DAY 157: Create character pages for an existing sitcom.
Not sure what this means, but the way I perceive it, I’m to develop a synopsis of the characters in a sitcom, breakdown style. I chose “King of Queens” as the show.
Doug - Caucasian male. 25-40. Average Joe, John Goodman types. Overweight. Rules the roost, but takes directions from the wife also. Improvisation background.
Carrie - Italian, English-speaking female. 25-35. Not overtly sexy, but a hot pull for the lead male. Extroverted, but not mean spirited.
Deacon - Black male. 25-40. Tall. Best friend of the lead and works at the same company. A guy’s guy. Comedic experience required.
Kelly - Black female. 25-35. Tall. Deacon’s wife. Has a good sense of self and is relied on by Carrie. Busty and sexy preferred.
Arthur - Caucasian male. 65+. Father to Carrie and lives in the basement of their house. Eccentric and lives outlandishly for an old guy. Chases women, drinks a scotch once in awhile and always delivers the laughs. Improv experience required. ALREADY CAST: Jerry Stiller.
Spencer - Caucasian male. 25-40. The single friend to Doug and Deacon. Brings the logical to a lot of the conversations. Also plays the “good guy” card a lot. Someone with warmth and compassion, but also can draw up some laughs. Real and honest acting. Name talent only!
Danny - Caucasian male. 25-40. The other single friend to Deacon and cousin to Doug. The wild card in the group. Plays a lot of sports with the lead guys and is often the pun of jokes made by the group. Always seeking advice from the guys about life decisions. A charmer who can’t seem to score though.
DAY 123: Write a bit about college.
I had a roommate in college that was an odd guy. He would lock me out when he’d beat off. But the funny thing is, is that he would play music, dim the lights, light some candles and lotion himself up with various oils and creams. Like it’s a god dam Aztec ritual or something. I mean, he would lock me out and I’d actually hear this eclectic, worldly, Hindu twang music (imitate music). When I crank one out, it’s like 2 minutes. It took him up to 3 hours! What the hell is going on in there? Is he performing some sacrifice with his boner as the little lambey? “I hearby commence that the sacrificial woody will be dispensed with this renounced load.” I’d literally be waiting in our neighbor’s room until the ceremony was over. I’d come in and be like “it took you over an hour to a Maxim?” Christ, if you’re gonna treat this like it’s a day of observance, can’t you at least pop on a Salt & Peppa video and make it worth the wait?
Here is another post of me doing some exercises from the comedy writing book. In this chapter, I’m learning about plays on words. More specifically, “the take off.” This is a formula that is the most traditional of all humor techniques. It not only features a double entendre, but it compounds the element of “audacious realism” by completing the cliche with a bizarre reference. The idea behind the take-off is that the cliche is implicit—it implies something more than what’s explicitly stated. It’s the opposite of the simple truth, which accepts the literal meaning of a key word in the cliche, I showcased before.
My added dialogue is bolded:
Everyone once in a while they send an innocent man…to Las Vegas.
He was a self-made man…who thanked daddy for the initial $2 million loan.
Comedy is in my blood…my act wished I didn’t constantly donate it!
I wouldn’t hurt a fly…unless I drew the shortest straw and was forced to sleep in the truck.
Sign at 19th hole says “If you drink, don’t drive…you won’t get it up anyway.”
Whatever goes up must come down…but I promise it’ll last at least a minute.
Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit…our Cleveland offense.
