WRITING A COMEDY SKETCH
It's a bit like everything else in life. If you do it long enough and do it properly it then comes easy.
Your stock standard sketch would usually go for a minute and half to about 5 minutes. the process is the same.
The sketch is like a pop song. The song has a verse a chorus and somewhere in there is a crescendo.
If the sketch goes for one and a half minutes there is one verse, one chorus and one big laugh somewhere. it does not have to be at the end as a punchline but it helps. Each minute and a half has the same process.
My basic sketch is the two person sketch. It doesn't matter who the people are, the sketch is like an interview. Whether its boy meets girl or cop meets killer one is interviewing the other.
In the sketch interview questions are asked and the wrong answers are given. That's the comedy.
My basic sketch is done in 4's with four lead up lines each which get to the point and another 4 lines each to the big joke. That's not set in stone of course but it's a good guide.
It's a sketch so the lead up lines are in rhythm like song so that the performers are singing a duet. This makes it comfortable for the performers but it also gets smiles from the audience because they see the humour in the rhythm.
Me. I've devised a little strategy that if it's a confrontational the protagonist abuses the other party with The "Go fuck Yourself" Sketch.
There are a few reasons for this:
1. The Go Fuck yourself signals the end of the sketch.
2 It's my signature
3 I don't want anyone to say my humour is nice and clean and "He doesn't have to use bad language to get laughs'. I'm not writing for Christians nor my mother, I'm writing for 11 year old naughty boys.
Once you learn this it should be like shelling peas. It might take a life time though.
That's about it.
