Skits

Day 129 (237) – A Play a Day in May #9

Divorce

Location: Diner
Characters: Chad, Bill

[The scene starts with Chad and Bill sitting down enjoying some coffee after a meal.]

Chad: My brother has been training like crazy lately. He’s started running 20 miles a day, taking dietary supplements, he only drinks that Fiji water and eats exactly 957 calories a day.
Bill: Oh wow, is he getting ready to do a marathon?
Chad: Worse, he’s about to get a divorce. And if she doesn’t chase him down and kill him, she will at least take his house and car.

FADE TO BLACK

Side Note: This is my first attempt at a blackout, something that’s often 30 seconds or less (it’s generally just the setup and then punchline). The joke is supposed to be in that all of the preparation Chad is doing turns out to be for something absurd (not that you couldn’t all gather that yourselves). The problem I see with this in its current form is that the punchline is too long. I thought about leaving it at just “He’s about to get a divorce” but then I wasn’t sure if the audience would understand why that’s supposed to be funny, or worse, they would understand, but just not find it funny.

I’ve found a particular challenge in sketch writing because it’s so new for me. I’m used to being able to take a premise and put it in the form of “how will the audience relate to this” or “why is this weird/funny.” Sketches are sometimes about that, but also often about relationships and themes. In stand-up you can just do “Why did the chicken cross the road?” and answer the question with a pun (“To pick up some chicks”). With sketches, if you ask the same question, the answer generally has to actually be the why – what underlying circumstances led up to the chicken crossing the road. Was it a lack of food on one side of the road versus the other? Was it simple curiosity? Was it because the chicken had just divorced its rooster and was running away (and who can blame the chicken, her husband was such a cock)?

Side Note Side Note: I had a great talk with Kevin recently about my normal blog entries versus these mini-plays, and he noted that what he enjoyed about my other types of posts was seeing my thought process. I like this type of analysis of a skit, and perhaps these side notes can serve to cover both bases. That way if a skit isn’t particularly good, maybe the analysis of why it sucks will be funny. Anywho, expect to see some more “Side Notes” over the rest of the month, and thanks, Kevin, for the insight.