Sketch Comedy Writing Read online

  Sketch Comedy Writing: Insider Secrets

  Written By: Israel Savage

  Foreword By: Scotty Watson

  INstudios-NYC.com

  ©2017 Improvisation News

  ©Copyright 2017 by Improvisation News and IN Studios - All rights reserved.

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  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

  I love artistic collaboration, especially with fantastic people like these:

  Primary Book Contributors:

  Liz Parish

  Mike Coyne

  Frank Logan

  David Drake

  Joe DiNozzi

  Darien DeMaria

  Scotty Watson

  And thanks to Caren Skibell and Liz Parish for the proofreading!

  Over 9000 people have requested information about our improvisation and sketch team. The following people are/were selected from that pool as official team members:

  IN Team Members:

  Bonita Elery, Caitlin Vail, Carol Lee Sirugo, Catherine Santino, Chris O’Neill, Darrel Haynes, David Reyes, Elena Tarsitani, Ellen Ko, Emily Brock, Frank Logan, Irene Carroll, Izzy Wolfson, Johnny Harkins, Katherine Lazurus, Laura High, Liz Parish, Mark Hudson, Mark Levy, Mary Hynes, Michael Coyne, Michael Sause, Sasha Burgos-Conde, Syria Sarkar

  I also want to acknowledge all the Finalists for the team that performed on our stage and attended trainings and rehearsals, in addition to the hundreds of students and instructors at IN Studios in NYC. Emotionally-centered improvisation, Sketch Writing and Marketing has never been so rewarding or fun, thanks to all of you!

  Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank my very first Sketch Writing instructor and improvisation crush, Hilaury Stern!

  And finally, a special thank you to Gary Austin, Michael Gellman, Dave Razowsky & Scotty Watson for continuing to inspire artists to dig deeper.

  Table of Contents

  FOREWORD

  INTRODUCTION

  - Tune In

  - When the Door Opens, Be Ready

  THE WRITING PORTFOLIO

  THE WRITER

  - Finding Your Voice

  - Stay Open

  GETTING STARTED

  - Creativity is Messy

  - Practice Makes Progress

  - Run Your Race

  - If You Feel “Ready”, It’s Too Late

  WRITING EMOTIONALLY

  - Writing v. Editing

  - Discovery v. Invention

  - Writer’s Blah-k

  THE POWER OF SKETCH

  - Limits

  - Writing Mediums

  - Know Industry Standards

  - Why Sketch?

  - What is Sketch?

  - How Long is Too Long?

  - How to Format a Sketch

  - Evergreen Material

  TYPES OF SKETCHES

  - Narrative or Story Sketches

  - Blackouts

  - The Extended Blackout

  - Short Scenes

  - Parody

  - Satire

  - The Absurd Sketch

  - Character Sketches

  STANDING OUT IN A PILE

  - Message

  - POV

  - Change

  - Emotional Patterns v. The Game

  - Plot Points

  - Example

  COLLABORATING - Yes And

  - Brainstorming

  - WritersRoom

  - The Pitch

  - The Pitch Letter

  - Pitching in Person

  - Pitching Tips

  FROM PAGE TO STAGE - Don’t Like Writing?

  - Improvisation to Sketch

  - The Show Process

  - The Set List

  - Props & Costumes

  - Find Your Tribe & Your Audience

  RESPONSIBILITY

  EXAMPLES

  - Narrative / Story Sketch

  - Blackouts

  - The Extended Blackout

  - Short Scenes

  - ExParody

  - ExSatire

  - The Absurd Sketch

  - Character Sketches

  EXERCISES

  TIPS

  CONCLUSION

  BIOS

  OTHER PRODUCTS & BEST-SELLING BOOKS

  CONTACT US

  FOREWORD

  Sketch comedy bridges the perceived gap between “improv” and “legitimate theater.” I put both of those terms in quotation marks because I don’t believe that the gap actually exists, but perception is powerful.

  Even though I am known more for teaching and directing improv, sketch has always been my first love. Sketch stresses discipline and craft. The discipline of writing every day. The craft of the second draft. The third draft. The fourth draft.

  For the actors there is the discipline of the working theater actor. Learning lines… not just “kind of” knowing lines… but really understanding the words and living inside the characters. Then there is stagecraft. Using your emotions, your body and your voice to reproduce moments.

