Six Tips for Writing Sketch Comedy

So you want to do improv, do you? Take it from someone who’s been bruised, battered and knocked around for about a year at the Second City Training Center in Chicago, but FINALLY got something on stage. Here’s 7 tips that can help you get on stage.

1. Yes… And

This principle is what makes improv work. It's not just making things up on the spot, it's building off what your fellow performers come up with. If someone comes up with an idea, then you HAVE to say "yes... and", at least in your head. If someone says, "I want to bring my gorilla to the bar", your response is, "Yes, and you can bring your cheetah."

2. Writing is nothing like improv.

Here's the thing about the writing sketch comedy: It is VERY serious. I took one improv class. The rest of my time has been devoted to writing a sketch. It takes serious commitment to figure out what works in these sketches and what doesn’t. Suck it up and get your brain ready. You will have fun in improv, but when you have to write a sketch every single week, you will get stressed out. Speaking of which,

3. Be creative, but smart

When writing a sketch, think about what you're writing. Don't be offensive, it's too easy. Try to be relevant, instead. Even then, there's difficulty. Making fun of a political sex scandal is always relevant. Making fun of some news story that might not be relevant in three months isn't. One thing you can do is make fun of everyday life, like a couple arguing over their love life or even writing a parody of a TV show or movie. Oh, but know this:

4. Be prepared for criticism.

If you can't take criticism, DO NOT write comedy. You need to write a sketch every single week and then bring it in front of someone you trust. They will then critique the sketch based on whether it follows the scene structure, if the characters are realistic, or if this can be staged. Sometimes, the sketch you thought was perfect will be TORN TO SHREDS.

5. Be prepared for rejection, too

And when you are submitting your sketch to an agent, you will need to be prepared for rejection. If your sketch follows the right structure, has human characters and is stageable, it will pass. If not, good luck finding another agent!

6. It's all worth it in the end

You've been working for a year, you've written upwards of 50+ sketches, you've had ideas torn to shreds, but when you get the right one, it will be performed live on stage at The Second City. Now you just have to see if the audience will laugh at your sketch...

Yes, it's blunt, but in this world, perhaps we need to be straight-forward. If you want to have fun taking a class at Second City, take improv. If you want to take writing, go ahead, but good luck. You're gonna need a lot of it.

Good Pitch Chicago

Last week, I had the privilege and honor of being invited to the first-ever Good Pitch Chicago, an amazing day-long event where celebrities can be spotted and documentary filmmakers pitch their films in hopes of getting funding.

The long slog on the El to the Cultural Center, where Good Pitch took place, was worth it because I got a real taste of part of the career I’m building in media and communications.  Enriching? Yes! Enlightening? No doubt! 

Good Pitch is a project by both BRITDOC and the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program. The first Good Pitch event was held in the UK about six years ago. Last year, two out of the five documentaries nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary were financed by Good Pitch.

The directors and producers of the eight documentaries showcased at Good Pitch had about seven minutes to pitch their film in front of a roundtable which is made up of about 8 to 10 people who are already aware of the documentaries’ premises and want to help finance and market the films. The films are also given the chance to be financed by guests in the audience, who volunteered money and support for the films.

The film I was sent to cover, “Becoming Bulletproof”, is a documentary about a camp in Vermont where people with disabilities can make movies. The movie the documentary was about is titled “Bulletproof”, a rip-roaring Western starring individuals with disabilities.

The other documentary that I saw being pitched, which was looked at right before “Becoming Bulletproof”, was a film called “Dreamcatchers”, about a non-profit organization called the Dreamcatcher Foundation, which helps get prostitutes off the streets and into safe houses.

Kim Loningotto, left, and Lisa Stevens, right, pitch their film "The Dreamcatchers"

“Dreamcatchers” was pretty powerful. The film was hard-hitting, emotional and pretty audacious. The women from the non-profit organization Dreamcatchers were risking retaliation by driving up to the prostitutes and (figuratively) pulling them into their car and driving away. There was no music in the trailer that I saw, only raw footage and emotions.

As a result of the trailer, the organization received plenty of donations and audience members donated enough to build solar panels for the Dreamcatchers safe house. I think the “Dreamcatchers” pitch was successful, much to the relief of the filmmakers, who looked rather nervous (which is understandable) throughout the pitch.

