On the “About” page you’ll see I have a lot of plans for the types of things I might post here. I know what I think is most valuable, but that may not align with what you want. So I want to know:
What kinds of posts are you most interested in seeing?
What do you hope to get out of this publication?
I may not respond to everyone, but I’m going to read every comment. I’m honestly interested in hearing why you subscribed and how I can deliver what you’re looking for.
I'd love to get knowledge about comedy theories and techniques — stuff that investigates the nuts and bolts of what makes something funny, different types and genres of jokes, and of course recounts of your own experiences
I've made people laugh before, I watch and listen to and consume a lot of comedy, but I just don't really get how to put together a performance or a complete idea that I could share with other people. Like, how do I go from someone who just is funny sometimes to being a comedian or a comedy writer?
I get it. Those basic process questions can be a little mystifying. If you weren't already planning on it, I'd definitely recommend trying to write a sketch after the first couple posts go up. Sketches are so short and contained that even if your first attempt is an absolute mess you can still learn a lot about processes from it.
Definitely technique on building blocks; prompts would be helpful as well. If I get enough to write a 2-4 page sketch every month, seems like a manageable pace and a way to track improvement throughout the year.
That's a very reasonable, achievable goal. The next two weeks of posts should give you enough to at least start stumbling your way through a script. Prompts are a good idea!
Same! I’ve never written a sketch before but I’d like to try, so prompts to help me get thinking about what I find funny and how to maximize that in written form would be helpful.
If you're thinking about thinking about what you find funny, you're already in the right mindset. There will be a post the week after next that I think will address some of what you're talking about here.
I’m very interested in the creative process, how you take an idea and turn it into a finished sketch. It’d be very cool to see a kind of inner monologue, starting from “This is an idea with something” through to the finished project.
I'd be interested to see what you think makes a sketch not work, and also the writing process of putting something together and asking yourself 'is this good'? I work as a curator and so much of my writing is sadly limited to non-comedic museum captions, but I find that what we do is the same as what so many other people do - telling a story - and it's really helpful hearing from experts in different fields.
I'm a sports fan and there's a genre of sports fandom that consists of knowledgeable fans/ former players/ professionals doing detailed breakdowns of gameplay. It highlights things that aren't easily observable to a casual TV watcher. It would be cool to see something along those lines for improv shows or comedy sketches. i.e. what tools and methods are being employed and how in a given sketch? Stuff the normal audience might not pick up on but that you are more attuned to given your experience.
Looks like there's a lot of interest in the sketch dissections and things like this in the thread, so I'll be sure to get one of those moved up in the schedule!
I'm in a sketch troupe at my university, and I've done improv and standup. I'm looking for sustainable ways to go from funny concepts to outlines of sketches. I want to learn how pros go from doing bits to forming full sketches. I'm mainly here because I like thinking and talking about funny stuff, and I like having more purposeful spaces dedicated to that in my life!
I signed up for Chuffah because I've been watching your CH content for years and I wanted to support you. As a fine artist I have no plans to write or perform anything. I know I'm the oddball out on this. If I get a chuckle from reading your newsletter or get so inspired I try to write something, this will have been well worth my time.
I've taken some standup and improv classes, I've written some non-comedic scripts, but I've never really combined the two, and I'd like to know where to start. I want activities and exercises I can actually do, I want to learn how to critique my own work, learn how to (nicely!) critique others' work. I'd also love some guidance on how to make it in the business of comedy writing.
What I hope to get out of this publication? Motivation and community. I quit my job a couple years ago to become a writer. It's hard to feel motivated shouting out into the lonely void. I don't really have anyone around me who's as into comedy as I am. I'm a pathetic, unemployed, elder millennial, and I need you to give my life meaning, Trapp. :-)
Oh also, as a teen, I was in a playwriting workshop where every Saturday, we all brought in our scripts and did a table read, for each other, of what we wrote that week, and that was so helpful. Mostly because it meant, every Friday night I was forced to be writing instead of out partying and doing drugs--or, okay, let's face it, sitting at home watching Family Matters--but also because we got to hear our stuff read out loud and critiqued. And I just miss it. I'd love it if there was some way we could find like-minded folks to do that with.
Me and Some friends have a YouTube channel called “The After School Program” where we write some Sketches and Make Comedy music. I’m trying to be a constant student to make our sketches better and learn from someone at a high level in the world or sketch comedy
One thing I have not seen mentioned is a reading list / watching list. I would especially enjoy some references that illustrate the topic at hand and make me discover some more sketch comedy.
This is a good idea! I'll be linking to sketches when relevant and available online, but an overall watchlist is probably something for me to consider.
The second one can organically grow over time from the sketches linked in the first part, but having some good signposts can be useful. I am not a native speaker, and a big part of my sketch culture is French and Greek based, and even though I have seen a lot of sketches in English (Monty Python, Not the 9 o'clock news, Mitchell and Webb, Fry and Laury, SNL, Mr Show, College Humor, Britanick, Key & Peel, SMBC theater, Smack the poney, Alterlatino...) I am always looking for new sources of mirth.
Honestly just a place to start from. I’ve never done anything like this before (in earnest, at least) and it would be great to get a push in the right direction from somebody who knows what they’re talking about. A “try this, avoid this, always this, never this” kind of thing.
For the longest time I have acted/performed things that other people have written. I think I bring my own "something" to it but it was always other people's materials with some improvd additions. I want to create more original content and would love to know how to assemble it effectively and how to consistently produce quality content (or at least something I think it funny).
