Sketch Comedy Writing Read online

  The key thing about being a head writer is your ability to communicate. It should rarely, if ever, get to the point where a head writer takes a writer’s sketch and makes changes on it leaving out the writer. Time may get short and moments may get desperate, but the channel of communication must remain open. Sketches are precious to writers and they will crunch down when it comes down to it. Identify the strengths of the sketches and guide with that.

  It’s a fine line in working with a director as well. ‘Yes and’ the director at all times however don’t do it at the expense of your writers. There can sometimes be clashing in the two worlds and your job is to alleviate that.

  …

  The Pitch

  A pitch is a writer’s description of a potential story (and why it matters) to an editor or head writer. A pitch can be delivered verbally — if you’re on staff pitching to your editor — or sent via email.

  The Pitch Letter

  A pitch essentially makes the case for doing a certain story or writing a sketch at a certain point in time. And a good pitch letter should quickly and succinctly do a few things:

  Introduce the author

  Summarize the story the author wants to write

  Explain why that story matters

  Make the case for why its author is the best person to write that particular story

  Your pitch should be able to make a lasting impression, so that you stand out from the crowd. A good pitch is the key to landing an assignment or getting your sketch “green-lit”.

  Pitching in Person

  When writers get together to pitch ideas for sketches there are many things to consider…

  Pages are the best to have (sketches that are written out with a strong beginning, middle and end), followed by premises or concepts (ideas that are fleshed out and nearly there, maybe just needs that final move) then ideas (riffing off of things that you might do).

  Why are pages supreme? It’s already written or partially written, which means, in a time crunch, we are that much closer to a finished product.

  Pitching Tips

  Pitch in first person. Storytelling rule number one, engage the audience and make them feel as if they are there. This is most easily accomplished by using present as opposed to past tense. For instance, “he is a boy looking for a home, thwarted at every turn, he sees a beautiful girl at the end of the alley, and reaches out, grabbing for her as she disappears. She’s a dream.” As opposed to, “there was a boy, looking for a home and he was thwarted at every turn. He saw a beautiful girl at the end of the alley and he reached out to grab for her but she disappeared. She was a dream.” Engage your listener don’t distance them from the action.

  Emotion, emotion, emotion! People don’t respond to your words they respond to the meaning or emotion behind your words. We’ve all had someone sarcastically say “I love you”, but we receive the message as it was intended, “you make me sick.” Word of caution here, don’t fake the emotion. Volume does not equal excitement. So how can you have an authentic emotion? Whatever you are feeling, take a breath. Breath is like gasoline on your emotions. It will become more.

  Motion makes emotion. It’s in the very word. As you move around, in fact the more you move your body the more you will feel. So, get out of your chair. Stand up, move around, especially if no one else pitching has done that. The more levels high medium and low you move your body in, the more different emotions that you will conjure.

  Keep it brief. The more the words the less the meaning. Challenge yourself to pitch in less than a minute. 30 seconds is even better.

  Dare to be different. Have you ever noticed that when you are in a group and someone introduces themselves, each person that follows them introduces themselves in the same way? “My name is Israel I have a dog named Candy and I live in New York.” The next person might say, “My name is Sandy, I have a pet fish and I live in Brooklyn.” If there are variations they are usually minute. Why is this?

  It’s in part because of our own evolution. We are, after all, pack animals. And back in caveman days, if you stood out, you got eaten by a saber tooth something or other. Now the fear is a psychological one. In an unfamiliar situation, if I stand out fear I may suffer a fate worse than death - embarrassment. Isn’t it funny how we want people to appreciate us for our differences, but we aren’t willing to show people who we really are? To do things that are different?

  Break the pattern. Follow your own inspiration.

  FROM PAGE TO STAGE

  “If you build it,they will come.” – Field of Dreams

  For now, just write, figure out producing it later.

  Don’t Like Writing?

  Some of you don’t like writing or think that you might not. Remain open. Actors, there’s power in creating your own material. Everyone else, there is power in shaping and creating your own story and finding your voice in any industry. With some of the techniques we teach, you can actually create material for yourself without ever writing anything down.

  So perhaps it’s not that you don’t like writing, but that you haven’t found a process that is ideal for you? After all, every human being enjoys expressing themselves effectively and that is what we mostly mean when we speak of writing.

  In fact, at IN Studios, for some of our shows, we conceive, create and perform an entire sketch show within a six hours. That’s right, six hours, from start to finish and never write anything down!

  We had a student who came to us who didn’t think she wanted to write. Mainly because all her life she had been told she couldn’t write. She was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child. But, she was willing to give it another shot. Fast forward a few months later and she was not only writing sketches for our show (sometimes she even dreamed sketches for our show), but went on to teach some of our sketch workshops and became an Artistic Director for another theater improvisation and sketch theater.

