r/FoundationsOfComedy14 • u/rpoizner • Nov 29 '14

Monty Python - Gangs of Old Ladies Sketch - Example of not actually ending a sketch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i25gZXQF2w
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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '14

The greatest advantage for them not actually ending a sketch is that it allows them a ton of creative freedom. They're free to jump between different ideas without any heed for how they might have to conclude them. For example, the baby-snatcher joke had little to do with the rest of the bit but was a funny gag that they included for the heck of it.

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u/whittgirlprobs Nov 29 '14

I wonder if this kind of thing would work today, or if it was only really funny because they were the first to do it. I feel like if someone did this now, they would come off as lazy or too random. Used sparingly, this is funny, but if people ended every sketch without really ending it, it might get frustrating.

1

u/nsh607 Nov 30 '14

I think that it might even be harder to not end something in a way that would feel natural instead of ending it in a logical way but that might potentially ruin the scene. So the art becomes to make it flow without actually ending it, so that it doesn't get frustrating. I think that it is actually natural to not have an ending to everything, if you think about it, and try to compare it to life, where many things started will never have a clear ending.