Hey, long time fan! On top of what others have said I’m interested in demystifying the process of submitting packets. It’d also be nice to know more about pitching, rehearsing, and producing sketch shows. I’m getting started as a producer in Chicago. By the end of the year I want to pitch shows to Chicago theaters and shoot a handful of video sketches. I’m also curious about the differences between video and live sketch comedy. Do you approach the writing process different? How can you tell if something would work better live vs online? Can a sketch do both?
Thanks for doing this, I’m excited to see where this goes.
GREAT questions here. Most of them will have to be their own post. As someone who has both submitted and reviewed packets I have a lot of thoughts about them. As a short answer to your question of video vs stage. Yes, there are differences between the two you have to consider, but you can usually adapt one for the other. More on all these topics later!
I've been trying to use COVID to start diving deeper into my interests/hobbies. Maybe even see if one could be sustainable enough to be a career change. I've always loved how saturated and layered something as quick as a sketch can be, but I've always been a watcher. No actual writing experience and randomly resurfacing stage fright. I'm hoping just being a part of this community and seeing other people's passion might help motivate and inspire me to find my passion, even if it doesn't end up being sketch comedy.
I've been looking for a way into comedy that isn't signing up for a comedy class (they intimidate me, admittedly) so learning more about how you think about comedy, sketches, etc is why I subscribed! You mentioned in "Who Cares About Sketch Comedy?" that sketches are meant to be, well, sketches! They can be quick and playful. That is appealing! I've been trying to write more as well (I also started a new year's newsletter) so drafting some sketches is good practice.
I'd love your thoughts, history of comedy and sketch writing, and post-mortems on work you've down from conception to tear-down. I might never finish writing my own sketch but I'd happily pay to learn more comedy for pleasure.
I'm a college student studying writing for comedic television and I'm hoping for insights that might be applicable to my longform work. Also just info about what it's like trying to make a living by being funny professionally
I started in college doing everything myself, writing sketches, casting, directing, rehearsing, props, sound, everything-- and started building from there into a sketch group.
After four years, half of them COVID, I've lost that group, people, and all semblance of momentum. I'm in NYC, and it's not safe right now to go out and "do comedy." Hell, even the open mic I was at shut down at New Years and hasn't opened.
I have ability and vision, but my drive is faltering after slipping so many times.
So! What I HOPE to get out of this publication is a reason to continue writing sketch (already accomplished), a responsive forum in which to learn and improve (check), and the connections to complete the leap from Chuffah to Real-Lifeuh when the time is right.
The kinds of posts I'm most interested in seeing those that we can read, then open up a new tab in google docs and start working on. Actionable information. Posts like this are great, now I'm reading others' stories and needs with the ability to comment and interact!
I really dug your first email about the ratio of comedy, I think you said that even the BEST sketch group is only good 70% of the time? I've been saying that for years. Any type of writing is a grind with a variable yield of usable product, but comedy often needs a public performance to check the quality. Sondheim could have had a 40% ratio, but only let us see the good stuff. Maybe we can improve that ratio over time, but the overall objective is to just do it, right?
Chuffah as a means to keep comedy writers' wheels spinning is-- I was about to say godsend, but let's face it, that's inaccurate hyperbole -- a really good and cool thing to start, Mike Trapp.
This seems like a particularly frustrating time to try to get traction on a comedy career. Not that it's ever really easy, but I remember when I was first starting out the only outlet I really had was the chance to perform unpaid shows once or twice a month -- and I LIVED for them! I can't imagine how hard it must be to not have even that. I feel for you! As for actionable steps -- my goal is to include optional exercises with the first couple posts. I won't be checking work or anything, but hopefully they'll be some things to get your creative juices flowing, and to get you thinking about writing and comedy in different ways.
Hey Trapp! Great to see the community you're building here! :)
I'd love to see interviews with people you sat in the writers' room with and had discussions about sketches. I've seen on your announcement thread on Twitter a proposition by Lily Du and even though it sounded like a joke, that kind of conversation would be pretty interesting in helping a writer understand what works and what doesn't.
In addition, I'd love to see some practical posts where we see your process of going over a piece of writing and dissecting it from start to finish.
I know you also intend to talk about writing in general, which as a blogger, fascinates me a lot. So I'm hoping to see more of that down the road.
Hey Oren! It was only kind of a joke. We might do something like that! I'm hoping at some point to record a notes session with some of the other writers so y'all can hear what our writers' room sounded like, how we critique our own work and the work of our friends. We'll definitely hit those other things too. Most of the writing stuff I'm talking about will be through the lens of sketch, but maybe half of it will be applicable to other forms of writing.
I don't really have any ambitions to write, I just really like sketch comedy and am interested in learning about the mechanics of it (I don't know if mechanics is even the right word). Sketch dissection and general thoughts would probably interest me the most.
i've never seriously attempted to write scripts of any kind, let alone anything comedic, and tbh it's not something i think i'd be any good at! i'm mostly here to get more insight into your creative process and maybe absorb a thing or two about writing in general along the way.
I don’t have any serious writing or comedy experience, but I would love to get into content creation. One thing I’ve noticed from sketch and improv comedy that I’ve watched online is that a lot of sketches just feel more slow or stale or less funny than improv? There are definitely really funny sketches out there (notably yours!) but also way more unfunny ones. Idk if this is an acting thing or writing thing or both, I’ve seen a lot of people whose improv I found really funny but then their sketches just weren’t always as good. Anyway, I would like to learn how to avoid this in my own future writing/filming of sketches and maybe your thoughts on why this is a thing? (If it’s not just my own personal taste haha)
I actually agree with you! I think there are a few reasons for this, but the biggest comes down to surprise. In an improv scene there are MANY opportunities for surprise. Hell, the fact that a group of people can perform a coherent scene on the spot is a bit of a surprise. You have multiple performers who are all trying to surprise each other. And you have an audience providing immediate feedback, so you can adjust your pacing to stay ahead of audience expectations. In sketch you can't rely on the group mind (for better and for worse), and you have to try to guess whether you're actually staying ahead of the audience or not. If you get your pacing wrong, the audience will be ahead of you for whole sketch, which is DEATH to comedy. It's tricky! You're trying to pre-emptively stay far enough ahead of your audience that you keep surprising them, but not so far ahead that you lose them completely. There are a couple strategies I use to accomplish this -- I'll talk more about it in a different post!
