10 Hilarious TV Shows For Fans Of Absurd Comedy

TV comedy can often conform to the same set of conventions, so it's refreshing to see shows which shake things up with surreal humor and strange storylines. These absurd comedies might not necessarily appeal to everyone, but they can be just as funny as other show on TV.

Absurd comedy often works by questioning the basics of storytelling and society that people often take for granted. Some TV comedies have the scope to interrogate anything and everything, using absurd characters and plot to throw a spotlight on the weird nature of real life.

10 Scrubs

J.D.'s Imagination Often Runs Wild

Scrubs takes place in a hospital, and its setting means that it can go to some incredibly dark places. J.D.'s way of dealing with this is often to retreat into his vivid imagination, and his absurd daydreams sometimes resemble surreal skits from a parallel universe.

His absurd daydreams sometimes resemble surreal skits from a parallel universe.

Scrubs also lets some of its bizarre humor leak into the show's reality. J.D.'s real world can be as strange as his imagination at times, especially since he's locked in an ongoing feud with the hospital's unnamed janitor, and a steady stream of eccentric patients can present bizarre medical mysteries. The upcoming Scrubs revival will have to recapture this original streak if the show is to make up for a dismal season 9.

9 Atlanta

Atlanta Gets Weirder With Each Season

There are definitely some unique quirks in Atlanta's first season, but nothing quite like what comes later. Donald Glover's irreverent comedy starts off as a surprisingly dramatic story about two cousins struggling to make an impact in the music industry. It ends as one of the most unpredictable shows on TV, with several episodes that tell anthology stories without any of the main cast.

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As Earn and his cousin get a foothold in the industry, season 1's concerns about money and status quickly fall away. This is when Atlanta transcends its setting and delves into surreal comedy, as if the fabric of reality begins to tear. The best episodes of Atlantaare often darkly hilarious stories about the absurdity of modern American society.

8 Regular Show

Regular Show's Name Is A Wry Joke

There isn't much about Regular Show that could be described as regular, and its surreal comedy means that it appeals to people of all ages. The set-up is immediately eye-catching, as the characters include a living gumball machine, a gorilla who skips everywhere and several anthropomorphic animals.

What's most intriguing about Regular Show is that it often gets even weirder than its premise might suggest. There's no way of anticipating what strange adventure Mordecai and Rigby will be thrown into, or what bizarre enemies they might face. Regular Show's surprising revival promises more of the same.

7 Monty Python's Flying Circus

Monty Python's Absurd Humor Has Influenced Comedians For Decades

The funniest absurd comedians of the 21st century - the likes of Eric Andre, Tim Robinson and the Daniels - all owe a great debt to Monty Python. The British sketch troop is the gold standard for absurd and surreal comedy, and Monty Python's Flying Circus shows how they developed before their movies. The show breaks down the silliness of political and social bureaucracy, urging their audience to question every assumption they have.

Monty Python's Flying Circus could be even weirder than their movies, although the show does contain the essence of some ideas that would later come up in Life of Brian, Holy Grail and The Meaning of Life. And Now For Something Completely Different is essentially a greatest hits catalogue, but there are countless gems to discover in Monty Python's glorious cavalcade of nonsense.

6 The Mighty Boosh

The Mighty Boosh Uses Music And Magic

Very much disciples of Monty Python, The Mighty Boosh started performing together on stage, but their self-titled TV show is what they're most known for. Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding's madcap comedy spends season 1 in a zoo before moving to a curiosity shop in London. The setting doesn't really matter, since both places are just springboards for bizarre adventures.

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The Mighty Boosh is famous for its strange characters, from the half-fish-half-human Old Gregg to the Crack Fox. Many of these characters are played by Barratt and Fielding themselves, as their funny-man and straight-man routine is pushed to the extreme. To add another dose of weirdness, The Mighty Boosh has some unforgettable songs.

5 What We Do In The Shadows

The Vampire Mockumentary Is One Of The Funniest Shows Of Recent Years

Inspired by the movie of the same name, What We Do in the Shadows is a mockumentary sitcom that follows a group of vampires living in New York City. Although there are a few dark journeys into the realm of horror, What We Do in the Shadows more often resembles an apartment-share sitcom.

Just like the movie, or perhaps even more so, What We Do in the Shadows gets a lot of comedic mileage from exploring the occult. Some of the show's best episodes explore different paranormal and mythological concepts. The ensemble cast excel at deadpan humor, which works brilliantly when supernatural beings and bizarre events become commonplace.

4 Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House Of Fun

The Short-Lived Sketch Show Deserves More Love

Also known for their internet videos and stage shows, Aunty Donna brought their unique brand of absurd humor to Netflix for one explosive season of sketch comedy. Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun sees the sketch trio letting their imagination run wild, coming up with heightened characters and impossible scenarios galore.

Aunty Donna followed Big Ol' House of Fun with a similarly absurd sitcom, Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe.

Everything Aunty Donna do deconstructs the tropes and the artifice of narrative storytelling that audiences implicitly let slide. Antagonists might simply walk away, a sketch might end for no apparent reason, and the story of each episode might end with a completely unearned moral that makes no sense. Just to prove a point, Aunty Donna occasionally prove that they can do more traditional comedy just as well as anybody else. Their style isn't for everyone, but those who click with Big Ol' House of Fun could become fans for life.

3 The Rehearsal

Nathan Fielder Continues To Forge New Paths In The World Of Absurd Comedy

Not content with revolutionizing American absurdist comedy with Nathan For You, Nathan Fielder has continued to innovate within his particular niche. The Rehearsal is a kind of reality show, just like Nathan For You, in which Fielder tries to break reality for his own comedic devices.

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Building from his awkward comedic persona, The Rehearsal sees Fielder trying to bend the world around him to the format of television. The result is a unique blend of fact and fiction, and it's never quite clear how much of his true self Fielder puts into his work. With The Rehearsal season 2 coming soon, it's best to expect the unexpected.

2 American Dad

American Dad's Absurdity Has Distinguished It From Family Guy And Other Similar Shows

When it first premiered, American Dad was seen as an odd successor to Family Guy, but it soon developed its own unique identity. While Family Guy and other animated sitcoms use their form to deliver an endless stream of creative gags, few shows make this inventive absurdity as important to their appeal as American Dad.

Once American Dad shook some of its political commentary out of its system, it evolved into an absurd sitcom, often propelled by Roger's countless personas and Stan's access to top-secret government sci-fi technology. This off-the-wall approach is what helps American Dad's rare moments of relatability really stand out. It's gotten better with time, meaning that many ofAmerican Dad's best episodes come later.

1 Toast Of London

Matt Berry Proves Himself To Be The Master Of Quirky Comedy Once More

Whether he's playing a minor role in shows like The Mighty Boosh or starring in shows like What We Do in the Shadows, Matt Berry can often be found in the strangest and funniest comedies on TV. Toast of London put Berry in the spotlight, and it's suitably bizarre.

The final season sees Toast traveling to Los Angeles, where Fred Armisen and Rashida Jones fit into the surreal comedy.

Toast of London follows a pompous actor on his escapades through a version of London that's scarcely recognizable. The names of the characters - such as Steven Toast, Rusty Halloween and Clem Fandango - give some indication of the show's zany humor. The final season sees Toast traveling to Los Angeles, where Fred Armisen and Rashida Jones fit into the surreal comedy.

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