1 post tagged “sketch comedy”

I remember a class discussion my classmates and I had in Sketch Writing 101 at The Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) Theatre Student Workshop about the popularity of sketch comedy- a very obvious topic, I know, but moviemakers probably talk about the popularity of movies- and we agreed with our teacher's assessment that we were indeed in a "golden age of sketch comedy."  The obvious argument is that there are a lot of hilarious sketch shows out there, on TV, online, and on stage. SNL, Human Giant, CollegeHumor's Hardly Working, and the many shows at the UCB Theatre immediately come to mind. But we also have to acknowledge our deep interest in sketch writing and the environment inhabited by sketch comedy writers. (This is kind of an intro sentence, but I rather say it here) Sketch comedy is nothing new, but recently it has been explored in new ways. This brings to mind 30 Rock. The show (which is awesome) revolves around the head writer of a Friday night sketch show on NBC, played by the former head writer of a Saturday night sketch show on NBC. I am not highlighting this to bust balls, but rather to show that "the people" like to watch sketch shows as well as shows about sketch shows. That is not the only example. While on Hulu.com (the website where you can watch pretty much anything from NBC, Fox and their cable networks), I noticed they are showing clips of what is in essence a new online show called "SNL Backstage." This seems to be a confluence of the demand for short online clips (for people who are probably pretending to be working) and the interest in sketch comedy. The clips are pretty much people asking the SNL folks (actors, writers, producers, etc.) about the famous sketch show. You know who else puts up short clips about his or her show? Tina Fey, star of 30 Rock (it is called "Ask Tina" and it will rock your girdle). Most important, unlike many (most?) trends in entertainment, this one is great and I am riding it as far as it takes me.

So, without further ado I present my idea for a new show that deals with sketch comedy: It is a mockumentary docudrama, or a mockudrama, that tells the story of a down-and-out sketch show through the "eyes" (because they don't have any) of the stage and his supporting cast of costumes, lights and used cue cards. It's gonna be called "Mise-en-Scène."

Check for it in the fall of 2009 on- it's the best I could do- the NEW CW*!

*as opposed to the old one that actually never existed.