September is National Sketch Writing Month

If you are in Chicago and you participated in National Sketch Writing Month, you are invited to come to an open mic/sketch reading party on October 7th. Bring copies of your favorite sketches you wrote for this year’s NaSkeWriMo and we will read it together. 

Chicago NaSkeWriMo Jam
@Upstairs Gallery
Sunday, October 7th, 7:30pm
FREE (suggested donation $5)
BYOB & BYO(S)ketches 

@danbellcomedy

*if you would like to be removed from this list, or are supposed to be on it but aren’t, let us know.

Just one more day in September after this one—will you make it to 30 sketches? We’ll be posting everyone who does, so write ‘em up!

(this post was mostly an excuse to use the word ‘penultimate’)

Well everyone, the month is almost over, and as you scramble to get your counts up to 30, here’s the info on some of the upcoming showcases.

For New York, from Andy Beckerman:

Hi NaSkeWriMo participants!

On Friday, October 12th at midnight at UCB Chelsea, we will be putting up a show featuring sketches written as part of NaSkeWriMo (http://newyork.ucbtheatre.com/shows/view/2846). Participation in the show is open to anyone who wrote as part of NaSkeWriMo. Just sign up with the form below and perform your favorite piece from this month!

What we’re looking for is people who want to put together an actual staged show. If you don’t know any actors, we’ll do our best to help you find some people. And if you want to help out, why not volunteer to act in someone else’s sketch?

Sketches should be no longer than five minutes and should have minimal tech cues, since the tech guy will be doing this cold.

Deadline to sign up is Wednesday, October 3rd at midnight. If accepted, we’ll inform you by Sunday the 7th. We are accepting sketches on a first-come, first-served basis.

If you have any questions, you can let us know at naskewrimoshow [at] gmail.com.

Sign up here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEFHTnVGYnNUcWtPWDBKVEh5TlN4c3c6MQ

your pals,
Jon, Will and Andy

And for Chicago, from Kevin Mullaney:

Chicago here: https://www.facebook.com/events/355565351190139/

If you have any questions, drop us a line! Happy September y’all! Keep writing!

If you are in Chicago and you are participating in National Sketch Writing Month, you are invited to come to an open mic/sketch reading party on October 7th. Bring copies of your favorite sketches you wrote for this year’s NaSkeWriMo and we will read it together. 

NaSkeWriMo Chicago Afterword
@Upstairs Gallery
Sunday, October 7th, 7:30pm
FREE (suggested donation $5)
BYOB & BYO(S)ketches 

Sick of typing your sketches into Microsoft Word? Hate it when you edit a line and end up screwing up the formatting? Can’t get solid notes back on your scripts because no one can figure out what’s stage direction and what’s dialogue?

Switch to a script writing program. They’re designed to format your script in a readable and professional way so you can focus on what matters—the comedy.

We recommend Celtx, which is free. The software is easily usable, and allows you to export your scripts in .pdf (which you can upload to google docs and share on our website, if you’d like) or in .txt (which you can then copy and paste into your blog or into a word document, if you prefer that).

Happy September y’all! Keep writing!

I’m working on getting a show together in early October, really more of a gathering/party/celebration/open mic to share our sketches. If you are a Chicagoan and you are participating in NaSkeWriMo, follow the main Tumblr and look for posts tagged ‘Chicago naskewrimo’.

-Mullaney

…and that means it’s almost NaSkeWriMo! Want to participate? You can log your sketches (and share them if you like) at our website. You can also join our facebook group for updates or, of course, follow our blog here.

What do you have to do? Write a sketch every day for the month of September. What do you get? $2.35/word. Just kidding! We’re poor, you get nothing. (There are plans in the work for showcases in NYC and in Chicago, details to come as they’re clarified.)

Happy September, y’all!