No laughing matter: How sketch comedy can enlighten designers
Originally submitted as an academic paper for the winter graduate seminar in design at the University of Washington
A few weeks ago, I went down the rabbit-hole of watching old Saturday Night Live videos. I came across this hilarious digital short about an Amazon Echo that could cater towards the nonsensical requests of the senior population. After I wiped the tears from my eyes and stopped chuckling, it hit me: the writers and actors in this sketch could actually be proficient designers. Even though it was outrageous, the level of creativity put into this speculative Echo was impressive. So, I searched for more sketches of product spoofs; the more I found, the more I was convinced of the uncanny similarity between these sketch comedians and designers. I saw slick re-renderings of everyday products embedded with puns, mock commercials describing all of the things we would never say out loud about products, and interface elements that were ridiculous and desirable at the same time.
After seeing this, I was convinced that comedians had something to offer as designers and that designers could learn something from their methods. Comedians have an extraordinary ability to extract meaning from the objects around us, creatively speculate, and make critique inappropriate in all the right ways. Aren’t these traits we want to see in designers? From graphic designers to systems designers and everyone in between, there’s value in observing sketch comedians and learning from their methods.
Making the connection between comedic methods and design is not entirely new. One of the most prevalent associations is actually framing comedians as unheralded user experience designers. In his piece “How Comedy Can Help You Become a Better Designer,” user experience and interaction designer Marwan Achmar describes the connection between his field and comedy like this: “Comedy writers point out the same errors in design you may find in a UX report. It’s all these little things that make no sense, that we, as users, have all experienced” (Achmar 2014). Comedians have keen, critical viewpoints, but they are also adepts at grasping the illogical moments of our daily lives. Achmar goes on to add that comedians “kind of reverse-engineer [products]. They try to find out why, how, and when the design process went wrong” (Achmar 2014). Following this logic, comedians’ jokes aren’t merely jokes — they almost serve as a detective’s notes on a never-ending case of perfect design.
On a parallel track, several connections have been made between comedic improvisation and design innovation. Designer and University of Minnesota professor Barry Kudrowitz, one of the foremost experts on humor and creativity, has researched improv’s effect on product ideation. Kudrowitz states that “humor production, or wit, is perhaps the area that is most related to product design creativity. It is believed that both wit and product design innovation involves making non-obvious connections between seemingly unrelated things” (Kudrowitz 2010). Accomplished urban designer, researcher, and professor Aseem Inam of Cardiff University also takes special interest in what improvisational comedy skills can open up for designers. In a 2015 paper, Inam identifies comedians and designers as professionals who both share the ability to innovate, often spontaneously. However, Inam highlights the equally important ability for comedians to see the big picture: “there are design cultures that place such a high value on innovation and novelty that [designers] may fail to notice design solutions that appear to be obvious, yet can be highly intelligent in their simplicity.” Inam later adds: “Comedy improvisers regularly dare each other to be dull….being obvious and being innovative are not mutually exclusive, yet this can be a common tension in design” (Inam 2010). Not only are comedians extremely creative, they have the percipience to contextualize and maximize innovation.
In summary, there’s a precedent for comedy informing design practice. Nonetheless, the question remains: what distinct qualities does sketch comedy offer design? Simply put, sketch comedy acts as a unique form of meaning making, speculation, and critique. Its collaborative and palpable nature make it informative and powerful for design practice and pedagogy. Therefore it’s worth exploring the dimensions of sketch comedy to extract meaning and applications for designers.
Sketch Comedians or Speculative Designers?
In the book Speculative Everything, Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby contend that speculative design “thrives on imagination and aims to open up new perspectives…[it creates] spaces for discussion and debate about alternative ways of being” (Dunne and Raby, 2014). If anything, sketch comedians are the masters at creating discussion about zany parallels we could be living in.
Saturday Night Live is exemplary of this phenomenon and worth analyzing because its sketches are done at such a high level. Let’s take a look at a recent SNL sketch called Pelotaunt, based on the popular Peloton stationary bicycles. The new product re-imagines Peloton’s interactive, virtual classes having brutally honest instructors, motivating riders with passive aggressive remarks (“Regina King; Nathaniel Rateliff” 2021). The interface on the virtual class seamlessly blends in with the real-life aesthetics of the Peloton platform. The revamped Peloton logo is humorous and effortless at the same time. Working hand in hand, humor and slick visuals make this speculative design believable and ashamedly desirable.
Packaging and delivery this effective are attractive enough to entertain the possibility of wanting these speculative products in the real world. This here is one of the keys that sketch comedy holds when done right. The capacity to render objects anew is captivating; coupled with humor, these elements help us grasp the alternative ways of being that may be outlandish and even encourage us to delight in new perspectives. In this way, sketch comedians not only possess abundant imaginations but offer glimpses to our alternative ways of being.
A Refreshing Take on Critiques
Another intriguing quality of sketch comedy is its ability to transcend the limitations and flaws of design critique. Revisiting improv comedy for a moment can add some insight. Referencing the inner workings of critiques, Aseem Inam highlights comedy’s ability to slice through tense design spaces. Inam says that “status negotiations are apparent in brainstorming sessions and design reviews, where designers try to achieve higher status by publicly critiquing others’ work” (Inam 2010). Inam contends that improv is a tool to break down egos of design groups and facilitate teamwork. If improv comedy can be used as an active participatory tool, then sketch comedy is the counterpart that serves as evaluative entertainment. Sketch comedy’s absurdity ironically allows for honest yet approachable deconstruction of design. While humor bypasses status and convention to deliver joy and laughter, the truth ingrained within this type of critique still resonates. Jokes are funny because of the elemental truths that we recognize about ourselves — this naturally extends to the objects and experiences that we design.