  Stay open and take a step forward with no idea what is coming next.

  Improvisation to Sketch

  Improvisation to sketch is using elements in our improvisational work to find working material. There are many ways to do this on your own. One way is to get three people up on stage or in your living room. Assign one as the scribe (aka the note taker). Their job is to ONLY make notes. Two people improvise. The scribe points out significant moments in the improvisation: character wants, circumstances, lines that stood out, etc.

  Now re-improvise the scenes with different actors, giving them the notes as guidelines. Build a plot point diagram with the improvisation. Write the sketch.

  The Show Process

  At IN Studios we’ve produced over 300 original shows in NYC and have premiered countless sketches on stage and on set.

  There are so many different processes you can utilize to create a sketch. Here are the two most frequently utilized processes at IN Studios:

  A Sketch is Born 1

  An idea or premise is pitched and flushed out in our Writers’ Room.

  A first draft is written.

  The head writer gives comments and it is written and rewritten.

  The sketch is performed by actors in a “stumble through” (staged reading with light blocking) for the Producer.

  The sketch is re-written based on Producer comments.

  The sketch is performed in dress rehearsal for the Producer and re-written with comments.

  The sketch is performed in front of 3 different audiences and notes are given for the writer and actor after each performance.

  The sketch is performed in front of a live TV audience.

  A Sketch is Born 2

  A scene is improvised in front of an audience and there is an audio recording made.

  A staff writer transcribes the audio.

  The head writer gives notes and a re-write is done.

  The sketch is performed by actors in a “stumble through” (staged reading with light blocking) for the Producer.

  The sketch is re-written based on Producer comments.

  T
he sketch is performed in dress rehearsal for the Producer and re-written with comments.

  The sketch is performed in front of 3 different audiences and notes are given for the writer and actor after each performance.

  The sketch is performed in front of a live TV audience.

  At every step along the way, writers who have been with us for a while understand the sketch is never finished. Even after it is filmed, it can take on new life when picked up by different actors years later.

  The following are reflections on the experience of Sketch Show in a Day from some of our actors:

  “At first it sounded impossible; write, rehearse and perform a sketch show in a day. I wasn’t so much in doubt of everyone else’s ability, but more my own. As we progressed through the process I realized it is actually much easier than it sounds. I feel the key is we were not doing it alone. It was not one individual’s responsibility to do it. Just as in an improvisation scene we each just need to add a single brick and continue to build. That’s what stood out to me the most, the level of teamwork and camaraderie. With that in mind, each of us yes-and-ing and bringing just our brick it was actually quite easy and fun. I feel like we could do it every week. I also liked that we did it with Israel one week and Scotty the rest to experience different styles. Both worked equally well but the more you experience the more you learn.” - Frank Logan

  “This was an interesting new approach to creating a show that was a bit outside of my comfort zone at first. I learned to trust, let go, and roll with it! I do observe a different feel to sketches that were created via improvisation.” - Ellen Ko

  “It’s great to see how something that starts as a simple idea can become a great sketch- I’m thinking particularly of the one I contributed to the third show, Don’t Leave Home Without It - The Woman’s Card. It was an idea I had and luckily I work with a cast of strong, talented women, who were able to take the idea and help make it something that I think, with just a bit of honing in re-writes, could become a really fun sketch with an important message.” Chris O’Neill

  “You were pushed to do something challenging and you rose to the occasion. The reason I wanted to do this is so you get used to shows like The Daily Show, where you have less that a day to put up a show, and you have to stand behind what you put out there.” - Scotty Watson

  “This is quite an empowering experience. It was exciting to be a part of a group that was dedicated to both the journey and the show. It gave me a lot of confidence because I now realize how nothing is impossible when you put your mind to something. Sketch IN a Day will always be something I look back on with amazement and gratitude.” - Pamela Joy

  “One of the many things I have learned at IN Studios, is that collaborating with others generates more ideas than if you were working alone. Sketch in a Day is the perfect example of that. We each came up with individual ideas, but it was when we all worked together that a cohesive sketch was formed. I absolutely loved the process of starting the day without a clue as to what we would be performing that night, to having fully formed sketches that really just started out as tiny little seeds only hours earlier. This might be my new way of coming up with sketch ideas.” - Laura Rose Cook

  The Set List

  A set list is a list of the order in which you place the sketches in a show. There is a real art to sketch placement. There’s momentum that each sketch has that can help the next. A piece that’s abstract and just funny for funny’s sake would be a good one to precede a sketch that has more impact, stronger message, for instance.