I've got a pretty strong background in improv comedy, but I'd be interested in learning more about translating improvised bits to something more concrete. "Dissecting a Sketch" is something I'm interested in, as well as collaborating with others in a writing sense.
It’s been a long time since I’ve written consistently, and I’ve never written sketch comedy. I would like to learn how, especially in a community with other beginners. I’m also really interested in the “Dissecting a Sketch” posts.
I'm looking forward to posts on writing and wielding comedy properly-- all your CH cohorts seem to universally appreciate you and extoll your talents, and the newsletter format seems to be a really interesting way to learn!
I also just would like to be exposed to more good writing and supporting people who try and do good work. Thanks dude, looking forward to seeing how it all goes!
I've studied scriptwriting and done stand up, but never written comedy. (Allright, I'm exaggerating for dramatic effect, but that's to be expected in a place like this, right?) I feel like learning about sketch comedy would be good for me!
Whoa, I half expected not being able to post. Now that I see that it appeared, I'd like to add, the past month and a half really flew by me! Sorry for being late. I wanted to really be able to focus once I finally sat down to read, and now I'm going through the archives! See you all when I catch up :)
Hi, I'm new so I'm just catching up on all of the posts, it's great so far, exactly what i was looking for in a resource and community. It's really hard, at least it seems this way, to find like-minded people, specifically for comedy, that look forward to and thrive on premise spontaneity, brainstorming, punching up, whatever. I don't even really know if what I'm saying is correct or makes any sense at all. I've sat with random people in a creative setting brainstorming and more times than not, I would get horrified looks or the kind of look that says "umm, we're not doing that, that's horrible and not funny'. The uncomfortable feeling I would get any other time I was in a writing situation with people like that, sucked because I knew no matter what I was saying or pitching or whatever premise i came up with, was going to be looked at as too vulgar or too inappropriate, not the kind of humor we're looking for. I'm glad you're here, I just want to write and be funny. Anything I can connect with or anyone I can associate through here is a win in my book.
I think you're hilarious, someone who's clearly devoted a lot of time to polishing his craft, and good at explaining things clearly and cogently. I want to take advantage of your insight and hard work to punch up the humor in my own writing. Also, frankly, I wanted to give you money for the hours of entertainment your work has given me. I've never hit 'subscribe' so fast to anything.
You're welcome! Also, funny aside: I tried to recommend this newsletter to a friend of mine only to learn they went to high school with you. Sheera says hi. :D
Hahaha, small world. In a weird coincidence a friend sent me some old high school pics today so I literally just saw a picture of Sheera this morning. Say hi back!
I'm definitely on time, and also wanna say, been a long-time fan of CH.
Post-wise, probably the innerworkings of comedy/sketch writing, especially when you're not sure where to start, one of those "dont know and don't know what you don't know" situations. I'm hoping to be able to absorb some that good comedy juice to use in some future improv/sketch/animation workings.
I realize I'm definitely late to the conversation (pesky spam filter!), but personally I'm here because a) Big Fan, and b) I'm a college history professor who relies a lot on constructing a narrative and imbuing it with humor, relatability, and a broader contextualization of the topic. Given the type of content you and CH have put out over the years, I suspect a lot of your advice will probably resonate! As for specifics, I'd love to hear your own thoughts on trying to hit that magic triangle of being informative, understandable, and funny.
A little late to the party but better late than never (right?). Honestly I am coming into this as a huge fan of all things comedy but a complete beginner when it comes to anything with entertainment and the creative process.
I know this answer won't help but I am looking for any and all posts. Comedy has been a morbid curiosity of mine and I see this substack as a great way to really expose myself to the comedic process. I just finished reading the "how sketches work" post and I am already blown away by how little I have actually thought about what makes something funny. If you are familiar with the Dunning-Kruger effect I am currently in the Valley of Despair (In the best possible interpretation).
What I hope to get out of this publication is to be able to really explore the world of comedy. There is so much to do and learn, I know whatever I get out of this publication will push me in the right direction.
I'm interested in writing comedy because I have a general interest in community broadcasting (I dabble in streaming) and hope to start doing a small film project this year. The way I see it? Comedy writing and the surrounding skill set can universally lift up those skills in other genres (like horror and drama), so I can't see why I wouldn't want to learn those things from you; a person who's succeeded in making me laugh for nearly a decade.
I would like to see posts that break down ways to go about the whole process. Right now in my head (having only consumer level knowledge) it seems like sketch comedy writing is a lot of reverse engineering of things you find funny.
It involves
1. Thinking of something that is funny.
2. Saying the funny thing in a funny way.
3. Then writing it down.
4. Edit the writing in a way someone else can read it so they also speak it funnily.
My gut tells me "sure that might be a way to do it," but I can't write very well in practice so it all seems daunting. Any posts you have towards mental words to paper would be super helpful.
I might write some sketches as exercises, but I'm mostly interested in learning from the notes, listening to ideas about comedy, theory vs. in practice etc. I feel like I'm not very good at writing funny, and I'd like to change that.
I'm a big fan of yours and a stand-up comedian/comedy writer. I do not have specific interest in writing sketches, but I am interested to learn their methodology as well as just general writing tips from an accomplished writer.
