TYPE OF SKETCH:

Time Travel parody, with some dark humor and satire.

SHOW: Astronomy Club: The Sketch Show

HOW I FELT:

I was delighted by this sketch! Mmmm, yes, quite delightful! Unless of course you don’t like dark humor. There’s so much going on it tickled my brain trying to keep track of it all and wondering what they’d throw at me next!

WHAT WORKS FOR ME:

The costumes, the execution of the game in both the dialog and visually, basically serves up an Easter egg hunt to watch for the jam packed games being played in the periphery and the dialog! There were so many puns, similes, and physical comedy going on I re-watched this sketch several times to write this post! And enjoyed doing it each time!

The double entendres like “the beef” and the understatement after the violins picked up and guests huddled around; “it seems we’ve attracted attention” both made me laugh out loud.

STRUCTURE/ EXPOSITION

Pov: Disputes aren’t ‘worth your lives’

Who: Two Wealthy Ladies

What: Have a ‘shade off’ or argument

Where: At an elegant party

Game: multiple puns and physical comedy of

Premise based improv scene initiation:

I can’t believe you’d give me shade in a passive aggressive backhanded way!

Or maybe:

I can’t believe you’d bring up our beef during my party as an uninvited guest so I’ll insult you right back.

GAME BEATS:

There were so many instances of insults and wordplay that it was structured a little bit like a #ListSketch. Part of the heightening in that was the speed and intensity of the delivery of them. As well as varying up the physical gestures or props used to emphasize their insults. One of the things they do well during the game is to vary up whom else in the audience they check in with while the insults are being hurled. The violinists, the two gentlemen, the couple. When one of the guests goes too far and starts shouting from excitement it felt a bit like the concept of resting the game to me. #RestingTheGame is a technique where for a moment the main game of the sketch is paused to re-establish the reality of the setting or the everyday moment. In this instance it was a major shift in focus of the animosity between the two ladies being directed towards the guest so much so that he ended up peeing his pants.

ENDING:

The #turn or turning point of the sketch was when the elderly woman shouts at them to settle their disputes in private and I’d argue voices the point of view of the sketch writers for this piece. The characters choose to escalate to physical assaulting by one with a sugar cube and the other retaliates by shooting her with a pistol going from 0-60 in physical violence in mere seconds.

I thought the tone leaned towards the more farcical side but not overly so. It was grounded in, if not the facts at least our ideas of, a Victorian era tea party.

I loved the creativity of combining an insult war with the time period and their dedication to that period made the ending pop so well for me!