Fatherly Advice
Recently there was an article about the Catholic Church's response to Rick Santorum and New Gingrich's (both confirmed practicing Catholics) statements and stand on the poor. The church asked that both candidates change their stance since it goes against the core tenets of the Catholic faith. I wrote a sketch for 4 people that demonstrates what happened in that meeting of the heads of the Catholic Church.
Pastoral Qualities
This is a full cast scene with a pastor leading a talk back portion of a service and his choir echoing his sentiments. However the choir begins to reveal some dark secrets about the pastor and ultimately leads him to cut his homily short.
Something Borrowed B.O.
With the California ruling of Prop 8 being overturned, I thought it would be fun to see what the conversation between a mother and her gay son would look like. This 2 person blackout explores this topic.
Mutual of Omaha's Unemployed America
You know when you're sitting up late in your parents' basement, contemplating eating that taco bell you've foolishly bought? You get that feeling you're being watched. Well this scene shows that your parents are documenting your failure minute by minute. How will their experiment turn out? Find out in this 3 person scene.
Quatto? B.O.
A quick blackout that has a 2 person cast. Someone has obviously done something horrible, and her friend tries to figure it out. Something has come out of her friend's nose! WHAT IS IT?
Reboot
Where do all the movie psychos go when their franchises lose steam? Frank's bar is the place. Luckily for Frank there's been a resurgence of slasher films and he's the guy to send the killers back into the fray. Bring it on! Full Cast.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
SAD2012 #'s 30, 31, 32, 33, & 34
Perfect Candidate B.O.
This 2 person blackout has 2 doctors constructing the perfect candidate for a conservative president. Topical! A first for me. It goes where you expect it to go.
Grampy's Bucket List
What if your grandparent asked for your help in fulfilling their bucket list. Now what if you couldn't do so because it would be morally wrong? This 2 person sketch looks into the intricacies of the moral dilemma of the elderly. Oh and of course, extended marriages!
Good Little Pooper B.O.
Don't you hate when someone in your life still treats you like a baby? Well these two gentlemen have that problem and one is fed up! Simple, clean, blackout!
All-Father's Family
What if Odin, the All-Father, head god of Norse Mythology had to come home to a family life in Asgard? This sketch looks into that premise. His misbehaving children, his doting wife, and his inability to even take one bite of dinner. Follow their zany antics as they try to co-exist in the hall of heaven!
Invisible Ulterior Motives
This one came out of watching the "Lumberjack Sketch" by Monty Python. In this scene, the Invisible Man has to say goodbye to his faithful fiance. However he is not all he seems. The button joke for the end is extended a bit as I riff on the Lumberjack Sketch a bit.
Caught up!
This 2 person blackout has 2 doctors constructing the perfect candidate for a conservative president. Topical! A first for me. It goes where you expect it to go.
Grampy's Bucket List
What if your grandparent asked for your help in fulfilling their bucket list. Now what if you couldn't do so because it would be morally wrong? This 2 person sketch looks into the intricacies of the moral dilemma of the elderly. Oh and of course, extended marriages!
Good Little Pooper B.O.
Don't you hate when someone in your life still treats you like a baby? Well these two gentlemen have that problem and one is fed up! Simple, clean, blackout!
All-Father's Family
What if Odin, the All-Father, head god of Norse Mythology had to come home to a family life in Asgard? This sketch looks into that premise. His misbehaving children, his doting wife, and his inability to even take one bite of dinner. Follow their zany antics as they try to co-exist in the hall of heaven!
Invisible Ulterior Motives
This one came out of watching the "Lumberjack Sketch" by Monty Python. In this scene, the Invisible Man has to say goodbye to his faithful fiance. However he is not all he seems. The button joke for the end is extended a bit as I riff on the Lumberjack Sketch a bit.
Caught up!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
SAD2012 #'s 27, 28, 29
Bear-ied Memories
I guess I have a weird relationship with my stuffed animals. This is a 2 person scene which runs on the premise, what if your stuffed animals were real and could describe their feelings to you. How depraved would they be? Find out!
Predestined Comeuppance
This 2 person scene starts out like any encounter you might have on a Chicago street corner. Homeless woman stops you and asks if you're the chosen one, you say you're not, she asks for your information, you are chosen! I write what I know, and the world's fate apparently is only known by hoarse homeless women!
Teacher's Pet Blackout
When a person asks you to tell a story you're not comfortable telling, what do you do? What if this person is your teacher? Little Stephan finds out when show and tell goes horribly wrong!
SAD2012 continues in the wake of Susan G. Komen Foundations wonderful move to pull funding from Planned Parenthood, which helps to give free cancer screenings to women. As we all know, the Komen Foundation is one of the leading advocates of Breast, Ovarian, and other wonderful cancers!