“Becoming Bulletproof” was pitched by Theodore James, the producer, and Mike Barnett, the director. They noted that there were only six characters on TV with disabilities, and of those six only one character was played by an actor with an actual disability. The filmmakers intended to use this film to raise awareness of the problem around Hollywood and actors playing individuals with disabilities and they needed $130,000 to finish the film.

Theodore James (left) and Mike Barnett (right) speak to the roundtable on"Becoming Bulletproof"

Their pitch was a good start, but it received some skeptical reactions from the roundtable. The first half of the trailer looked like the kind of movie that would help serve its purpose, but the second half began to slip into the typical Hollywood “inspirational” depictions of people with disabilities. While the trailer was pretty good and I assume the actual movie is better, the reaction to the trailer from the roundtable was… less than ideal.

Much of the complaints to the trailer revolved around the way it was presented. Much of the depictions of individuals with disabilities in media are of the sappy, schmaltzy, sentimental and inspirational type that have become a cliché. Indeed, the filmmakers acknowledged this, saying they made the trailer for a specific reason.

Still, the discussion afterward was rather enlightening. The roundtable included the likes of Jeff Prechter of the Prechter Foundation, who donated $75,000 for the camp itself, Lois Vossen of the PBS series “IndependentLens”, JJ Hanley, the founder of jjslist.com and Emily Smith of the Arts of Life Foundation. Much of the roundtable agreed that the film was a good start, but would have to be improved before it’s shown to the general public.

However, the filmmakers, to their credit, understood that a stamp of approval wasn’t good enough. Instead, they were asking for advice from the roundtable about how to improve the film. One thing they did get though, was a different stamp of approval. They had brought a man named AJ, a man with Cerebral Palsy who was the star of “Bulletproof”. A woman named Emily Verelien Strom was in the audience and she offered to give AJ a meeting with her husband, who is an agent at the Creative Artists Agency.

AJ speaks to the panel and audience.

The filmmakers did not get the $130,000 they needed, but they did come away with some good advice. I took away a sense of direction, if not accomplishment from these filmmakers. Although they’d been constructively hammered throughout the hour-long pitch.

I felt that the filmmakers were treading a thin line with the work they’d already done. As I mentioned previously, most depictions of people with disabilities tend to be of the inspirational, sentimental type which really comes across as patronizing. The thing about the depictions of people with disabilities is that there’s a thin line between accurate, empowering, sentimental and patronizing. The filmmakers honestly want to tell the right story, but they’ll need to improve it until they get the depiction they want to show.

Pictures courtesy of James Richards IV

Update: Here's a story about the Dreamcatcher Foundation from WBEZ. Link here.

Blackhawks-Sabres Recap

Patrick Kane scored a goal against his hometown Buffalo Sabres tonight as the Blackhawks played the second of their back-to-back games at the United Center, winning a surprisingly tight game against the points-wise worst team in the NHL.

Brandon Pirri made his first appearance for the Hawks this season. The long-time Rockford star was due for a chance and it came tonight. He was on the fourth line with Brandon Bollig and Ben Smith.

Part of the reason for the tight score was because of the work of Ryan Miller, the 2010 Olympic MVP, making 38 saves but his team failed to provide any offense until the third period. The Hawks slipped two past Miller though, the first salvo coming from Winston-Salem, NC product Ben Smith, who deflected a Brent Seabrook shot for his first of the season.

The second goal came from Patrick Kane in the second period on a Power Play goal with an assist from Patrick Sharp (who was playing in his 600th NHL game). Drew Stafford got the Sabres closer, but it wasn't enough and the Hawks held off the Sabres for the rest of the game despite a flurry of shots from the Sabres.

We mentioned Ryan Miller earlier, but we cannot ignore the Hawks netminder Corey Crawford. Crow saved 28 shots,showing he's starting to get comfortable in net again. The Hawks also dominated possession and out-shot the Sabres 20-6 in the first period.

The only reason the game was as close as it was, was because of the stellar play of Ryan Miller. And yet for Ryan Miller, it's becoming obvious he's not fitting in at Buffalo anymore. Their lack off offense is not helping him at all. It's a shame, since he's a former Vezina Trophy winner and as I mentioned earlier, Olympic MVP. There was once a (horrible) rumor that the Hawks might trade Patrick Kane for Miller, but it's looking less likely, especially since the Hawks have every intention of keeping the Buffalo native.