A bit late on my response here (took me a while to tame my inbox to actually send the emails to the right box), but I think I'm most interested in a mix of concrete concepts and terminology about the "structure" of sketches and other kinds of comedy along with some group review stuff. I dunno if I'd want that group review to be "We just talked about Whizpow sketches, so let's read all the Whizpows you've written over the last couple weeks" or if it'd be better for a more generic approach (a couple weeks on terminology, "under-the-hood" mechanics, and that kind of thing, followed by looking at a couple of group scripts for a week or two), but something in that pattern feels about right.
Over the last few years the entertainment I've gravitated the most to is comedy- whether that be TV shows, web series, sketches, I've basically just only been enjoying things that make me laugh. I'm likely an anomaly of your subscribers as I don't think it's something I'll ever do professionally. Instead, I'm just always curious, especially about the things I enjoy, and so I'm interested in getting a glimpse into "how it all works" and how funny people translate just natural talent for being funny into producible material. And as a fan of your work especially in this vast pool of comedy media, I'm interested in learning about the inner-workings comedy from a great comedian!
I don't actively want to write sketches, but I do like humor, making people laugh and you. If I ever want to persuit a hobby in comedic writing then I already have the basis, and if I don't want to do that, then I'm just happy to be a part of this
Jan 18, 2022·edited Jan 18, 2022Liked by Mike Trapp
Hi Mike, I'm a longtime fan of yours and the entire CollegeHumor gang. I signed up because Grant spoke so highly of your teaching on Twitter. It seems like a great opportunity.
I'm a recent college graduate. Over the last four years, I performed stand up with my group on campus. Now that I've graduated, I no longer have weekly meetings or the opportunity to perform regularly. I want to stay connected to comedy writing and keep learning and growing. I also studied creative writing at school, and would love to work more humorous moments into my stories.
I'm most interested in learning how to write a piece that can appeal to a general audience. On campus, I knew what types of people would be watching my sets, and wrote jokes that would make them laugh. How do you drill down the humor when your audience can be anybody?
I have no experience in sketch writing/performing at all, so look forward to learning the basics there, too. And if you have any advice on stand up, I'd love to hear it!
I love watching and writing sketch, and I want to get better at it. It would be also great to learn how to turn sketch into something else (how to sell it, turn it into another job, etc.) but if the very least that I get out of all this is it encourages me to think about writing and write more then it will also be worth it.
I have taught sketch in NYC at the PIT and have written on some shows on MTV and TruTV. I am looking for prompts and something to get me going again. Loved the idea of this and looking forward to your newsletter. Would love to put enough sketches together to put up an outdoor show in the summer.
Awesome! Some of these early posts might feel like familiar territory to you as I cover the basics, but I'll try to make sure there are some early posts that can be valuable to everyone regardless of experience level.
I'm an aspiring (and gainfully unemployed) comedy writer and would love to improve my sketch comedy writing at every level (jokes, structure, etc.) I would also love tips and tricks on how to get jobs writing sketches that do a better job at paying my rent than single person TikToks.
I’ve been having fun making short sketches but I’ve never had a sketch class. I think getting some education on structure could help me refine some of my ideas and improve the quality of my work. I’m here for the basics/fundamentals of sketch writing.
Hi Mike, I subscribed because I love comedy and want to pursue being good at it. I'm originally a stand-up but thanks to covid and life I haven't performed in over two years.
I have tried doing some sketch writing with some friends of mine over the pandemic but I felt like I didn't really know what I was doing and stopped fairly quickly. But I've been wanting to get back into writing (stand-up, sketches, anything really), I feel very rusty at it and thought this might give me the kick up the behind to just start.
So in terms of sketch, I guess I'm interested in anything and everything? The inception of an idea, getting started writing it, learning what's good & bad, practical techniques during the writing process, how to critique my own stuff, maybe even advice on how to keep at it. My trouble is at the first sign of something that I make being bad I tend to just quietly stop for fear of failing, and that's a habit I want to break. And with this sort of thing, I'm probably going to be bad before I'm good - so I need to learn to just do it without the fear.
And it goes without saying - CollegeHumor is great and it would be a privilege to learn from someone who has consistently put out great, funny stuff such as yourself.
Looking forward to reading as the publication progresses!
I'd definitely recommend finding a couple of friends to share your writing with. Fear of disappointing others is a great motivator for meeting deadlines. And if you're able to meet live or over video call, hearing even one person laugh at something you wrote can help you push past a lot of failure. Friends: 5/5 stars. Highly recommended.
Hi! I subscribed because I got back into CH a couple years ago, have been a fan of your work and wanted to support.
I wrote and performed sketches for a few years but fell off recently and I was excited at a chance to get back into it.
Other than just motivating myself to get back into writing, I’m interested in improving my ability to write characters that don’t just sound like me. One of my biggest fears is writing content that just sounds like two halves of the same person having a conversation (unless, that was the point of the sketch. Maybe this is something…)
I run a few games of DnD which lean towards silly rather than serious. I am hoping to find information that will help me prepare a scene and create characters so I can hit the comedic (or dramatic) moments in the most satisfying way
I'd love to get knowledge about comedy theories and techniques — stuff that investigates the nuts and bolts of what makes something funny, different types and genres of jokes, and of course recounts of your own experiences
I've made people laugh before, I watch and listen to and consume a lot of comedy, but I just don't really get how to put together a performance or a complete idea that I could share with other people. Like, how do I go from someone who just is funny sometimes to being a comedian or a comedy writer?