  For both, there is the discipline and craft of the rehearsal hall. It is vitally important for good sketch to have ample rehearsal time carved out for exploration, but also for the kind of repetition that pushes passed rote, until the moments within the sketch fit like an old, well-worked-in glove. For the actor to breathe in and inhabit the character organically, a good rule of thumb is 1 hour of rehearsal for every 1 minute on the stage. This is often what’s missing in the process.

  If one of the things that we are trying to do with “the work” is to create writers and actors that are ready to work in the profession, then I encourage “improvisers” to aspire to become sketch writers and sketch actors. The more sketches you have in your writing portfolio, and the more titles of sketch shows you have on your acting resume, the more attention you will get from the industry. This is the time to fill your writing portfolio. This is the time to fill your acting resume.

  Don’t waste anymore time. Get to work!

  Scotty Watson, />
  IN Studios Advisor

  INTRODUCTION

  I want to thank you and congratulate you for downloading the book, Sketch Comedy Writing: Insider Secrets. This book will teach you how to transform your writing and create unforgettable material from scratch. Whether you are a beginner or a veteran you’ll learn everything you need to know to take it up a notch or ten.

  At IN Studios we teach Sketch 5.0 and it’s a game-changer. With this technique, you’ll get from where you are to where you want to be FAST. You’ll create work so unique, so compelling, that no one else could duplicate it. Before I tell you about the powerful, emotionally-centered technique behind Sketch 5.0, it’s important you know we aren’t the first to use it.

  Director and teacher, Michael Gellman, often tells the story of one of America’s most famous TV couples to illustrate the power of emotionally-centered work.

  Have you ever heard of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz? Of course you have. There’s so much to be said about this powerhouse duo.

  …

  In 1951, Arnaz and Ball create the sitcom I Love Lucy, a series that becomes one of the most beloved programs in television history. But it might surprise you to know every network initially reject the show.

  Television executives had been pursuing Ball to adapt her popular radio series My Favorite Husband for TV. Ball insists on Arnaz playing her spouse on the show, so they can spend more time together. Initially, the idea of having Ball and the unmistakably Latino Arnaz portray a married couple is considered objectionable. “American viewers aren’t ready for an interracial couple on TV.”

  The couple knows better it seems. They tour together during the summer of 1950, in a live vaudeville act they develop with the help of Spanish clown Pepito Pérez. They create a unique script and craft their own unique voices as actors and writers during this time. Performing their show live in front of captivated audiences, fan interest grew quickly. The Networks finally are listening, but, this time, Desi and Lucy are laying the ground guidelines.

  On October 15, 1951, Arnaz co-stars in the premiere of I Love Lucy, in which he plays a fictionalized version of himself, Cuban orchestra leader Enrique “Ricky” Ricardo. His co-star is his real-life wife, Lucille Ball, who plays Ricky’s wife, Lucy. Much of the material from their vaudeville act, including Lucy’s unforgettable seal routine, is used in the pilot episode of I Love Lucy.

  During his time on the show, Arnaz becomes TV’s most successful entrepreneur. With Ball, Arnaz founds Desilu Productions. In 1962, Ball becomes the first woman to run a major television studio, Desilu Productions, which produces many popular television series, including Mission: Impossible and Star Trek. Ball does not back away from acting completely, appearing in film and television roles for the rest of her career until her death in April 1989 at the age of 77.

  Karl Freund, Arnaz’s cameraman, and even Arnaz himself are credited with the development of the multiple-camera setup production style using adjacent sets in front of a live audience that became the standard for subsequent situation comedies. The use of film enables every station around the country to broadcast high-quality images of the show.

  Arnaz is told that it would be impossible to allow an audience onto a soundstage, but he works with Freund to design a set that accommodates an audience, allow filming, and adhere to fire and safety codes.

  Network executives consider the use of film an unnecessary extravagance. Arnaz convinces them to allow Desilu to cover all additional costs associated with filming, under the stipulation that Desilu owns and controls all rights to the film.

  Arnaz pushes the network to allow them to show Lucille Ball while she is pregnant. According to Arnaz, the CBS network told him, “You cannot show a pregnant woman on TV.” Arnaz consults a priest, a rabbi, and a minister, all of whom agree that there’s nothing wrong with showing a pregnant Lucy or using the word “pregnant”.