Hooray!!
JvL
I guess I have a weird relationship with my stuffed animals. This is a 2 person scene which runs on the premise, what if your stuffed animals were real and could describe their feelings to you. How depraved would they be? Find out!
Predestined Comeuppance
This 2 person scene starts out like any encounter you might have on a Chicago street corner. Homeless woman stops you and asks if you're the chosen one, you say you're not, she asks for your information, you are chosen! I write what I know, and the world's fate apparently is only known by hoarse homeless women!
Teacher's Pet Blackout
When a person asks you to tell a story you're not comfortable telling, what do you do? What if this person is your teacher? Little Stephan finds out when show and tell goes horribly wrong!
SAD2012 continues in the wake of Susan G. Komen Foundations wonderful move to pull funding from Planned Parenthood, which helps to give free cancer screenings to women. As we all know, the Komen Foundation is one of the leading advocates of Breast, Ovarian, and other wonderful cancers!
Hooray!!
JvL
Thursday, January 26, 2012
SAD2012 #'s 25 & 26
Gender Bias
This is a runner for a show where maybe stereotypes have been running out of control. The scene starts out with what one character thinks they sound and appear like, then there is a light shift and we replay the scene with what the other character actually observed. Set of three that heighten and expand! 2 person scene.
Can We Break the Palate Barrier
Sitting at the bar I noticed how segregated the liquors were. Then I thought, what would happen if you took a liquor that no one EVER orders like Aquavit and put it in a situation where it has to watch its neighbors constantly being ordered over and over. How would they cope? Find out here. 6 person sketch.
This is a runner for a show where maybe stereotypes have been running out of control. The scene starts out with what one character thinks they sound and appear like, then there is a light shift and we replay the scene with what the other character actually observed. Set of three that heighten and expand! 2 person scene.
Can We Break the Palate Barrier
Sitting at the bar I noticed how segregated the liquors were. Then I thought, what would happen if you took a liquor that no one EVER orders like Aquavit and put it in a situation where it has to watch its neighbors constantly being ordered over and over. How would they cope? Find out here. 6 person sketch.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
The Backlog SAD2012 #'s 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, & 24
I've been a busy boy.
I have been keeping up with my sketch a day, but have not been posting because of developments in my personal and professional lives. The biggest of these was my 7 year anniversary with the lovely lady who dares to put up with me. I thank her for her patience, understanding, and lack of laughter whenever I present something funny to her.
However this post is about my sketches for the last 6 days. Here goes:
Simu-date
This sketch (although it could be an extended blackout) is a thinly veiled infomercial for a futuristic dating service. However, the date in question during this infomercial doesn't go as planned for the dater. It came out of a paranoid dream I had years ago before I became entwined with my current amazing lady. Dating was always scary for a dork such as myself. This sketch explains why. 3 person sketch (1 a narrator).
Stage Fright
This 2 person meta-sketch I feel would take place in the middle of the show or the middle of act 2. Basically two of the company are onstage waiting. They talk about the fact that the script isn't done yet for their scene and the writers are working furiously backstage. This obviously stresses them out because they're already onstage during the show in front of an audience. The conflict is resolved when the new pages are rushed out. Hopefully a funny ending to an awkward sketch.
Will To Survive
I have been watching re-runs of Suvivorman on Netflix all week and was intrigued by a show where 1 person puts themselves into hostile survival situations and only has themselves to film their ordeal, unlike that pussy Bear Grylls who has an entire crew and sleeps in hotels during the shoot. I decided to have my survivor person holed up in one of the most dangerous places of all, a mall. This would have to be a video sketch but a full length one. I found myself pondering over video sketches this week and feel I should try to write more. It's essentially a 1 person sketch with cameos.
Tassel Tornado
Since my fiance is a burlesque dancer, I have been introduced to that world quite suddenly in the past year. One of the pitfalls these ladies run into is as they are dancing, a pastie may fly off and leave them exposed. Also some ladies cannot spin tasseled pasties, therefore this sketch provides a solution to both those problems. I see this as a video piece as well. It is based around a narrator speaking to our lovely dancer and she shows off the new tassel pasties that have been brought to the consumer market: The Tassel Tornado. Unfortunately there are some gruesome results for an unlucky audience member. 3 person video sketch.
I Can't Believe It's Not Brains
This is a short blackout. 3 zombies chewing on a corpse when one of them realizes it's not real brains. I was inspired by a Far Side comic with the Tofu Antelope. 4 person scene.
