Hey, it’s Eric - aspiring comedy writer. I’m here to once again show you my creative process for writing.
Generation Sketch Comedy
In addition to writing for the Crocodile, I write weekly comedic sketches for Generation Sketch Comedy, Gainesville’s Longest Running Sketch Comedy Troupe. Every semester, we write and produce sketch comedy for an in-person show (pre-Covid). Today I’m going to try and generate some ideas that can later be extended into a full 3-5 minute comedy sketch.
In-person Gen Show
Time to brainstorm.
Unlike the Crocodile, Generation comedy sketches don’t have to be specifically UF or Gainesville-related. This gives me a little bit more freedom with the ideas that I can come up with. I’ll start by brainstorming on a word cloud.
My Word Cloud
Alright, here it is! Please excuse my poor handwriting; I’m well aware I write like a child. Here’s my word cloud. I start with one word or idea and have that branch off into other words and ideas that I think of, and so far and so forth.
Here’s a list of sketch premises that I got from my cloud:
- A group of roommates who are all so comfortable with each other that they act in uncomfortable ways.
This sketch would require an outsider ‘straight man’ that would react to all the weird things that the roommates would do with/to one another.
This idea makes me think of Kissing Family on SNL where an overly close family shows affection by making out with one another. Very disturbing but also hilarious.
Kissing Family on SNL
A man who is apologetic because he’s just really bad at first impressions. Whenever this man meets someone new he will involuntarily punch them in the stomach.
A little violent, and a little lowbrow. This sketch would need to have funny, clever dialogue to be funny.
The premise is a little contrived. Sometimes sketches are funny because their premise is clever, other times they’re funny because of the execution. This one would need to be executed well.
You could heighten this sketch and elevate it by thinking of creative, ironic situations where the guy could meet someone (and punch them).
Maybe the guy is a first responder to medical emergencies.
Maybe he’s meeting his girlfriend’s family for the first time.
Maybe he’s speed-dating.
A bohemian, artsy family doesn’t support their son’s dreams of becoming an electrical engineer.
I think this premise is clever, but there’s a good chance it’s been done before. I like the irony of flipping the status quo. Usually parents are unsure about their children pursuing the arts, but it would be funny to see the opposite take.
A big element for this sketch would be verisimilitude. Verisimilitude is the quality of appearing just like something else. Basically, I think this sketch would be funny if it sounded just like a conversation between parents and their son about not pursuing art but where the points are flipped:
“You won’t make any money.” -> “You’re going to make too much money!”
“You could pursue painting as a hobby.” -> “Why not just pursue the design of integrated circuits as a hobby.”
“You should take over the family business” -> “You should follow in your father’s footsteps and sell custom-made throw pillows with pictures of people’s pets and sell them on etsy.”
An overly critical mother/father is still overly critical of their child despite their amazing career/home life. Maybe the child is like the president of the United States.
Like before, this sketch would need verisimilitude to sound like an overly critical parent. What they say will now sound ironic because of the premise.
“You’ve put on a few pounds” -> “Don’t they have a gym at the white house? Leading the free world is no excuse for getting flabby.”
etc.
A club GBM features a round of really uncomfortable/bad/scary ice breakers.
Ex: Fun facts where someone tells a really really uncomfortable secret:
“My fun fact is that I’ve been to South America!”
“My fun fact is that I’m actually a natural blonde!”
“My fun fact is that I’ve killed a man.”
Ex: They have to do something really tense like diffuse a bomb.
A heightening on the social anxiety of having to participate in icebreakers.
This sketch would require a straight man to react honestly to the craziness of the situation.
That’s it for brainstorming. Just with one sheet of paper, I came up with five pretty solid sketch ideas. After coming back and looking at them, I’ve decided I’ll write the unsupportive bohemian family sketch. The idea might have been used before, but I think I could put my own creative spin on it with some time and thought. I also think it has plenty of room for heightening the premise.
Next post, I’ll take this idea and elaborate on it, coming up with beats, figuring out the structure, and brainstorming different jokes for the sketch.
I hope you had as much fun reading as I did writing, see you next time!
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