( 2 Votes )

Introduction

The first thing to do before you sit down and try and write a sketch, is to watch and read as many other comedy sketches as you can. Go to the library, borrow books, videos, tapes, records, lock yourself away and watch sketches until they come out of your ears. Study the masters of the art. Monty Python, Mel Brooks, The Fast Show, Saturday Night Live, French & Saunders, etc etc. This will help to teach you what is funny, but more importantly it will teach you what has been done before. This is vitally important. What's the point of writing something new, unless it is original???

Research

While you're watching, make notes. If you laugh at something, try and figure out why you're laughing. What was it that pushed the funny button in your brain? Something visual? Something to do with the way words were used? Or was it because the joke reminded you of something funny in your own life? Start to watch comedy in a different way. Take it apart and put it back together again. You'll soon start to notice that the same tricks are applied again and again and again.

Getting Started

Never sit down in front of a blank sheet of paper. You'll never think of a damned thing. Carry a notebook around with you for at least a week before you start, and write down anything you see or hear that makes you smile. At the end of the week, pick the best 3 ideas from your notes, think of titles for them and throw all the other ideas in the wastepaper basket.

Write the titles at the top of three separate pages, and then, working on all three sketches at the same time, write down everything you can think of connected to each of the three subjects. Just lists of words. Connections. Related subjects. When all three pages are full, pick the one with what looks like the best comic potential and put it on the top of the pile. You are now going to start writing your first sketch.

• Choose a setting. Avoid common set-ups like doctor's surgeries or "Man Goes Into a Shop". Think original. Only set the sketch in one location.
• Don't make the sketch too long. Two minutes is a good length to start with.
• If you're trying to sell your material to TV, don't put in anything too expensive like a helicopter. Most TV shows are on a tight budget.
• Three characters is more than enough for a 2 minute sketch. Don't write for a cast of thousands.
• Work out loud. Say the lines as you write them. You need to hear what the material sounds like.
• Think about what is happening visually as well as the words. Describe the physical action in detail. What are the characters wearing? What do they look like. What are their names? (Don't just call your characters FIRST MAN, SECOND MAN. It will help to bring them to life in your mind).
  
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