October 2011
5 posts
TONIGHT
at UCB Chelsea, is the NaNaSkeWriMoSkeShow!
$5, at midnight, come see sketches written as part of NaSkeWriMo!
Featuring the talents of: Matt Grote, Poupak Sepehri, Jon Bershad, Aubrie Williams, John Zachary Townsend, Abbi Crutchfield, Adam Wagner, Sal Gentile, Danielle Cook and Kate Emswiler, Will Storie and Camp Woods…and others!
Come out and laugh! Details. Or, reservations!
Kevin Hines: Sketch Month - 30 Sketches! By Me! →
kevhines:
For the third year in a row I wrote 30 sketches in September. And I’m proud because I kept pace pretty well all month. Last year I had to keep writing 3 or 4 in a day to make up for days when I fell behind. And last year I had to finish one day into October. But not this year. Other then the first…
Get involved: UCB's NaNaSkeWriMoSkeShow
Hey y’all, here are the details for getting involved with the NaSkeWriMo show at UCB on Oct 21st:
Ahoy NaSkeWriMo participants!
On Friday, October 21st at midnight at UCB Chelsea, we will be putting up a show featuring sketches written as part of NaSkeWriMo (http://newyork.ucbtheatre.com/performances/view/20984). Participation in the show is open to anyone who wrote as part of ...
That's all, folks!
Congrats, everyone! That’s it for NaSkeWriMo 2011, where we wrote a whopping 1405 sketches! Just a quick shout out to everyone who managed to make it to 30:
mishuhilmy
alex estrada
@danbellcomedy
kevhines
Jnonymous
staceyangelakos
Bett Correa
Corbin Smith!
Pou
mattkoff
Lucas Hazlett
Adam Wagner
loserbeam
Shawn Von der Hellen
Ian Stroud
John Purcell
Dyna Moe
william...
September 2011
20 posts
3 tags
And now a perspective from a NaSkeWriMo Slacker
Hi guys! Guess who’s only written 2 sketches for NaSkeWriMo. IT’S ME! I wrote my first sketch mid-month, and quickly followed it up the next day with my second. And then I stopped! In August, I had big plans to get my shit together and follow the mission of NaSkeWriMo - a sketch a day! Then I went on vacation during the first week of September. And then I came back. And then NOTHING...
naskewriday
willstorie:
today, Naskewrimo becomes Naskewriday. I’m gonna try to go from zero sketches to 30 by 7 pm.
I’ll either post all of them (or maybe just highlights) directly to this site. Here we go!
Go Will Storie, go!
Homestretch!
Hey writers,
As we come into the homestretch of NaSkeWriMo, just thought we’d check in with some cool opportunities.
You can do sketches at UCBNY (Chelsea) THIS FRIDAY. Or any Friday, at Liquid Courage. Come with sketches prepared and you can perform at this open mic. Show starts at midnight, is free, details: http://newyork.ucbtheatre.com/shows/view/518
There’s also going to be a...
A Quick Rule
Write a meta sketch because you have a really good meta idea. Not because you’ve run out of good non-meta ideas.
If it’s 2am and you’ve decided that the conversation you just had in the writers’ room is funny in and of itself, now’s a good time to take a break.
Exposition is ammunition
…is a phrase that applies to all narrative forms. The idea is that we never want to waste our audience’s time with flat exposition. In plays, we don’t want a narrator telling us about events we don’t see; in stories, we don’t want lengthy paragraphs without action; in sketches, we don’t want you to lay out your premise without playing it.
It is, in other words,...
Why are we doing this?
When I started caring about justification, everything I wrote got weighty. If I couldn’t come up with a genius justification, then everything was cancer or dead parents. “Why are you painting your body?” “My mom just died, she would have wanted this.” “Why are you on a date with this walrus?” “I have cancer, I want to try new things.” I...
Managing the crazy
Things tend to get weird in sketch. We all love blackout lines—“It’s not if your dog can salsa dance, it’s if you can train him to salsa dance.” “That’s what we get for vacationing in hell!” “I’m pretty sure all dentists comb their patients’ hair, so don’t be weird.” All good fun, but boring and gimmicky without...
How to Start a Sketch, Part II, Lists
Lists are very similar to free writing, but a little more focused. You give yourself a question or category and then as quickly as possible you write a list of answers. Here is a list of categories you could use to generate lists:
Everyday locations
Things that people do that seem strange to you
Examples of everyday hypocrisy
Characters that you are well suited to play
Characters that you are...
4 tags
Improv Obsession: Not Improv: Reasons to Write... →
improvobsession:
Today I’m sticking with my theme of writing articles when people don’t need them (Like my ways to generate with ideas for sketches on the first day of NaSkeWriMo (you were out of ideas on the first day? Jeesh what’s wrong with you? (Probably nothing, I’m sorry))).
When I first heard September…
“For me, writer’s block isn’t so much, “Oh, nothing’s coming out.” It’s more...”
– Annie Clark, chatting about writer’s block with Amanda Petrusich at Pitchfork. (via shortbreadsh)
Not EXACTLY sketch related, but... →
Will Hines is killing it over at improvnonsense. I think some of the same concepts apply to sketch.
Motivation
It’s day five, and I’m writing this instead of a sketch because I’m behind a day and I have many, many more interesting things to do. I’m willing to bet that you feel this way too, or at least you will at some point in the next 25 days.