  Props & Costumes

  In one of our Writers’ Rooms, Carolyn Toner commented, “Every word is on trial for its life.” I’d say the same goes for characters, props, costuming, etc. Keep it simple when it comes to your sketches.

  One of our shows was superhero themed. We had so much fun that we went overboard with costuming. Meaning every character was wearing an authentic uniform. We noticed that somehow the words got lost. The sketches seemed to lose something. Something was lost in translation from actor to audience. We scaled down in the following show and hinted at each character: a simple Superman t-shirt, a letter A taped to the button of Aquaman’s trousers, etc.

  So what happened? In improvisation, at least the style of improvisation we adore, “improvisational theater” the actors are simply emotionally present and the audience fills in their own narrative and backstory. In an audience of 100, there will be 100 different narratives in an improvisational theater show. As mentioned earlier, sketch is somewhere between improvisational theater and scripted plays. The magic of sketch is that the writers draw the lines, the actors provide the color, but the audience fills in the spaces as they see fit. Our job in sketch is to provide the tools and paints, but let the audience have the fun. Let them have that rush of insight at the end of sketch after you’ve primed them for it with a few lines before.

  So, our rule of thumb with props is, if it adds something, a visual gag or laugh that wouldn’t be there otherwise include it, otherwise mime it. Basically, only use props when you have to.

  Similarly, with costumes, keep them to a bare minimum. So, an actor playing a cop, might only wear a cop hat. A nun might simply where an inside out black t-shirt over a white cap.

  It’s make believe. It’s play time. Be a kid again.

  Now, when you film your sketches you’ll have to make some artistic choices. Perhaps you will simply film the sketch as if you were an audience member in the theater. Or perhaps you’ll convert your sketch into a video short, which will require a rewrite and some tweaks, in addition to sets and costumes. Or perhaps you’ll land somewhere in between.

  In any case, our original suggestion holds true, “know the guidelines before you break them”.

  Find Your Tribe & Your Audience

  “Reveal rather than conceal.”

  I understand the concept of finding your tribe, your audience; on an entirely different level the more I embrace an emotionally-centered approach. It’s a concept that applies to every entrepreneurial pursuit, including writing, acting or launching a tech startup.

  As you allow your own voice and point of view to flow, your work and even your career path becomes clearer and more concentrated. You’ll resonate on a level that you never did before and like a magnet you’ll draw audiences to your work that connect to you with a depth that is beyond words.

  Your work will also become layered. So, for those who just want to appreciate it on the surface level, they can and will. But for others, there will be other levels in which to explore and revel.

  RESPONSIBILITY

  With great power comes great responsibility and there is no greater power than the pen in the hands of someone who knows how to use it.

  Years ago, I wrote a sketch, and read it to the sketch group expecting everyone in the group to roll over in laughter and declare me a genius. When I finished reading, there was was a very long awkward, deafening silence. That was not the effect I imagined.

  The sketch dealt with Native American issues but I did it using stereotypes. I didn’t even realize that I was using stereotypes because, you guessed it, I was writing from my head; things I’d seen others write or put on TV. I was confused, but had a great conversation about it with my fellow writers and I grew in awareness. The crux of it was that in my effort to do good, I was still perpetuating stereotypes.

  You are in charge. Do whatever you want to do. It’s up to you. No censorship. But awareness can only enhance your creative choices.

  Similarly, one of our team members was performing stand-up comedy at one of our mixers in New York City. There were only about 30 people in the room, and only one of those people happened to be an Asian-American. This comic, singled her out as the Asian American in the room, referred to her as Chinese, knowing that she wasn’t, and went on and on. He thought it was funny, and he felt that she did too. After the mixer we all talked about their experience, and the Asian American vulnerably shared how it made her feel. She already felt si
ngled out and different. And it wasn’t a pleasant feeling for her or a pleasant experience. This comic was shocked! Given that he was a white male in his early 20s, hearing the experience of an Asian American female was an eye-opener for him. Now, this comic may have gone on to make the same choice again in other environments, but he would be making it as a conscious choice in awareness. He would know that in the name of being funny, he was hurting someone. And he might be OK with that, and that’s free speech. It wouldn’t make him a bad person, just a person making a choice that has consequences.

  Just know that even though you aren’t responsible for other people’s emotions, you are responsible for your own emotions, intentions and actions. You need to know what you are doing with your words, and take 100% responsibility for the impact. You also need to know that there is always another way, that requires just a little bit more effort, and is just as funny, but doesn’t hurt. A rule of thumb is, to quote our advisor Scotty Watson, “don’t shit on the little guy”.