Quick Laughs
(4 min read)
Goofy, quirky, oddball, fun. Comedy comes in all shapes and sizes, but there’s something special about the quick laughs found in the short-form comedies of the world.
Whether your comedy project is a short film, a sitcom series with 22-minute episodes, or a family-friendly trailer, the music can have a massive impact on comedic storytelling (just ask Steve Rasch and our friends at Universal Production Music about the timelessness of landing a library track as one of the most recognizable comedy theme songs of all time!). Of course, there are studio audience and laugh track sitcoms that need straight-up fun music to openly telegraph the light, easy tone of the program. And then there are the scripted varieties that come through many shades of eccentric characters, melancholy, and amusing misfortune.
For any of these varied situations, musical cues act like additional characters that can add depth, context, or even comedic contrast to the scene on screen.
Here are a couple of examples of the role comedy music can play in short films and television:
Provide the comedic confirmation/context of the absurdity of a situation and set the tone for the story to come with subtle scores and odd melodies.
Accentuate the on-screen buffoonery and hijinks with vibrant instrumentation, matching fast-paced animation and pratfalls.
Add tenderness and heart to the daily tasks of a quirky character, quickly establishing an emotional connection and investment.
Finding music for romantic comedy indie film trailers, animated shorts, or a live-action sitcom is no laughing matter (unless a kazoo is involved), but can still be as fun as the rest of the creative process. The music plays such a unique role that adds lasting impact to the humor and heart of a story, it simply requires intention and auditioning different cues to bring it all together.
From slapstick to subtle, we’ve put together a few options from across our labels of purpose-built production music for music supervisors and independent directors working on their next short-form comedy.
Kwer Key
Sketch comedy actors in scripted situations with off-the-cuff moments, where characters stumble through life with a balance of heart and hilarity.
This album approaches the depth of positive, emotional storytelling of Schitt’s Creek or Bill Hader-esque depressive tomfoolery.
Bananappeal
Oddball instrumentation that feels like a circus found its way into a general music classroom, some tracks are more bombastic than others.
The tracks with kazoos and ukuleles, might channel the kind of real-world-adjacent whimsy found in shows like Arrested Development.
(This album also happens to be among composer Sam Ecoff’s favorite Modus Operandi records.)
Odd Quirk
Sitcom, cool characters in fun situations. Light-hearted, lovable characters who find themselves in weird situations.
Think the fish-out-water, New Zealander humor of Flight of the Conchords, or the lovable naivety of the cast of New Girl.
Black & White Bites
Throwing it back (we’re talking waaaaay back) to the silver screen antics of folks like Buster Keaton or the Marx Brothers, this piano album provides a new soundtrack for comedies that can’t help but nod to the past.
The Ragtime, slapstick cues, and overly dramatic energy lend themselves to silly cartoons and quirky commercials or ads for baby/toddler products. But chase scenes in any era can always use some frantic piano jangle.
We Could Take Our Bikes
Balancing curiosity with intelligence, this album doesn’t stray too far one way or the other but certainly hits the cerebral indie, pseudo-melancholic mood.
While reflective, the edgy electric guitars and drums keep the momentum moving so things never get to Charlie Brown territory and always hold on to a bit of optimism.
It’d be easy to hear this as the sound of a movie trailer starring the affable Paul Rudd or a Netflix adaptation of a quirky YA coming-of-age novel.
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