One great example of this is Comedian Julio Torres’ multimedia special My Favorite Shapes, which blends sketch, prop, and stand-up comedy to take viewers into his bizarre mind. Torres satirizes everyday design within an elaborate set, using a conveyor belt to import objects that are the stars of the show (Torres 2019). Torres “offers silly stories about everyday items” and “skewers the design of something, suggests an improvement, or explores its deeper meaning” (Wallace 2019). Admittedly, some of Torres vignettes prompt an eye roll or two as he propels viewers through an absurd tour of his consciousness. On the other hand, Torres’ vignettes make us really question the importance of everyday artifacts. Why is the curtain that separates a plane’s first class from the main cabin so essential? Who decided to make the Ferrero Rocher chocolate packing this pretentious? These questions are seemingly trivial, but by asking them, Torres successfully implores us to analyze the objects that perpetually influence our interactions and experiences with one another.
Visualizing Translation
The power of sketch comedy also lies in the ability to articulate our raw, inappropriate internal dialogue into a visual (often archivable) medium. It’s arguably what sketch comedians do best, and subsequently, viewers respond. We laugh together watching fictional characters obsess over the products we love. Our imaginations are captured seeing re-rendered products doing all the things we wish they would. We empathize with frustration and connect with other people verbalizing the nonsensical, maddening experiences in our lives. In short, sketch comedy is a powerful visual translation.
A hilarious example of this translation is the show Alternatino with Aturo Castro, particularly in the flippant sketch “The Man Behind the World’s Ugliest Buildings.” In it, Castro plays the fictional architect Gerhardt, who is renowned for designing the world’s best “above-ground basements” like Laguardia Airport. In the video, Gerhardt marvels in his abilities: “I want you to feel too close to the man beside you. I want you to feel too far from the restroom…struggle to have a meal without a table or surface” (Castro). The scene then cuts to a fictional commenter who complains: “You walk into one of these buildings, and your whole body just says, ‘Wow… this sucks.’”(Castro). What sketches like these do beautifully is elicit and embody the honest viewpoints of the experiences that have been designed for us. We connect with sketch comedians ability to read our minds, then we laugh because they’re so damn good at making it funny.
Takeaways
Sketch comedy has great applications for designers of all types, from mere observation to actual participation. Not only could it enhance their practice, but it could add needed humor into their process.
Taking an active approach, design groups could benefit from writing sketches to to flex their speculative creativity through an accessible, collaborative, and freeform medium. Furthermore, designers can invest in participating in sketch comedy workshops, performances, or videos to create value in their teams and in their work. Deeper connections with colleagues can be made and a fun factor will likely be brought into any workspace.
Observing sketch comedy can also offer new methods for design critique. By putting ego aside and laughter at the forefront, designers who engage with pertinent comedic critiques can build a deeper understanding of their design strengths and shortcomings — all while keeping a smile. Lastly, simply staying in tune with new sketch comedy shows and bits can be valuable to gain insight into our cultures. Marwan Achmar puts it simply: “So much can be learned from society from its cultural production. Comedy shows provide an easy access” (Achmar 2014). In the same way, Aseem Inam talks about comedy shedding light on the users that designers focus on. Inam contends: “we can gain some knowledge of who they are, how they think, what they like… I try to identify which stand-up act he/she would like. It represents much more than just a type of sense of humour” (Inam 2010). Sketch comedy is no different. Through sketch comedy, we notice the nuances of product meaning and experiences through lasting visuals. Comedy is a bridge to learn about the values and tenets of any society. Designers can study sketch comedy to identify what resonates with individuals and craft more empathetic, appropriate products and services for them.
Conclusion
To conclude, sketch comedy is a medium that has been largely unexplored in regards to its connection with design. Upon analysis, sketch comedians share many commonalities with designers of all types. Sketch comedians are expert meaning-makers, have top-notch speculative design abilities, provide refreshing critiques, and effectively articulate our human experiences to connect with audiences. Not only can designers actively incorporate sketch comedy elements into their practice, but they can also utilize sketch comedy as a tool to empathize with their target audiences. Furthermore, including humor into design can produce more delight within design practice and in the experiences designers deliver to the world.
References
Achmar, Marwan. “How Comedy Can Help You Become a Better Designer.” Medium. Medium, March 20, 2014. https://medium.com/@shawram/how-comedy-can-help-you-become-a-better-designer-cadd1e56910b.
Castro, Arturo. “The Neighbor.” Episode. Aleternatino With Arturo Castro 1, no. 7. Comedy Central, July 30, 2019.
Dunne, Anthony, and Fiona Raby. Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming. MIT Press, 2014.
Inam, Aseem. “Navigating Ambiguity: Comedy Improvisation as a Tool for Urban Design Pedagogy and Practice.” Journal for Education in the Built Environment 5, no. 1 (July 1, 2010): 7–26.
Kudrowitz, Barry, and Wallace, David. “Improvisational comedy and product design ideation making non-obvious connections between seemingly unrelated things.” Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Design and Emotion. 2010.
“Regina King; Nathaniel Rateliff.” Episode. Saturday Night Live 46, no. 12. New York City, New York: NBC, February 13, 2021.
Torres, Julio. My Favorite Shapes by Julio Torres. United States: HBO, 2019.
Wallace, Rachel. “Comedy and Design Collide in Julio Torres’s New HBO Special.” Architectural Digest. Architectural Digest, August 8, 2019. https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/julio-torres-hbo-special-my-favorite-shapes.