I get it. Those basic process questions can be a little mystifying. If you weren't already planning on it, I'd definitely recommend trying to write a sketch after the first couple posts go up. Sketches are so short and contained that even if your first attempt is an absolute mess you can still learn a lot about processes from it.
Definitely technique on building blocks; prompts would be helpful as well. If I get enough to write a 2-4 page sketch every month, seems like a manageable pace and a way to track improvement throughout the year.
That's a very reasonable, achievable goal. The next two weeks of posts should give you enough to at least start stumbling your way through a script. Prompts are a good idea!
Same! I’ve never written a sketch before but I’d like to try, so prompts to help me get thinking about what I find funny and how to maximize that in written form would be helpful.
If you're thinking about thinking about what you find funny, you're already in the right mindset. There will be a post the week after next that I think will address some of what you're talking about here.
I’m very interested in the creative process, how you take an idea and turn it into a finished sketch. It’d be very cool to see a kind of inner monologue, starting from “This is an idea with something” through to the finished project.
I'd be interested to see what you think makes a sketch not work, and also the writing process of putting something together and asking yourself 'is this good'? I work as a curator and so much of my writing is sadly limited to non-comedic museum captions, but I find that what we do is the same as what so many other people do - telling a story - and it's really helpful hearing from experts in different fields.
I'm a sports fan and there's a genre of sports fandom that consists of knowledgeable fans/ former players/ professionals doing detailed breakdowns of gameplay. It highlights things that aren't easily observable to a casual TV watcher. It would be cool to see something along those lines for improv shows or comedy sketches. i.e. what tools and methods are being employed and how in a given sketch? Stuff the normal audience might not pick up on but that you are more attuned to given your experience.
Looks like there's a lot of interest in the sketch dissections and things like this in the thread, so I'll be sure to get one of those moved up in the schedule!
Yes. This sounds great
I'm in a sketch troupe at my university, and I've done improv and standup. I'm looking for sustainable ways to go from funny concepts to outlines of sketches. I want to learn how pros go from doing bits to forming full sketches. I'm mainly here because I like thinking and talking about funny stuff, and I like having more purposeful spaces dedicated to that in my life!
I'll definitely talk about how I go from "maybe this is an idea?" to final draft, and specifically, that big jump from vague notion to first draft.
I think this is what I'm here for the most.
I signed up for Chuffah because I've been watching your CH content for years and I wanted to support you. As a fine artist I have no plans to write or perform anything. I know I'm the oddball out on this. If I get a chuckle from reading your newsletter or get so inspired I try to write something, this will have been well worth my time.
Thank you for the support!
I've taken some standup and improv classes, I've written some non-comedic scripts, but I've never really combined the two, and I'd like to know where to start. I want activities and exercises I can actually do, I want to learn how to critique my own work, learn how to (nicely!) critique others' work. I'd also love some guidance on how to make it in the business of comedy writing.
What I hope to get out of this publication? Motivation and community. I quit my job a couple years ago to become a writer. It's hard to feel motivated shouting out into the lonely void. I don't really have anyone around me who's as into comedy as I am. I'm a pathetic, unemployed, elder millennial, and I need you to give my life meaning, Trapp. :-)
I literally just scheduled an upcoming post on (nicely!) critiquing others' work so at the very least I can promise thoughts on that!
Oh also, as a teen, I was in a playwriting workshop where every Saturday, we all brought in our scripts and did a table read, for each other, of what we wrote that week, and that was so helpful. Mostly because it meant, every Friday night I was forced to be writing instead of out partying and doing drugs--or, okay, let's face it, sitting at home watching Family Matters--but also because we got to hear our stuff read out loud and critiqued. And I just miss it. I'd love it if there was some way we could find like-minded folks to do that with.
Me and Some friends have a YouTube channel called “The After School Program” where we write some Sketches and Make Comedy music. I’m trying to be a constant student to make our sketches better and learn from someone at a high level in the world or sketch comedy
One thing I have not seen mentioned is a reading list / watching list. I would especially enjoy some references that illustrate the topic at hand and make me discover some more sketch comedy.
This is a good idea! I'll be linking to sketches when relevant and available online, but an overall watchlist is probably something for me to consider.
The second one can organically grow over time from the sketches linked in the first part, but having some good signposts can be useful. I am not a native speaker, and a big part of my sketch culture is French and Greek based, and even though I have seen a lot of sketches in English (Monty Python, Not the 9 o'clock news, Mitchell and Webb, Fry and Laury, SNL, Mr Show, College Humor, Britanick, Key & Peel, SMBC theater, Smack the poney, Alterlatino...) I am always looking for new sources of mirth.
Honestly just a place to start from. I’ve never done anything like this before (in earnest, at least) and it would be great to get a push in the right direction from somebody who knows what they’re talking about. A “try this, avoid this, always this, never this” kind of thing.
For the longest time I have acted/performed things that other people have written. I think I bring my own "something" to it but it was always other people's materials with some improvd additions. I want to create more original content and would love to know how to assemble it effectively and how to consistently produce quality content (or at least something I think it funny).
Hey, long time fan! On top of what others have said I’m interested in demystifying the process of submitting packets. It’d also be nice to know more about pitching, rehearsing, and producing sketch shows. I’m getting started as a producer in Chicago. By the end of the year I want to pitch shows to Chicago theaters and shoot a handful of video sketches. I’m also curious about the differences between video and live sketch comedy. Do you approach the writing process different? How can you tell if something would work better live vs online? Can a sketch do both?
Thanks for doing this, I’m excited to see where this goes.
GREAT questions here. Most of them will have to be their own post. As someone who has both submitted and reviewed packets I have a lot of thoughts about them. As a short answer to your question of video vs stage. Yes, there are differences between the two you have to consider, but you can usually adapt one for the other. More on all these topics later!
