PSRSketchOfTheWeekClub

The Sketch-of-the-Week Club!

Another Exercise in Diminished Scale and Lowered Expectations ~

Why SkotW?

Here are the goals of SkotW:

• Create a body/backlog of usable sketch material, to be used in a Hideout show, in filmed shorts, or in No Shame.
• Practice writing sketches -- not just coming up with a 'that would be funny' idea, but bringing an entire piece to completion.
• To write continuously -- if we're always working on a sketch or two, we'll have a better "radar" for sketch-comedy ideas.
• Note that we are decidedly not trying to write good sketches. This isn't about quality, it's about quantity -- specifically, the quantity of one skit per week.

What is SkotW?

Every week, we write a comedy skit.

By the end of Wednesday night, we'll have a complete script for a sketch that is at most five minutes, but usually 3 minutes. We upload it to this wiki page (see "scripts" below).

Some important notes: the upper limit on the length is absolute: no longer than five minutes. This is because we tend to come up with a small idea, and then it balloons in scope until, instead of succeeding in banging out our three-minute comedy sketch, we're failing to build our mammoth four-hour comedy epic.

Also, no "tinkering after the fact." Yes, revision is important, but for our purposes, once the last version of the sketch has been uploaded on Wednesday night, don't edit it any more. 1 Move on to the next one; after all, you're on a deadline! :)

Logistics

Here's the rules as far as Peter's little ultimatum goes:

• Alternate who decides what to write about. One week, Bob picks the topic; the next week, Peter picks the topic.
• If it's your week, pick a topic by Saturday, and post a "Notes" page to the wiki.
• Both people should then contribute to that wiki page at least three times before Wednesday.
• Barring any changes of plan, meet at Flightpath at 8:30pm to write the sketch, ideally in a couple of hours.

Ideas

• Bob's list of fifty ideas for SKOTWs.
• Peter's scratch space for SKOTW ideas.

Scripts

• January 8, 2003: "That Would Be Funny!" -- Notes | Script

  • A new recruit joins the writers of Love and Marriage.

• January 15, 2003: Goth Hospital -- Notes | Script

  • At Our Lady of Perpetual Misery, Dr. Bleeker meets his chipper nemesis.

• January 22, 2003: ST:FNG Notes | Script

  • On the NCC Peoria, everyone has to deal with the f***ing new guy.

• January 29, 2003: "Satanic Parent/Teacher Conference" -- Notes | Script

  • Mr. Hyatt gets more than he bargained for when he meets Ryan and Wendy Murdock to discuss their child's fascination with Harry Potter and other odd behavior at school. Occult, implied violence, mature themes.

• February 5, 2003: Radio Mystery Theatre -- Notes | Script

  • In an English drawing room, the killer is unmasked -- bringing the killer to justice, however, is another matter.
• Rest of February, 2003: Hiatus while Bob attends a wedding in San Francisco.
• March 5, 2003: (tentative) Super Friends -- Notes

• March 5, 2003: (actual) Wine Pimpz -- Script

  • A classy date is imperiled by two bickering restaurant employees.

• March 12, 2003: Gilbert & Sullivan present: Anaconda! -- Notes | Script

  • Gilbert & Sullivan present their version of the Ice Cube ouvre

• March 19, 2003: Airport Pimpz -- Notes | Script

  • Arrogant yuppies meet an airport security officer with a god complex.

• March 26, 2003: Best Man's Fall -- Notes | Script

  • Harlan struggles to fix a crisis at his friend's wedding.

• April 2, 2003: Bargain Divorce -- Notes | Script

  • Negotiations over a divorce settlement quickly turn surreal.

• April 9, 2003: Three Characters -- Notes | Script

  • A woman has a yard sale to get rid of everything associated with ex-boyfriend, including rare toy automobiles.

• April 16, 2003: German A-Bomb Scientists -- Notes | Script

  • Did the Germans successfully develop an atomic bomb? If not, why not? The History Channel explores the facts.

• April 27, 2003: The Underground Lair -- Notes | Script

  • A brief speech from an Evil Overlord. This was sort of unsatisfactory, and led to a mutual decision to take a short break.
• First half of May, 2003: Hiatus as Peter recovers from extreme burnout.
• Second half of May, 2003: Hiatus as Bob recovers from marginal burnout.
• May 25, 2003: Pynchon-esque -- Notes - deferred

• June 4, 2003: Five Angry Dentists -- Notes | Script

  • Is sugar-free gum better than sugarless gum? Five sequestered dentists are going to find out.

• June 11, 2003: Naming the Band -- Notes | Script

  • A garage band chooses a name.

• June 18, 2003: Sexy Roofers, LLC -- Script

  • Court case involving roofing. Rated PG-13 for language, suggested nudity.

• June 25, 2003: Soap Opera Man Gets Fired -- Notes | Script

  • Goings-on at 'impact.com' turn into a raging soap opera.
• June 30, 2003: Week off -- generated a list of ideas.

• July 9, 2003: Aikido Man Vs. Feng Shui Master -- Notes | Script

  • Two masters of non-offensive arts meet for a battle to the death.
• July 16, 2003: Email miscommunication = no skotw.
• July 23, 2003: Lack-of-email miscommunication = no skotw.

• July 30, 2003: The Lucky Ducky IV -- Notes | Script

  • Cap'n Gunderson takes us on a whimsical boat tour of Lake Travis, which now has muskies.

• August 6, 2003: "Doc Rogers" -- Notes | Script

  • Peter's brother's life, done up as a cheery 1950's sitcom.
• August 13, 2003: Email miscommunication = no skotw.

• August 20, 2003: The Mascot -- Notes | Script

  • Wallace's alma mater uses its mascot to gain alum contributions.

• August 27, 2003: The Bard and His Works -- Notes | Script

  • Hijinks at the Globe theatre. Rated PG-13 for gore, sex, bear.

Footnotes

1 We also want this series of sketches to be a sort of diary of (hopefully) how we got better at writing sketches. So it's important for historical reasons to leave the sucky ones as they lie.