I started writing these on my own, then at classes at the Magnet and the Upright Citizens Brigade, because I wanted to get better at comedy writing. I wrote out a pilot for ‘Bobidoo and Me’, basically the third stab at it, and realized that the problem was the comedy bits. I believe in starting too early, in failing, but I had started that show way WAY too early. It’s good to not know what you’re doing. But there’s levels to that. There’s the kind of not knowing where you, like, are learning characters and stuff. The organic parts of a story. Then there’s the not knowing where, like, you literally don’t know how to write a sentence.
I needed to learn more, and that was a painful lesson to figure out, and I learned it too late. I was trying to learn that lesson with short videos for The Thigments, but I was still missing something. I was getting even further away from learning the lesson missing from the latest draft of the pilot.
So, I took sketch comedy classes, to help figure out how to fix that. The sitcoms I really like, they end up being this combination of sketches (hidden within the text of the script), on top of a story. 30 Rock is that, plus joke on top of joke, along with Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. I took these classes to try and just understand the form a little better. I was pouring that energy into a 4th variation on ‘Bobidoo and Me.’ I was getting close. I could see what was wrong, how to get it closer to right. I got it done. Workable. A way better start.
And then, there it was. ‘Simon’s Street’ at the UCB.
The plot of ‘Simon’s Street’ was almost identical to that 4th variation of ‘Bobidoo and Me.’ There were similar jokes, too. And if your mind went there, nope. I don’t know anyone from that show. There’s no way anyone from that show could’ve seen my script. But it was the same. It’s showing in Los Angeles. It’s great. I really do love it, although, I’d love to meet those guys some day and give them tips on how to get a little better at puppetry or introduce them to people way WAY better than me at it. And now? There’s no way I’m going to feel good about pushing on that script anymore. And it hits me, maybe there doesn’t need to be a person in the middle of it. Certainly not me.
But that left me with the sketch writing. And you know? I love it. It reminds me of haiku. UCB has a form to it, the Magnet teaches a similar thing, everyone who teaches it has the same basic spine, and everyone who does it, they know that spine. The form favors simplicity, and it’s not as easy as it looks. The folks that are great at it, they get to like Basho levels of simplicity if you understand my meaning. And I love it.
I like a few of the first sketches I wrote, and know how to rewrite them. I’ve abandoned almost all of the sketches I wrote for both of my Magnet and UCB Second Level classes. And this last UCB class, I have 7 sketches I wrote out, one from my first sketch class, 1 an idea from a second class, but the rest are all new. And I love it.
I even have an idea for a new Thigment show. And I’ve finally got (close to) the right material for The Thigments, so their videos are coming back to YouTube soon. I mean, hopefully people like them … just because you get a form doesn’t mean you’re great at it, or that people will like it. But I’m happy, and maybe that’s enough.
I’m looking at the pile of stuff I just rewrote this afternoon, and I’m feeling grateful and happy about it. About the cool ass people I’ve met this last year. About the projects I’ve got to wrap up in the next month (including some from years ago). At The Thigments. I’m just happy. I hope I don’t get hit by a car for being this at peace. I’m not complacent. I just like this work. I want to do it for myself. I want to help everyone I’ve met in New York, and meet more people, and try to help them, too. I want to be an audience member for those guys, write stuff, help audiences laugh, do all of it. All of the things.
I love this stuff. I hope I get better at it and get to keep at it.