Thank you so much for writing this, this is exctremely interesting!
So the normal dudes discussing nuclear apocalypse survival strategies over a few beers is the "surprising" part, and the fact that it's actually happening in real world is the "true" part?
So maybe the game would be - a few guys discuss the impending apocalypse over a few beers at a bar, but we frame it like a high-stakes pentagon war room negotiation. Like they think they can actually solve the nuclear crisis? Or maybe just contrasting the casual party small talk with the severity of the topic? Like, frat guys play beer pong, making a bet that whoever wins will get the top bunk in their nuclear bunker. They drink beer and save up bottle caps to use as currency... I dunno, I'm not sure this is funny...
Creating life vs creating websites - maybe young parents realize that videos of their baby aren't marketable enough to go viral on TikTok, and have a marketing meeting where they brainstorm ways to "spice up" their baby? "Our baby has underperformed 20% last quarter, we need those likes, Jennifer! Can we buy him a tophat? Our research shows people like babies in tophats! Can we dress him in more revealing diapers? Gotta give people what they want!"
Tolerating things because of social awkwardness... Maybe just heighten it? A guy is getting murdered and is too shy to ask "please don't murder me"? Like "Yeah I got stabbed by a crazy homeless guy, but I'm sure he had his reasons, I didn't want to interrupt".
I'm still not sure if any of those are games though, or if any of them are funny, and it's still pretty hard to think of those ideas... So I'm still kinda struggling, to be honest. But hopefully it'll just get easier with practice.
It absolutely gets easier with practice. And while I think some of these pitches need some more shape, there's absolutely promise here.
On tolerating social awkwardness for instance, I think you're on the right track. You're said you'd rather suffer than deal with a little social awkwardness. This feels like a truth people will relate to, so make it more surprising by heightening that feeling to someplace inappropriate. Sure, it could be, while you're actively being murdered and you don't want to make a scene, or maybe it's a hostage negotiator who really doesn't want to have to ask for the hostages back. You're taking a weird, relatable feeling and showing how illogical it is by pushing it into absurdity.
This becomes a game by identifying the element that will get repeated and heightened. For me, what's funny about this is the contrast between the severity of the circumstances, and the meekness of the character. So keep pushing both of those things. Make the severity of the discomfort increasingly, cartoonishly terrible, and contrast that against the excuses people actually give for inaction: "I don't want them not to like me" "Maybe it'll stop on its own."
But here's my advice for you: try writing the script. Even if you're not sure you're clear on your own game. One of two things will probably happen: The act of writing will force the game to crystallize and you'll see where the funny parts are and how to heighten them; OR, you'll write a terrible script that you hate. If you wind up with the latter see if you can verbalize why it's not working and where things first started to go wrong. Sometimes seeing what not to do, will make the the direction of what to do much clearer. And this is one of the great benefits of sketch. They're so short, you can totally write a whole script, knowing that it's not working, and not really lose that much time.
Oct 18, 2022·edited Oct 18, 2022Liked by Mike Trapp
Thank you, this is great advice!
While many things about sketches are still confusing to me, I'm starting to feel like I'm getting some important parts. I'll definitely try to write scripts based on these ideas, and see if just spending the time working on them and turning them into a real sketch clarifies things for me.
Man, this is so awesome that you're writing this blog, I'm so happy I found it! Thanks a lot for helping me out with this!
I'm looking at the last suggestion about learning more from cheap online courses than through a Master's degree, as that's a situation myself and subject of the post have in common. One thing that's popping in my mind is if when you were growing up your parents were always telling you which online course you needed to take instead of how you needed to go to college.
"Ooooh, I can't wait till Bobby is old enough to enroll in 'How to Beat the Stock Market in 90 Minutes'"
Went for kind of a scammy sounding course there to make it a bit more unrealistic. Could also maybe do a scene at a graduation where everyone has on their cap and gown and is graduating from a bunch of random courses. Either one could add a disappointed parent saying something like, "I knew he wouldn't make it in college, he couldn't even finish the Build an Online Website course." Or have a contrast where one kid is graduating from an actual college and is treated like a total weirdo/pariah.
Just a few thoughts. I'm tired so they aren't particularly fleshed out, but I wanted to try the exercise and share.
