirely how they will react. In fact a common (and actually rather lazy) way out of a sketch is to have a character react in a way that turns the sketch on its head (e.g. Ronnie Corbett in the Rook sketch). That is the difference between a conventional sketch and recurring characters, particularly those relying on a catchphrase.

I quite like recurring characters like Mitchell and Webb's snooker commentators where the characters develop and reveal themselves. But I am not sure these really count as sketches.

The point is that after you've written a lot of sketches you realise that you have written your "obstructive housing officer" with exactly the same voice and attitude as the "bossy Arts council rep" that you wrote in a sketch six months ago, and both of them are just the same manifestation of your particular view of bureaucracy. The same character, just with different labels.

Yes, keeping it fresh is the challenge. But I do not think that being reductionist necessarily equates to being honest.