As for the Hawks play, I have few complaints. After the bad two-game losing streak, it's good to see the Hawks starting to really gel and come together as a team. This should have been an easy win, but Buffalo is better than their record really indicates, since they do have an exceptional goalie. I want to see how the Hawks build on this two-game winning streak as they head to Raleigh to take on the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.

Blackhawks Vs Isles Recap: About Time!

After two bad wins, the Blackhawks welcomed the New York Islanders to the United Center for the first of two games in two days at the UC. On the night the US Soccer team beat Jamaica and clinched first place in the CONCACAF qualifiers, the Blackhawks recovered from their two-game losing streak to beat the Islanders 3-2.

There was a change in the line-up tonight. One-time Hawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin was placed in goal, presumably to give Corey Crawford some time to rest. Given how Crawford's had a rough couple of games, I can believe that Crawford appreciated the time off. Quenneville also played with the lines, putting Bryan Bickell on the third line and put Andrew Shaw on the second line. Michal Handzus was also placed on the fourth line at center. Brandon Saad joined Kane and Toews on the first line.

The Blackhawks struck first as rookie Joakim Nordstrom put the Hawks up at 9:32 in the first period. It was the first NHL goal for the Swedish Hawk Mafia's newest member. Then the Captain, Jonathan Toews, put the Hawks up 2-0 a couple minutes later.

But the Islanders took advantage of the Hawks' defensive weakness and scored two unanswered goals near the end of the first period. Josh Bailey and Kyle Okposo both scored 2 minutes and 56 seconds apart and Okposo's goal came with 4.8 ticks remaining in the first period.

Thankfully, the Hawks regrouped and prevented any more goals. Khabibulin stopped 17 of 19 shots total in the game. Michal Handzus put the Hawks up for good at 6:45 in the second period. This time, the Hawks killed every penalty that came afterwards after three games of a bad penalty kill.

This was the game I had been waiting for! The Hawks did not panic after giving up those two goals in the first period. But, they need to stop giving up goals in bulk, so there's plenty to work on. As for Khabibulin, he's still the Bulin Wall of old, and tonight was win t'ree t'irdy t'ree for him. I think this win was a small, but important step towards repeating a Cup championship. They felt like they'd been robbed of three points in the last two games, so to get both points was big. They play the Buffalo Sabers tomorrow night at 7:00.

In other updates, the Hawks have recalled Brandon Pirri from Rockford and sent Jimmy Hayes down to Rockford. Pirri should play tomorrow night.

Bears Recap: NOW We're Talking!

Okay, so after a bad sports weekend and a horrible loss for the Hawks last night, I FINALLY get a good result for my team, and that's... Da Bearsss. The Bears beat the New York Football Giants 27-21 in a fairly well-executed game for a Thursday Night Football national audience. The Giants came into the game with an 0-5 record.

Okay, the defense could have been better, but the offense really stepped up tonight. "Good Jay" was in the building tonight, as he threw for 262 yards, completing a total of 24 out of 36 pass attempts, had a passer rating of 106.5 and connected with Brandon Marshall in the end zone twice. As for the defense, well, it could have been better. Now granted, they were missing Stephen Paea, Henry Melton and Charles Tillman, but SIU grand Brandon Jacobs ran for 106 yards and two TDs.

But, the Bears intercepted a struggling Eli Manning three times, including a Pick-Six by Tim Jennings. So I guess there's a silver lining in that cloud. Jennings' second interception sealed the win with 1:54 left in the game. At one point the Bears were up by 13, but a Brandon Jacobs touchdown cut that lead to 6.

Eli himself threw for 239 yards, completing 14 of 26 passes and a touchdown, as well as those previously-mentioned interceptions. He was intercepted 44 seconds into the game and then on the Giants' second drive, on Jennings' pick-6. Brandon Jacobs then scored on a 4-yard run to tie the game.

But the Bears responded, and Jay and Brandon connected on their first touchdown pass to put them up. But then Rueben Randle caught a 37 yard pass from Eli to tie the game. But the Bears took control, and Cutler and Marshall connected again on a 3-yard pass. Robbie Gould kicked two field goals that in the end, put the game out of reach for the G-Men.

Okay, defense aside (which is admittedly struggling and banged up), this was a good game for the Bears. I always like seeing Good Jay showing up, but I would appreciate it if he consistently showed up. That being said, I thought Cutler did an excellent job after two very bad outings in the previous two weeks. As for Brandon Marshall, those green shoes he wore did the trick. I think he should wear them more often, NFL fines be damned.