Thank you so much for writing this, this is exctremely interesting!
So the normal dudes discussing nuclear apocalypse survival strategies over a few beers is the "surprising" part, and the fact that it's actually happening in real world is the "true" part?
So maybe the game would be - a few guys discuss the impending apocalypse over a few beers at a bar, but we frame it like a high-stakes pentagon war room negotiation. Like they think they can actually solve the nuclear crisis? Or maybe just contrasting the casual party small talk with the severity of the topic? Like, frat guys play beer pong, making a bet that whoever wins will get the top bunk in their nuclear bunker. They drink beer and save up bottle caps to use as currency... I dunno, I'm not sure this is funny...
Creating life vs creating websites - maybe young parents realize that videos of their baby aren't marketable enough to go viral on TikTok, and have a marketing meeting where they brainstorm ways to "spice up" their baby? "Our baby has underperformed 20% last quarter, we need those likes, Jennifer! Can we buy him a tophat? Our research shows people like babies in tophats! Can we dress him in more revealing diapers? Gotta give people what they want!"
Tolerating things because of social awkwardness... Maybe just heighten it? A guy is getting murdered and is too shy to ask "please don't murder me"? Like "Yeah I got stabbed by a crazy homeless guy, but I'm sure he had his reasons, I didn't want to interrupt".
I'm still not sure if any of those are games though, or if any of them are funny, and it's still pretty hard to think of those ideas... So I'm still kinda struggling, to be honest. But hopefully it'll just get easier with practice.
It absolutely gets easier with practice. And while I think some of these pitches need some more shape, there's absolutely promise here.
On tolerating social awkwardness for instance, I think you're on the right track. You're said you'd rather suffer than deal with a little social awkwardness. This feels like a truth people will relate to, so make it more surprising by heightening that feeling to someplace inappropriate. Sure, it could be, while you're actively being murdered and you don't want to make a scene, or maybe it's a hostage negotiator who really doesn't want to have to ask for the hostages back. You're taking a weird, relatable feeling and showing how illogical it is by pushing it into absurdity.
This becomes a game by identifying the element that will get repeated and heightened. For me, what's funny about this is the contrast between the severity of the circumstances, and the meekness of the character. So keep pushing both of those things. Make the severity of the discomfort increasingly, cartoonishly terrible, and contrast that against the excuses people actually give for inaction: "I don't want them not to like me" "Maybe it'll stop on its own."
But here's my advice for you: try writing the script. Even if you're not sure you're clear on your own game. One of two things will probably happen: The act of writing will force the game to crystallize and you'll see where the funny parts are and how to heighten them; OR, you'll write a terrible script that you hate. If you wind up with the latter see if you can verbalize why it's not working and where things first started to go wrong. Sometimes seeing what not to do, will make the the direction of what to do much clearer. And this is one of the great benefits of sketch. They're so short, you can totally write a whole script, knowing that it's not working, and not really lose that much time.
Thank you, this is great advice!
While many things about sketches are still confusing to me, I'm starting to feel like I'm getting some important parts. I'll definitely try to write scripts based on these ideas, and see if just spending the time working on them and turning them into a real sketch clarifies things for me.
Man, this is so awesome that you're writing this blog, I'm so happy I found it! Thanks a lot for helping me out with this!
Really helpful post, thank you for this one!
I'm looking at the last suggestion about learning more from cheap online courses than through a Master's degree, as that's a situation myself and subject of the post have in common. One thing that's popping in my mind is if when you were growing up your parents were always telling you which online course you needed to take instead of how you needed to go to college.
"Ooooh, I can't wait till Bobby is old enough to enroll in 'How to Beat the Stock Market in 90 Minutes'"
Went for kind of a scammy sounding course there to make it a bit more unrealistic. Could also maybe do a scene at a graduation where everyone has on their cap and gown and is graduating from a bunch of random courses. Either one could add a disappointed parent saying something like, "I knew he wouldn't make it in college, he couldn't even finish the Build an Online Website course." Or have a contrast where one kid is graduating from an actual college and is treated like a total weirdo/pariah.
Just a few thoughts. I'm tired so they aren't particularly fleshed out, but I wanted to try the exercise and share.