I've been trying to use COVID to start diving deeper into my interests/hobbies. Maybe even see if one could be sustainable enough to be a career change. I've always loved how saturated and layered something as quick as a sketch can be, but I've always been a watcher. No actual writing experience and randomly resurfacing stage fright. I'm hoping just being a part of this community and seeing other people's passion might help motivate and inspire me to find my passion, even if it doesn't end up being sketch comedy.
And if I were to learn enough about the process, write some sketches, and discover I'm some form of comedy deity. Dope.
We share a dream.
I've been looking for a way into comedy that isn't signing up for a comedy class (they intimidate me, admittedly) so learning more about how you think about comedy, sketches, etc is why I subscribed! You mentioned in "Who Cares About Sketch Comedy?" that sketches are meant to be, well, sketches! They can be quick and playful. That is appealing! I've been trying to write more as well (I also started a new year's newsletter) so drafting some sketches is good practice.
I'd love your thoughts, history of comedy and sketch writing, and post-mortems on work you've down from conception to tear-down. I might never finish writing my own sketch but I'd happily pay to learn more comedy for pleasure.
I'm a college student studying writing for comedic television and I'm hoping for insights that might be applicable to my longform work. Also just info about what it's like trying to make a living by being funny professionally
I subscribed because I need help.
I started in college doing everything myself, writing sketches, casting, directing, rehearsing, props, sound, everything-- and started building from there into a sketch group.
After four years, half of them COVID, I've lost that group, people, and all semblance of momentum. I'm in NYC, and it's not safe right now to go out and "do comedy." Hell, even the open mic I was at shut down at New Years and hasn't opened.
I have ability and vision, but my drive is faltering after slipping so many times.
So! What I HOPE to get out of this publication is a reason to continue writing sketch (already accomplished), a responsive forum in which to learn and improve (check), and the connections to complete the leap from Chuffah to Real-Lifeuh when the time is right.
The kinds of posts I'm most interested in seeing those that we can read, then open up a new tab in google docs and start working on. Actionable information. Posts like this are great, now I'm reading others' stories and needs with the ability to comment and interact!
I really dug your first email about the ratio of comedy, I think you said that even the BEST sketch group is only good 70% of the time? I've been saying that for years. Any type of writing is a grind with a variable yield of usable product, but comedy often needs a public performance to check the quality. Sondheim could have had a 40% ratio, but only let us see the good stuff. Maybe we can improve that ratio over time, but the overall objective is to just do it, right?
Chuffah as a means to keep comedy writers' wheels spinning is-- I was about to say godsend, but let's face it, that's inaccurate hyperbole -- a really good and cool thing to start, Mike Trapp.
This seems like a particularly frustrating time to try to get traction on a comedy career. Not that it's ever really easy, but I remember when I was first starting out the only outlet I really had was the chance to perform unpaid shows once or twice a month -- and I LIVED for them! I can't imagine how hard it must be to not have even that. I feel for you! As for actionable steps -- my goal is to include optional exercises with the first couple posts. I won't be checking work or anything, but hopefully they'll be some things to get your creative juices flowing, and to get you thinking about writing and comedy in different ways.
Hey Trapp! Great to see the community you're building here! :)
I'd love to see interviews with people you sat in the writers' room with and had discussions about sketches. I've seen on your announcement thread on Twitter a proposition by Lily Du and even though it sounded like a joke, that kind of conversation would be pretty interesting in helping a writer understand what works and what doesn't.
In addition, I'd love to see some practical posts where we see your process of going over a piece of writing and dissecting it from start to finish.
I know you also intend to talk about writing in general, which as a blogger, fascinates me a lot. So I'm hoping to see more of that down the road.
Thanks for making all of this!!
Hey Oren! It was only kind of a joke. We might do something like that! I'm hoping at some point to record a notes session with some of the other writers so y'all can hear what our writers' room sounded like, how we critique our own work and the work of our friends. We'll definitely hit those other things too. Most of the writing stuff I'm talking about will be through the lens of sketch, but maybe half of it will be applicable to other forms of writing.
I don't really have any ambitions to write, I just really like sketch comedy and am interested in learning about the mechanics of it (I don't know if mechanics is even the right word). Sketch dissection and general thoughts would probably interest me the most.
i've never seriously attempted to write scripts of any kind, let alone anything comedic, and tbh it's not something i think i'd be any good at! i'm mostly here to get more insight into your creative process and maybe absorb a thing or two about writing in general along the way.
I don’t have any serious writing or comedy experience, but I would love to get into content creation. One thing I’ve noticed from sketch and improv comedy that I’ve watched online is that a lot of sketches just feel more slow or stale or less funny than improv? There are definitely really funny sketches out there (notably yours!) but also way more unfunny ones. Idk if this is an acting thing or writing thing or both, I’ve seen a lot of people whose improv I found really funny but then their sketches just weren’t always as good. Anyway, I would like to learn how to avoid this in my own future writing/filming of sketches and maybe your thoughts on why this is a thing? (If it’s not just my own personal taste haha)
I actually agree with you! I think there are a few reasons for this, but the biggest comes down to surprise. In an improv scene there are MANY opportunities for surprise. Hell, the fact that a group of people can perform a coherent scene on the spot is a bit of a surprise. You have multiple performers who are all trying to surprise each other. And you have an audience providing immediate feedback, so you can adjust your pacing to stay ahead of audience expectations. In sketch you can't rely on the group mind (for better and for worse), and you have to try to guess whether you're actually staying ahead of the audience or not. If you get your pacing wrong, the audience will be ahead of you for whole sketch, which is DEATH to comedy. It's tricky! You're trying to pre-emptively stay far enough ahead of your audience that you keep surprising them, but not so far ahead that you lose them completely. There are a couple strategies I use to accomplish this -- I'll talk more about it in a different post!