  The network finally allows Arnaz and Ball to weave the pregnancy into the story line, but remains unwavering about using the word “pregnant”, so Arnaz substitutes ‘expecting’, pronouncing it ‘spectin’ in his Cuban accent.

  …

  The most important thing you can do to create memorable work that lasts is to learn an emotionally-centered approach. You’ll use this approach to create unique material that no one else could.

  However, there’s more good news. We live in an exciting time when it’s never been easier to do what Lucy and Ricky did. You can very easily produce your own material and then distribute it worldwide, thanks to the internet.

  You’ll build your audience with ease because every word will be drizzled with the secret sauce no one else can concoct. The secret sauce is of course - YOU.

  Tune In

  You passed at least six people today who could have given you exactly what you want, and at least three of those people were eager to do it. The opportunities are all around you. Are you open? Are you ready?

  I took a hiatus from NYC for 6 months and spent that time in NC with family & trees. When I returned I was exhausted at the end of each NYC day; I mean, flat on my back exhausted. At first, I didn’t understand what was happening. I thought I had mono or lyme disease or something. But, I soon figured out what was going on. I’m very sensitive to outside stimulation (we all are to varying degrees) and had forgotten to put on my NYC filters. I was over-stimulated.

  The point is, sometimes we have to tune out our environment, it’s a defense mechanism that can serve us well. The problem isn’t that we tune out, the problem is we never tune back in.

  When we put up walls, we must remember to take them down. Take your earbuds out and talk to people. Let them talk to you.

  When the Door Opens, Be Ready

  See the opportunities that are ready and waiting, for you to be ready!

  …

  I’m in my 20s and living in London. I really want to attend the movie premiere for Interview with a Vampire. I had read all the books in the series and am excited about the film. Of course, I have no idea how I’d attend the premiere, but think it would be thrilling to be there.

  The night of the premiere arrives and I put it out of my mind, deciding to go out with my Australian friend, Sandra instead. A few drinks into the evening we wander into Leicester Square (the Times Square of London) and notice a crowd. “What’s going on there,” she asked in her cute Australian accent? Sure enough we are standing outside the theater hosting the premiere.

  It is exciting to see all the celebrities walk the red carpet and enter through the hug set of lips and fangs that had been constructed, paparazzi swirl everywhere.

  Sandra and I decide to continue our evening elsewhere, thrilled to have been a part of the event, even if on the periphery. As we walk down the street beside the theater, a door flings wide open. I feel an inner nudge to walk inside. You’ve felt that same nudge in your own life I’m sure, something between a whisper and a gentle impulse? The gentleman who is exiting even motions for me to enter and so I do. Still unsure of exactly where I am going.

  We can hear mumbling as we fling open the secondary door and there we are in the thick of the celebrity premiere crowd. Sandra and I hang out with the cast of “Eastenders,” an English soap opera (who by the way I also dreamed of meeting) and when it is time to leave we exit arm in arm down the paparazzi-lined red carpet, through the red lips we were ogling before.

  I hear whispers, “Who are they?” from the paparazzi, curious, but convinced by the air of stardom we exude.

  Paul Young holds an umbrella over us as we walk him to his limo and casually laugh and chat. We continue arm in arm basking in the afterglow of the evening right down to the tube station platform and all the way home.

  I share this story to illustrate that when you know what you want and the desire is there, there is no shortage of opportunity.

  Everything you want is ready for YOU to be ready. The opportunities are all around you.

  THE WRITING PORTFOLIO

  If you want to write for late
-night TV all networks require you have the same thing in your portfolio:

  • Monologues

  • Topical jokes

  • Desk pieces

  • Sketches

  We spend some time on each of these portfolio elements in our Virtual Writers’ Rooms, but our primary focus and the subject of this book is, of course, Sketch Writing.

  No matter what the writing format, don’t make the mistake of thinking you can wait until the night before to generate your best material.

  When you get the call to submit your writing portfolio you will want to send material that represents your best work and has been honed and crafted over time, ideally in front of audiences.

  You don’t need to know where the audiences will come from; just WRITE for now, and when it’s time for the next step, you’ll be ready and know what to do.

  THE WRITER

  Most people write from their heads. Let’s think about what that means? Writing from your head means all you’ll ever get is recycled ideas - things you’ve seen on TV or seen others create.

  If you can learn to connect to a deeper place, you create something so unique to you and so powerfully authentic no one else could create it.

  There is power in finding your voice!