Dale takes a Writing Class: Part 1 of 6.

Dale takes a writing class....

I have no opposable thumb dude.

So the location and the teacher of my course will remain anonymous. (Just easier that way) And this baby should be around six entries. But before we delve into class details we are going to do a little exercise to explain why I'm taking a sketch writing class called:

18 year old Dale meets 31 year old Dale!...on a street in NYC.
18: Hey what's up future me? You live here now?
31: Yeah. Yeah.
18: Cool so we did it huh? I thought I'd be at Blockbuster forever.
31: No you didn't.
18: Yeah, you're right. So we famous yet?
31: At this point just working on providing ourselves with primary income through creative outputs instead of letting the day job suck the life out of us...
18: That was a mouthful...
31: You're a mouthful...
18: You're a mouthful...
31: Hey!
18: Sorry. Right on. So what's new?
31: Just started my first writing class since Austin Peay.
18: We get into Austin Peay! Yes!
31: Yeah it's a nice time.
18: Wait did you say first since college?
31: Yeah.
18: That's crappy. What happened there? Writing was always your favorite. and you fucking love The State, Kids in theHall, SCTV, SNL the most! And we live here now. So there's like UCB and PIT and...
31: Look Past Dale can you not give me shit. Point is I'm finally doing it.
18: Fair enough. You heard the newest Less than Jake. It's the best.
31: Yeah. It's good. Look I gotta go.
18: Any sage like advice?
31: There's no such thing as luck. And it's not about ignoring the bad wolf. It's about feeding the good one. Later Past Dale.
18: Right on Future Dale!

Get it? Good. I've always wanted to get into sketch comedy but life, well, you know the rest. Point is, same one I made to my Past Self, is we are finally doing it.

So what did we learn last night? Some super official great stuff.

Super O-Fich-AHL.

I would feel happy paying what I paid for the entire course after just last night. And I actually have homework for the first time in 9 years!
The coolest bit of knowledge that I gathered was the format that SNL writers write in. Which is dope. (The class has a SNL focus.)
In addition to that these were the gems that stood out for me for all you future or current sketch comedians out there:
1: Anything online. No longer than a minute.
2: Differ between a theme or content to a premise
3: LESS IS MORE
4: Consolidate your Premise into one idea
5: Follow the rule of threes
6: Bend the joke, don't break it (don't make the sketch to inaccessible by being to far out there, or too blue)
7: Write the sketches you can produce by yourself tomorrow
8: Find the delivery device
9: Find the right frame for your skit
10: If you are parodying an existing product you have to ask yourself why would this product (i.e. and i phone and apple) be showing this product doing this. If they wouldn't, make up your own product. Exception: funny trumps all.
11: 1-present problem 2-present solution 3-show problem with solution
12: MAKE IT LEAN
13: Create a world around your joke
14: If this, then what?

Because it rocks my asses face right off my ass.

Awesome kids. Keep it real.
I hate to love you.
prick.