Thanks for the really thorough answer! That makes a lot of sense, good to know it’s not just in my head. Looking forward to that post :)
I've got a pretty strong background in improv comedy, but I'd be interested in learning more about translating improvised bits to something more concrete. "Dissecting a Sketch" is something I'm interested in, as well as collaborating with others in a writing sense.
It’s been a long time since I’ve written consistently, and I’ve never written sketch comedy. I would like to learn how, especially in a community with other beginners. I’m also really interested in the “Dissecting a Sketch” posts.
I'm a filmmaker and I would like to learn the fundamentals of comedy so that I can more effectively communicate humor to my audience.
Very cool. I'll be sure to have some posts talking with directors and editors about how they maximize comedy in their respective crafts as well!
I'm looking forward to posts on writing and wielding comedy properly-- all your CH cohorts seem to universally appreciate you and extoll your talents, and the newsletter format seems to be a really interesting way to learn!
I also just would like to be exposed to more good writing and supporting people who try and do good work. Thanks dude, looking forward to seeing how it all goes!
I've studied scriptwriting and done stand up, but never written comedy. (Allright, I'm exaggerating for dramatic effect, but that's to be expected in a place like this, right?) I feel like learning about sketch comedy would be good for me!
Whoa, I half expected not being able to post. Now that I see that it appeared, I'd like to add, the past month and a half really flew by me! Sorry for being late. I wanted to really be able to focus once I finally sat down to read, and now I'm going through the archives! See you all when I catch up :)
Good luck catching up! I'm a wordy bastard.
Hi, I'm new so I'm just catching up on all of the posts, it's great so far, exactly what i was looking for in a resource and community. It's really hard, at least it seems this way, to find like-minded people, specifically for comedy, that look forward to and thrive on premise spontaneity, brainstorming, punching up, whatever. I don't even really know if what I'm saying is correct or makes any sense at all. I've sat with random people in a creative setting brainstorming and more times than not, I would get horrified looks or the kind of look that says "umm, we're not doing that, that's horrible and not funny'. The uncomfortable feeling I would get any other time I was in a writing situation with people like that, sucked because I knew no matter what I was saying or pitching or whatever premise i came up with, was going to be looked at as too vulgar or too inappropriate, not the kind of humor we're looking for. I'm glad you're here, I just want to write and be funny. Anything I can connect with or anyone I can associate through here is a win in my book.
I think you're hilarious, someone who's clearly devoted a lot of time to polishing his craft, and good at explaining things clearly and cogently. I want to take advantage of your insight and hard work to punch up the humor in my own writing. Also, frankly, I wanted to give you money for the hours of entertainment your work has given me. I've never hit 'subscribe' so fast to anything.
This is very kind. Thank you!
You're welcome! Also, funny aside: I tried to recommend this newsletter to a friend of mine only to learn they went to high school with you. Sheera says hi. :D
Hahaha, small world. In a weird coincidence a friend sent me some old high school pics today so I literally just saw a picture of Sheera this morning. Say hi back!
Hey Trapp (and friends)
I subscribed because I'm an award-nominated writer who is great at 'natural' dialogue, and I want to learn more about comedic timing and beats.
I use my writing in my work daily, and I feel that getting better at comedy will just make me a better writer overall :)
(Also im a big fan of your work!)
I'm definitely on time, and also wanna say, been a long-time fan of CH.
Post-wise, probably the innerworkings of comedy/sketch writing, especially when you're not sure where to start, one of those "dont know and don't know what you don't know" situations. I'm hoping to be able to absorb some that good comedy juice to use in some future improv/sketch/animation workings.
I realize I'm definitely late to the conversation (pesky spam filter!), but personally I'm here because a) Big Fan, and b) I'm a college history professor who relies a lot on constructing a narrative and imbuing it with humor, relatability, and a broader contextualization of the topic. Given the type of content you and CH have put out over the years, I suspect a lot of your advice will probably resonate! As for specifics, I'd love to hear your own thoughts on trying to hit that magic triangle of being informative, understandable, and funny.
That magic triangle is a tough balance for sure. Usually one of the three ends up suffering for the benefit of the other two.
A little late to the party but better late than never (right?). Honestly I am coming into this as a huge fan of all things comedy but a complete beginner when it comes to anything with entertainment and the creative process.
I know this answer won't help but I am looking for any and all posts. Comedy has been a morbid curiosity of mine and I see this substack as a great way to really expose myself to the comedic process. I just finished reading the "how sketches work" post and I am already blown away by how little I have actually thought about what makes something funny. If you are familiar with the Dunning-Kruger effect I am currently in the Valley of Despair (In the best possible interpretation).
What I hope to get out of this publication is to be able to really explore the world of comedy. There is so much to do and learn, I know whatever I get out of this publication will push me in the right direction.
Thanks for doing this, it is such a cool idea!
I'm interested in writing comedy because I have a general interest in community broadcasting (I dabble in streaming) and hope to start doing a small film project this year. The way I see it? Comedy writing and the surrounding skill set can universally lift up those skills in other genres (like horror and drama), so I can't see why I wouldn't want to learn those things from you; a person who's succeeded in making me laugh for nearly a decade.
I would like to see posts that break down ways to go about the whole process. Right now in my head (having only consumer level knowledge) it seems like sketch comedy writing is a lot of reverse engineering of things you find funny.
