Roll over the pictures to the left to read the comments by some of the writers.
Bobby Del Rio So the truth of
the matter is that I wrote the bulk of Half-Chinx Taking Over the
World in about 20 minutes. 2-hour sketch show. 14 writers. Somehow I managed to live to tell the tale. Dramatics aside, these guys made it easy on me, but facilitating the entire ordeal was certainly an exercise in organization. Technology is my Friend I have recently become one of those annoying e-mail pundits, shamelessly proclaiming, “the Internet is the greatest invention of the 20th century!” I continue to stand by my droll eccentricities. When one of your key contributors writes a good chunk of the show from Japan(!), you know that technology has reared its wonderfully beneficial (although temperamental) head yet again! Not only did I get close to 100 pages from Lee Zanello – our temporarily Japanese sketch writer/webmaster – but he even edited new sketches of other writing team members here in the T Dot! Writer’s Meetings One of my favourite aspects of this process was our writer’s meetings. While it was quite evident from the outset that a core nucleus of writers would be creating the majority of the content, peripheral members were still able to sporadically check in and contribute – a much-appreciated participation. With that said however, I must give credit where credit is due. The first writer’s meeting took place at Mr. Adam Forbes’ apartment, and the rest of the attendees were absolutely INTEGRAL to the development of ALL of our new scripts: Mike Cipollone, Roberto Lonardi, David Dineen Porter and James Hartnett. The first meeting cost me a couple of pizzas, but the investment recouped a support system, a sounding board, a wealth/diversity of comic perceptions and some good laughs! We basically made each other laugh for a couple of hours, but after some much needed facilitating by yours truly, we were able to convert our socializing into producible sketch. Submissions As high as the quality of the sketch is, there was a substantial amount of quality material also submitted for consideration – that did not make the final cut. I thank ALL of the submitting writers enormously because without so much strong material to choose from, we wouldn’t have been able to extract the high caliber of writing we did. I was hard on EVERYBODY (including myself!) and made some people submit 5 – 10 sketches before they were granted an acceptance into the show, but it paid off in spades… Each subsequent submission became stronger and stronger and by the time we had generated enough material for the show, I was being bombarded with sharp premises and innovative sketch comedy. Rehearsal Improv I spent the first 2 weeks of the rehearsal process focusing on the rudiments of character-based improv. Focus claps, status work, habit work and movement were all used to create individual and unique characters. Those Second City classes I had tucked away in my back pocket came in handy – as the talented actors of the cast blossomed expeditiously in front of my eyes in only 2 short weeks! With a taste of the potential of improv, we also developed some material for the show through the actors’ own instincts. Simple open scenes were played and a combination of my outside shaping and the actors’ improvisational skills proved to be supplementary ways to write. James Hartnett, in particular, is a very strong character actor, but needed to find contexts for his unique creations. Through improv, we were able to build scenes out of his bursts of schizophrenia and echo the ensemble-like feel that was so evident in the rest of the rehearsal process. So, in summation, I’m quite proud of the writing. We spent a great deal of time on it – as I believe strong writing is the backbone of EVERY great production – and I am very pleased with the results. What has resulted is not only a strong show for April of 2003, but the beginning of a process, a network and a long-term collaboration with a talented group of artists. Bobman
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Michael Cipollone
I think for this show the writing process has been truly unique, because we have had the opportunity to write for the strengths of specific actors. This has definitely helped during the creative process, and I think that the show has benefited a great deal. Each of the actors were given an opportunity to get to know each other, and the director, before the show was entirely scripted. Rob and I have been writing for this show since December and were very pleased that the high quality of sketch comedy has never been compromised. This naturally meant that we submitted a lot of material and only some of it was accepted. But to see the entire show now is to know that it has been for the best.
Also, the improvised portions of the film, The Tyrant will definitely add to the quality of the overall product. Going with the idea of creating a "realistic" documentary I think the improvised portions of the movie are really funny and will allow for more options during editing.
That's something I've been really impressed by; how quickly the actors under Bobby's instruction have been able to create a distinct character after reading the dialogue of the script. Without almost no information about the character they've been able to find an original take on the material, better than Rob and I could've ever imagined. I think that the fact that the actors were working in an environment in which they weren't afraid to take chances will pay dividends on opening night.
There are two things which are key for the writing process to be a success: first, you need to find a collection of extremely funny people, lock them up in the same room together, and record everything that's said. Second, you need to find people who can take mindless ramblings and approach them with a specific style. I think the thing that was so refreshing about the many writers meetings we had was that you could really tell that each person had their own unique sense of humour. The discussions about the nature of comedy has imbued the show with a truly eclectic nature. This means that there is something in the show that is sure to appeal to just about everyone's sense of humour.
The meetings also helped us pitch ideas to each other, offer alternative suggestions, and expand upon something that could be appreciated by a large audience. The strength of this show is definitely in the writing process in which people were constantly pushing each other to come up with new, and more original ideas. Sometimes its a single idea that sparks someone else to envision another approach, which then becomes a great new idea altogether. Sometimes it takes hours and hours to get an idea expressed just the right way and sometimes it takes fifteen minutes when you're inspired to write about politics, life, love, hypocrisy or the politically correct nature of the media. Usually its something that irks you, and you think of how to best satirize your subject.
Rehearsals
For any good writer rehearsals offer an opportunity to find out what works and what doesn't. Sometimes something is funny to you, but when you see it performed onstage it just doesn't work. That's why it was important for me to be present at the rehearsals so I could get an idea of what lines were funny and what fell flat. It was an important part of the process to get as many opinions as possible about the material, and then make a few re-writes that would improve the show. Cutting anything that you've written can be traumatic because sometimes you become attached to certain lines or phrases. However, if you take a step back and consider the story of the sketch then deletions become much easier to make, and a writer's greatest fear is a sketch that goes on too long. That is so hard on the actors when that happens, so that is why Rob and I really valued the feedback we got from other writers like Lee, DDP, James, and Bobby. I think it helped improve our sketches and clarified the strongest elements of our material.
Now the material itself might, at times, be a little offensive, but I don't like to think in those terms while writing. I prefer to write something that's funny, and if we've gone too far that's for the director to decide.
When all is said and done, I think anything, if written well, can be a subject for comedy.
Lee Zanello
Well, I can honestly say that I've never been more homesick than when I've been helping put this show together from my humble apartment in Osaka, Japan.
Wait, scratch that...
With the exception of the Canadians winning Olympic gold in hockey, this would be tops on the homesickness issue.
I've met and worked with many of these talented people in the past, but there are a few new faces in the crowd and I've been very impressed with the work that I've seen and the progress that has been reported to me via email.
This is comedy in the new age, folks, when a person can help write a show from across the globe and then receive feedback on jokes and sketches in the form of emails and emoticons.
I never attended the writer's meetings, mostly because of the distance involved, but I was constantly updated as to who was writing what and what ideas were floating out there. I also had a close working relationship with a few of the writers, constantly sending scripts back and forth for comments and criticisms and, in one case, creating a song used in one of my sketches, Missed Childhood. David Dineen-Porter put some fantastic music to my lyrics for the theme song for the little known and fictitious 80's TV cartoon Downtown Doomsday (which, by the way, you can listen to by clicking here).
So yeah, the writing process was a little different on this end of things, but I have to thank Mike, Bobby and Alison for keeping me in the loop at all times and really making me feel like a part of the team. I only wish I could be there to see the final product.
But instead I'm here.
In Japan.
Well, at least I've got my Sumo wrestler trading cards to keep me entertained. I just traded for Musashimaru the other day! Wooooo, Sumo!
Ummm, yeah...
I need to come home.
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