A little bit ago, I received a casting notice asking for sketch comedy material. What fun! I'm a huge fan of shows like Key & Peele and Saturday Night Live. I love character acting and comedy. On the other hand, I haven't focussed on sketch or comedic improvisation for awhile because my last experience at The Groundlings School left me feeling judged and vulnerable. Needless to say, writing and creating a sketch character felt like an intimidating task.
But I didn't want to give up the opportunity of a network audition. And a lot has changed since my last sketch/improv flop -- my production company is up-and-running and I have all the tools to produce a quality product -- so really, there weren't any acceptable excuses not to do it. I proceeded to write down a script outline, shot it a couple of times from different angles, improvised around the script, and edited it together. And surprise, surprise, it turned out pretty decent! Which is funny, because of my previous fears surrounding improv. What changed? Well, first, I wasn't improvising for an audience, which takes away the pressure. Second, I'm not only telling the story as a performer, but I'm also telling it as an editor. I chose the moments, the pacing, sound effects and the graphics to support my performance. I have so much more control in film versus live performance. And producing film has become one of my strengths over the past years. So it's about damn time I used it to break through my resistances!
Okay, 'nuff said. Check out my sketch character Bro D. the Gamer Dude. Who knows, maybe he deserves more episodes. Thoughts?
But I didn't want to give up the opportunity of a network audition. And a lot has changed since my last sketch/improv flop -- my production company is up-and-running and I have all the tools to produce a quality product -- so really, there weren't any acceptable excuses not to do it. I proceeded to write down a script outline, shot it a couple of times from different angles, improvised around the script, and edited it together. And surprise, surprise, it turned out pretty decent! Which is funny, because of my previous fears surrounding improv. What changed? Well, first, I wasn't improvising for an audience, which takes away the pressure. Second, I'm not only telling the story as a performer, but I'm also telling it as an editor. I chose the moments, the pacing, sound effects and the graphics to support my performance. I have so much more control in film versus live performance. And producing film has become one of my strengths over the past years. So it's about damn time I used it to break through my resistances!
Okay, 'nuff said. Check out my sketch character Bro D. the Gamer Dude. Who knows, maybe he deserves more episodes. Thoughts?