It's also pretty surprising these Giants are 0-6. They could have easily won this game, but the Bears definitely took them seriously. It's a step in the right direction for the Bears, and hopefully they'll use the extra three days to figure things out before they take on RGIII and the struggling Washington team.

Blackhawks vs Blues Recap: Oh, Jeez.

The Hawks had a chance to take control of the new NHL Central Division tonight. Instead, they ended up the victims of St. Louis's biggest sports night of the year, losing 3-2 to the Blues on the night the Cardinals clinched a spot in the NLCS. And while it's still only the third game of an 82-game season, this still should have been better.

First, let's start off with the good parts: The Hawks are very dangerous on the Power Play. Both goals came seconds after the Blues scored, and during the Power Play. Also, Corey Crawford, was exceptional, making 31 saves against the Blues. The game itself was a good back-and-forth battle between two very good teams and involved a lot of physical play.

But sadly, the Hawks gave up 3 goals, the last of which they'll want back.

Make no mistake the Blues came to play tonight. They've had to watch the Hawks while they've won the Cup twice in four years and they were no doubt envious of the Hawks' success. They made damn sure every goal the Hawks scored, they earned it.

The Blues opened the scoring on a Vladimir Tarasenko goal on an odd-man rush that beat Corey Crawford. Patrick Kane answered 77 seconds later on the Power Play, which was a dumb penalty given up by the Blues. Then David Backes deflected a Steven Pierangelo shot, which was answered by Toews about 39 second later.

The third period itself was scoreless until 21 second left. The Hawks were going for the jugular against the Blues and looked as if they were about to put the Blues on the brink before a bad Brent Seabrook hit allowed the Blues to go in transition on a 3-on-1 and race up the ice for the score. The Hawks pulled Crawford to no avail and the Blues took the first meeting between the two teams.

Just like with the Lightning game, I'm beginning to wonder if the Stanley Cup Hangover is affecting these players this year. This team has been picked to repeat as champs, yet they keep letting teams get to them easily. If they can't put away opponents, I have a very bad feeling for the rest of the season. The good thing is, it's only the beginning. The bad part is, I want to see them storm out of the gate. Only time will tell, but they had better get their act together, or it's good-bye Lord Stanley.

Blackhawks vs Blues Preview

NBC has been pushing the Blackhawks-Blues rivalry, although it's not without reason or history. With the Red Wings moving to the Eastern Conference, the Hawks won't have chants of "DEE-TROIT SUCKS!" raining down from the rafters as much and they'll need a new rival. That rival is the St. Louis Blues, which essentially makes this the Cardinals-Cubs rivalry with the colors switched.

The Hawks and Blues were big rivals in the old Norris AKA "Black and Blue" Division in the late '80s and early '90s. Their playoff series were tough, physical and heated, their rivalry culminating in a massive series of brawls on St. Patrick's Day, 1991, an event popularly known as the St Patrick's Day Massacre. Six players on each team, which added up to a total of twelve, were ejected. A video of the incident is available on YouTube.

Of course now, the Hawks-Blues rivalry is starting to heat up and tomorrow, the two teams play in their first game of the year. The Hawks are built on speed, quickness, the Blues on big bodies and bruising hits. It looks to be an old Norris Division match-up transplanted into the modern age.

One member of the Hawks who has an interest in this match-up is Brandon Bollig, a St. Louis native himself. He's said that this is one of the games the Hawks have circled on their calenders, and they should come out swinging against the Blues. They'll need to.

The Blues as a whole have only allowed a total of two goals the entire season. The Hawks will have to get past Jaroslav Halak, who looks to be the Blues' starting goalie on Wednesday. The Blues also added top defensemen Jay Bouwmeester and Jordan Leopold, so expect the Blues to be pretty defensive. But they also inked forwards Brenden Morrow and Derek Roy for some offensive firepower.

Experts have been picking the Blues to be a challenge for the Hawks, so don't expect an easy victory. The two teams will be very evenly matched. The new alignment also adds weight to this match-up, as the top 3 teams in each division move onto the playoffs, and there's the possibility the Hawks and Blues will meet in the playoffs. I expect the Hawks to win, but it will not be easy at all. In fact, it should be fun.