Speed Reading Symphony
Another black out with a short sweet premise. What would happen if a pianist walked out onstage and played an entire symphony meant for those of us lucky enough to have taken speed reading courses. Based off a premise of a Robin Williams joke from the 70's. 1 person scene.
Well that's all of them and I'm now caught up for the week. Tomorrow I work on #25 for this year. Hopefully it's a good one.
Also RB and I are currently trying to work out a monthly staged reading of our best work from each month. Please let us know if you would be interested in hearing this/ know anyone who would be interested.
JvL
I have been keeping up with my sketch a day, but have not been posting because of developments in my personal and professional lives. The biggest of these was my 7 year anniversary with the lovely lady who dares to put up with me. I thank her for her patience, understanding, and lack of laughter whenever I present something funny to her.
However this post is about my sketches for the last 6 days. Here goes:
Simu-date
This sketch (although it could be an extended blackout) is a thinly veiled infomercial for a futuristic dating service. However, the date in question during this infomercial doesn't go as planned for the dater. It came out of a paranoid dream I had years ago before I became entwined with my current amazing lady. Dating was always scary for a dork such as myself. This sketch explains why. 3 person sketch (1 a narrator).
Stage Fright
This 2 person meta-sketch I feel would take place in the middle of the show or the middle of act 2. Basically two of the company are onstage waiting. They talk about the fact that the script isn't done yet for their scene and the writers are working furiously backstage. This obviously stresses them out because they're already onstage during the show in front of an audience. The conflict is resolved when the new pages are rushed out. Hopefully a funny ending to an awkward sketch.
Will To Survive
I have been watching re-runs of Suvivorman on Netflix all week and was intrigued by a show where 1 person puts themselves into hostile survival situations and only has themselves to film their ordeal, unlike that pussy Bear Grylls who has an entire crew and sleeps in hotels during the shoot. I decided to have my survivor person holed up in one of the most dangerous places of all, a mall. This would have to be a video sketch but a full length one. I found myself pondering over video sketches this week and feel I should try to write more. It's essentially a 1 person sketch with cameos.
Tassel Tornado
Since my fiance is a burlesque dancer, I have been introduced to that world quite suddenly in the past year. One of the pitfalls these ladies run into is as they are dancing, a pastie may fly off and leave them exposed. Also some ladies cannot spin tasseled pasties, therefore this sketch provides a solution to both those problems. I see this as a video piece as well. It is based around a narrator speaking to our lovely dancer and she shows off the new tassel pasties that have been brought to the consumer market: The Tassel Tornado. Unfortunately there are some gruesome results for an unlucky audience member. 3 person video sketch.
I Can't Believe It's Not Brains
This is a short blackout. 3 zombies chewing on a corpse when one of them realizes it's not real brains. I was inspired by a Far Side comic with the Tofu Antelope. 4 person scene.
Speed Reading Symphony
Another black out with a short sweet premise. What would happen if a pianist walked out onstage and played an entire symphony meant for those of us lucky enough to have taken speed reading courses. Based off a premise of a Robin Williams joke from the 70's. 1 person scene.
Well that's all of them and I'm now caught up for the week. Tomorrow I work on #25 for this year. Hopefully it's a good one.
Also RB and I are currently trying to work out a monthly staged reading of our best work from each month. Please let us know if you would be interested in hearing this/ know anyone who would be interested.
JvL
Friday, January 20, 2012
SAD2012 #18 The Perfect Child
The Perfect Child
This sketch is I believe, a predictor of our near future. A mother and a father want the best for their unborn child, so they consult with two of the finest human mechanics (nee doctors) in all the land. It follows the track of a conversation most likely heard around the local Jiffy Lube or car dealership. Still a nice 4 person scene for the cast to jump into.
Also. I realized today that I am now, with this sketch done 2 behind. I apologize for the delay and will be working to rectify that in the coming day.
This sketch is I believe, a predictor of our near future. A mother and a father want the best for their unborn child, so they consult with two of the finest human mechanics (nee doctors) in all the land. It follows the track of a conversation most likely heard around the local Jiffy Lube or car dealership. Still a nice 4 person scene for the cast to jump into.
Also. I realized today that I am now, with this sketch done 2 behind. I apologize for the delay and will be working to rectify that in the coming day.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
SAD2012 #17 PSA
PSA
I don't know if this one counts as a true written sketch. The entirety of the writing is stage direction. The punchline has to do with the fact that NOTHING is said during the entire time the person is on stage. I don't know. It feels like a cop out, but I did write out all the stage directions. Lazy?
I don't know if this one counts as a true written sketch. The entirety of the writing is stage direction. The punchline has to do with the fact that NOTHING is said during the entire time the person is on stage. I don't know. It feels like a cop out, but I did write out all the stage directions. Lazy?
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