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September 7, 2005
Breaking into Comedic Television Writing with Media Bistro
The Apiary had an opportunity last night to sit in on a 3-hour Media Bistro seminar called "Breaking into TV Comedy Writing" taught by Alan Cross, whose credits include PopUp Video, Ultimate Muscle, and Celebrity Deathmatch. The class was more of an exercise in monologue joke writing than in physically busting down producers' doors.
For those who want to spare the enrollment fees, it turns out the secret to breaking into writing for tv, is the same secret as any other field--networking.
The real highlight of the class came unexpectedly from a 75 year old, rotund man, with white hair who hobbled into the small room a half hour after class had started.
As the group pined through current events for comedic material, volleying setups and punchlines back and forth, the white haired elder suddenly erupted into a tempestuous rage saying none of our jokes were funny, that no one ever remembers jokes, and that there is no humor to be found in Hurricane Katrina, whether it be straight dark humour or a play on the events surrounding it. He carried on for a good while until it was time for a break.
God only knows how this guy was able to get to this point. For starters, he had to actively want to "break into" comedy writing at the ripe age of ONE MILLION and secondly, somewhere in New York City, long before the class began, he had to figure out how to use the internet, google "comedy writing classes", find his way to Media Bistro, pay online using a credit card, and do all sorts of mindblowing minutiae thereafter. The question on everyone's mind was corroborated when he himself asked the teacher, "Why am I here?"
Anyways, this dude ended up becoming endearing towards the end because when prodded for "realities" that he had faced recently, he jovially recounted some of the battiest stories ever--such as buying a Victoria's Secret gift card for a Catholic nun.
For those interested in breaking into comedic television writing, Alan teaches an 8 week course through Media Bistro starting soon.
Posted by The Apiary at September 7, 2005 12:12 PM
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Tracked on September 12, 2005 6:58 AM