It involves
1. Thinking of something that is funny.
2. Saying the funny thing in a funny way.
3. Then writing it down.
4. Edit the writing in a way someone else can read it so they also speak it funnily.
My gut tells me "sure that might be a way to do it," but I can't write very well in practice so it all seems daunting. Any posts you have towards mental words to paper would be super helpful.
I might write some sketches as exercises, but I'm mostly interested in learning from the notes, listening to ideas about comedy, theory vs. in practice etc. I feel like I'm not very good at writing funny, and I'd like to change that.
I'm a big fan of yours and a stand-up comedian/comedy writer. I do not have specific interest in writing sketches, but I am interested to learn their methodology as well as just general writing tips from an accomplished writer.
A bit late on my response here (took me a while to tame my inbox to actually send the emails to the right box), but I think I'm most interested in a mix of concrete concepts and terminology about the "structure" of sketches and other kinds of comedy along with some group review stuff. I dunno if I'd want that group review to be "We just talked about Whizpow sketches, so let's read all the Whizpows you've written over the last couple weeks" or if it'd be better for a more generic approach (a couple weeks on terminology, "under-the-hood" mechanics, and that kind of thing, followed by looking at a couple of group scripts for a week or two), but something in that pattern feels about right.
Over the last few years the entertainment I've gravitated the most to is comedy- whether that be TV shows, web series, sketches, I've basically just only been enjoying things that make me laugh. I'm likely an anomaly of your subscribers as I don't think it's something I'll ever do professionally. Instead, I'm just always curious, especially about the things I enjoy, and so I'm interested in getting a glimpse into "how it all works" and how funny people translate just natural talent for being funny into producible material. And as a fan of your work especially in this vast pool of comedy media, I'm interested in learning about the inner-workings comedy from a great comedian!
I hope to expand my writing toolbox with more technique and understanding of different styles
I don't actively want to write sketches, but I do like humor, making people laugh and you. If I ever want to persuit a hobby in comedic writing then I already have the basis, and if I don't want to do that, then I'm just happy to be a part of this
Hi Mike, I'm a longtime fan of yours and the entire CollegeHumor gang. I signed up because Grant spoke so highly of your teaching on Twitter. It seems like a great opportunity.
I'm a recent college graduate. Over the last four years, I performed stand up with my group on campus. Now that I've graduated, I no longer have weekly meetings or the opportunity to perform regularly. I want to stay connected to comedy writing and keep learning and growing. I also studied creative writing at school, and would love to work more humorous moments into my stories.
I'm most interested in learning how to write a piece that can appeal to a general audience. On campus, I knew what types of people would be watching my sets, and wrote jokes that would make them laugh. How do you drill down the humor when your audience can be anybody?
I have no experience in sketch writing/performing at all, so look forward to learning the basics there, too. And if you have any advice on stand up, I'd love to hear it!
I love watching and writing sketch, and I want to get better at it. It would be also great to learn how to turn sketch into something else (how to sell it, turn it into another job, etc.) but if the very least that I get out of all this is it encourages me to think about writing and write more then it will also be worth it.
I have taught sketch in NYC at the PIT and have written on some shows on MTV and TruTV. I am looking for prompts and something to get me going again. Loved the idea of this and looking forward to your newsletter. Would love to put enough sketches together to put up an outdoor show in the summer.
Awesome! Some of these early posts might feel like familiar territory to you as I cover the basics, but I'll try to make sure there are some early posts that can be valuable to everyone regardless of experience level.
I'm an aspiring (and gainfully unemployed) comedy writer and would love to improve my sketch comedy writing at every level (jokes, structure, etc.) I would also love tips and tricks on how to get jobs writing sketches that do a better job at paying my rent than single person TikToks.
I’ve been having fun making short sketches but I’ve never had a sketch class. I think getting some education on structure could help me refine some of my ideas and improve the quality of my work. I’m here for the basics/fundamentals of sketch writing.
Hi Mike, I subscribed because I love comedy and want to pursue being good at it. I'm originally a stand-up but thanks to covid and life I haven't performed in over two years.
I have tried doing some sketch writing with some friends of mine over the pandemic but I felt like I didn't really know what I was doing and stopped fairly quickly. But I've been wanting to get back into writing (stand-up, sketches, anything really), I feel very rusty at it and thought this might give me the kick up the behind to just start.
So in terms of sketch, I guess I'm interested in anything and everything? The inception of an idea, getting started writing it, learning what's good & bad, practical techniques during the writing process, how to critique my own stuff, maybe even advice on how to keep at it. My trouble is at the first sign of something that I make being bad I tend to just quietly stop for fear of failing, and that's a habit I want to break. And with this sort of thing, I'm probably going to be bad before I'm good - so I need to learn to just do it without the fear.
And it goes without saying - CollegeHumor is great and it would be a privilege to learn from someone who has consistently put out great, funny stuff such as yourself.
Looking forward to reading as the publication progresses!
I'd definitely recommend finding a couple of friends to share your writing with. Fear of disappointing others is a great motivator for meeting deadlines. And if you're able to meet live or over video call, hearing even one person laugh at something you wrote can help you push past a lot of failure. Friends: 5/5 stars. Highly recommended.
Hi! I subscribed because I got back into CH a couple years ago, have been a fan of your work and wanted to support.
I wrote and performed sketches for a few years but fell off recently and I was excited at a chance to get back into it.
Other than just motivating myself to get back into writing, I’m interested in improving my ability to write characters that don’t just sound like me. One of my biggest fears is writing content that just sounds like two halves of the same person having a conversation (unless, that was the point of the sketch. Maybe this is something…)
I run a few games of DnD which lean towards silly rather than serious. I am hoping to find information that will help me prepare a scene and create characters so I can hit the comedic (or dramatic) moments in the most satisfying way