So the question is, how do we stay motivated?
We want to write sketches. We bother with this month, this thing we made up, because if...
John August: Writing faster →
Shoutout on Splitsider →
Thanks, Halle!
8 tags
Improv Obsession: Not Improv: 5 Ways to Generate... →
improvobsession:
Last year, I weirdly decided to make my own type of NaSkeWriMo. The goal I had for myself was to write 20 sketches, in a week. The thing I found hard in that week wasn’t actually writing, or coming up with beats of a sketch or finding the time. The thing I found hard was actually coming up…
…with what? You’ll have to click through to find out!
“So apparently it’s National Sketch Writing month, according to a website...”
– P is for Pterodactyl: 30 Sketches in 30 days: #1—“Boring Apocalypse”
Writing in Chicago? Say Hello! →
If you’re participating in NaSkeWriMo this year and live in the Chicago area, click through and say hello! We usually try to have an end-of-month sketch reading/party in New York; if there’s enough interest we might have one in Chicago, too.
Liquid Courage at UCB! →
Hey writers, the ink of your first sketch of the month isn’t even dry* and we’ve already got an awesome opportunity for you!
Onassis, Maude team at the UCB Theatre and winners of FRISC, are hosting LIQUID COURAGE, a sketch open mic midnights on Fridays throughout the month. Everyone is welcome to perform, first come first serve. For those of you in NYC, this is a great opportunity to...
Advice for the day: Dare to be boring
The intimidating thing about a blank page, in my opinion, is that once it’s filled it becomes real. We can’t dream of the amazing sketch we could write once we’ve actually written it. Once it becomes real, we have to come to terms with it’s errors and malformations. It isn’t as hilarious and perfect as we had dreamed.
I got over this fear of imperfection with one...
August 2011
10 posts
5 tags
How to Start a Sketch, Part I, Free Writing
National Sketch Writing Month (NaSkeWriMo) begins tomorrow. In past years, I’ve not done too well. I’ve signed up at least twice before and I’ve written a few sketches, but I haven’t come close to writing 30 sketches in 30 days. I think this year will be different.
I’ve had two problems in the past. On the one hand, I often wait for inspiration before I start...
No, You're Not My Father: National Sketch Writing... →
lukerobot:
It’s that time again!
Last year was my first attempt at the NaSkeWriMo and I actually succeeded in writing the 30 sketches. It was a big feat for me because up until that point I had written zero sketches in my entire life. This year, I plan on hitting the goal again. But this year, my…
Good luck to you, Luke!
NaSkeWriMo →
ryanjameshitchcock:
National Sketch Writing Month starts on Thursday. I’m gonna do it!
Hell yeah!
Moving to naskewrimo.tumblr.com →
Website source code, now on GitHub →
Based on the success of the DCM Mobile project, I’ve decided to put the source code to the NaSkeWriMo website on GitHub. If you know how to code and would like to contribute, have at it!
If you don’t know how to code, you can still report problems and suggest improvements. Please do!
3 tags
How to overcome the fact that I can't write? →
stackexchange:
For those about to write, keeping the Writers Stack Exchange site open in a tab (along with Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Wikipedia, GMAIL, COMIC BOOK DATABASE…I think that last one is just me) is a smart move. Our writing community is both fun, informative and also in Beta, just waiting for your involvement.
And don’t act like this isn’t applicable. You are on Tumblr. And I know...
I have a semi-secret.
kellyqehudson:
I wrote my first sketch this week. Or at least, the first one I’ve ever written on my own… It felt embarrassingly good to complete and I just sat there wondering: why have I been putting off this hour of work for 5 years? There is no answer to that question. Or at least not one that I’m comfortable with… You’ll see these visions come to life in a Diamonds Wow! sketch very soon....
tumblrbot asked: WHAT IS YOUR EARLIEST HUMAN MEMORY?
NaSkeWriMo needs your help →
September is National Sketch Writing Month, which means in less than a month, comedy writers around the globe* will endeavor to bang out 30 sketches in 30 days, quality be damned.
This will be the event’s fourth year. In the past it has been loosely run by Michelle Dobrawsky and I (Ben Ragheb), but this year I would like to assemble some volunteers to make the whole thing run a little more...
October 2010
22 posts
LOSERBEAM: Friends! Watch tonight! →
loserbeam:
What’s up readers,
Tonight, one of the sketches I wrote for NaSkeWriMo will be featured on Thursday Night Live, a sketch show run by Hofstra’s communications department. If you’re on campus, tune into channel 34 or come watch it live in Studio A! It won’t be streaming online this time (the site’s…
"We're On Vacation" by geoffreycolinfisher →
Click through to read geoffreycolinfisher’s sketch.
"The Worst Movie Ever" by geoffreycolinfisher →
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"Heavy Is The Crown" by klevenick →
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"Will Cooper gave me 5 Suggestions" by kevhines →
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"Green Thumb" by klevenick →
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"Going Out With A Bang!" by klevenick →
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"Any Given Salmon" by kevhines →
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"R&D" by klevenick →
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"Office Pranks" by klevenick →
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"Go Team!" by loserbeam →
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"More Office Pranks" by klevenick →
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"Prank Office" by klevenick →
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"Yep." by klevenick →
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"Traditions" by klevenick →
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