Comedy sketches / ideas

[The rabbit]

Would like to at some time to do some comedy sketches , acted out , filmed etc maybe it will come to fruition maybe not , but if any one has any ideas i would like to hear them.

Example.

A sketch were every one is standing in line at an airport and the authorities are walking long the line with the see through plastic bags asking if any one needs one for items not allowed through the gate.

A person calls over one of the plastic bag dealers to ask for one
and then they pull out a jam jar which has water in it and tip it into the bag .

It then becomes clear that there is now a gold fish in the plastic bag and it now looks like a fair ground prize.

i would love to see it done to break the ice amongs all the silent people in that stupid long line.

yeh one is going to be dragged off , but it sure would be funny. Or so i think.

 

[anart]

Comedy is really powerful - I think it's a good idea. A lot can be said in a comedic sketch that can't be said any other way!

 

[vinny]

Comedy is really powerful - I think it's a good idea. A lot can be said in a comedic sketch that can't be said any other way!

totally agree. Here's a guy who uses comedy in a different way to illustrate the ridiculosity (my new word) of the situation we find ourselves in: Mark Thomas.
It is worth checking out his video (if you can find it) on how he tackled the crackdown on demonstrations in London. It is hilarious whilst making a very serious point.
He's also got some bits and pieces on youtube.

 

[Rich]

Would like to at some time to do some comedy sketches , acted out , filmed etc maybe it will come to fruition maybe not , but if any one has any ideas i would like to hear them.

Like your idea AWTF, agree with Anart about the power of comedy and with Nomad about the comic talent of Mark Thomas - I enjoy his anti-CCTV and surveillance productions. I quite liked the style of Chris Morris's The Day Today (_http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/daytoday/) and the radio show Blue Jam (_http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/bluejam/)

FWIW I've had a great interest in writing and performing comedy throughout college years and later on when I briefly had stand-up comedy as a hobby.

Practically it could be quite difficult to work on comedy sketches virtually unless that was part of the situation - e.g post-apocalyptic video conference calls.

A radio show of some description could be a possibility and especially to start off can be a good way to develop ideas, characters and style. - This is how many of the popular sketch shows start out. - In fact Mark Thomas started his career as a guest comic on the BBC Radio 1 comedy show 'The Mary Whitehouse Experience' in the late 1980. You're not limited by visual locations, actors, video skills etc and you can then build on the characters that are developed to weave in the message you want to give. Initially it would be a case of script writing, developing characters, situations and recording the play. From that other ideas would develop.

Along those lines, this idea just came to me as an example:

You could have two low-grade STS (intraterrestial) hypderdimensional beings who keep bleeding through to 3D and find themselves in human bodies. They used to float around without limitations but are now completely at a loss as to why or what to do. It could start off with one having already been 3D'd for some time and learned how to breath, speak, eat and basically function. (each of those needs could be situations to bring in ideas of just how bad the food most people eat is - each time they eat some junk they suffer complications). He could meet a fresh fallen intraterrestrial and teaches him how to operate.

They discover that they really were low-grade STS manipulators - something along the lines that they had a really dull duty of losing peoples keys to make them angry so that STS harvesters could hoover up the negative energy (unlike the 'glamorous' geopolitical puppeteers that got to work on the big stuff).

So there would basically be dialogue between two characters who know how the world operates yet are suddenly and inconveniently forced to survive - in a non descript suburb somewhere. They could find themselves in all manner of mundane situations - restaurants, police station, airports, shops etc and find comedy in the infuriating knowledge that they know what a complete illusion the whole system is yet have to exist in it. Each episode could ironically end with one of them losing their keys at a crucial situation. ;D -
---
Another - simpler - could be a new illness of Tourette's Truth speaking. Instead of swearing sufferers blurt out the truth in 'inappropriate' situations. Could be covered like a satirical documentary. They can't help it and are unable to hold down a job because of it or function in 'normal' social situations.

I think a SOTT Comedy Channel would work well

 

[Steve M.]

I have an idea for one about food. It would be filmed in a fast forward, old style black and white sort of way. Maybe some title about breakfast in the western world. The person wakes up, his/her feet hit the floor and instantly there are shoes on bare feet kind of style, maybe even grainy pictures and sped up film would work, no sound but maybe music that fits an unhealthy eating style.

He/She prepares to have breakfast, gets to the cupboard, a bowl and spoon appear on the table, then the fridge and the milk appears. Then back to the cupboard for cereal, he/she shakes a box you can't identify the brand of.. no cereal.. A trip to the store is in order - maybe a moments sigh. The guy/gal goes to the store (8-12 instead of 7-11?) and finds a healthy brand 100% gluten free, 100% natural, 100% organic. It might have a flash with a label that shows that it is full of vitamins and minerals. The person looks it over and decides it must be the worse thing for him/her. He grabs another box of Cereal. This box (of toxic flakes?) tells him it's full of 100% man made ingredients and may contain mutagens, carcinogens and pathogens and should not be consumed by children under 8 years of age (or something like that). His/Her eyes widen EUREKA, just what the person wanted. Out of hunger he/she opens the box and starts consuming while waiting in line, by the time he/she reaches the teller cashier person there is a growing appendage coming from some part of their arm or face and the film ends with some information about watching what we're consuming and how to get more information about dieting healthy.

 

[domi]

I have two that are more comic strip ideas (those came after listening to the latest podcast):

1) one is along the lines of the underwear bomber

Title could be: Mossad is getting desperate
Image: One man band (with all the accoutrements) standing at airport security and the security person saying "No passport?" and then second balloon "Well everything checks out. Move along"
additionally: Maybe the handler that's accompanying the guy could be a native american (aka Indian) in full battle dress

2) Al Qaeda meeting:

title could be: Al Quada planning more attacks
image: table with people around with various name cards that say Mossad, CIA, MI5, etc

 

[vinny]

2) Al Qaeda meeting:

title could be: Al Quada planning more attacks
image: table with people around with various name cards that say Mossad, CIA, MI5, etc

I like that one. You could also have Blair, Rumsfeld, etc...

 

[curious_richard]

If you really like the airport security theme, maybe you could do something with this.

TSA goon #1: Things have sure gotten easier now that we have the full body scanners.
TSA goon #2: Yep, and the public is even more scared of us.
TSA goon #1: Hey! Look at the screen! That guy is a lizard!
TSA goon #2: Better call our boss.
TSA boss: Okay, what's the problem?!
TSA goon #1: That guy that just went through the scanner is a lizard!
TSA boss: Yeah, so what?! Let him through. We are looking for terrorists.

 

[Steve M.]

I was thinking of two separate products. One that would remove the junk from the water (fluoride, chlorine, mercury..?) leaving the cup with about 20% volume left over of actual clean water. It might be called pollution solution and when it gets put in the water it foams out all over the table. It could end with a question about how (roughly, but certainly not specifically) 80% of drinking water is actually tainted.

Either of these ideas may have been produced before.

The other idea was something to the tune of an additive to the water that causes a cloud to separate the polluted water from the actual water. The Western person, being a strong addict of pollution would slowly pour out the top portion to get the clean healthy water off the top and swig down the pollution. (A question could appear about "is this how bottled water companies provide us with water? Are they giving us the polluted or pure?) In the credits there could be something educational (link/information?) about creating a purifying distillery - evaporating mechanism for getting healthier water.

Sadly these might seem more like horror than humor.

 

[The rabbit]

Loving these sketches and ideas , keep em rolling.

(Domi)

Al Qaeda meeting is priceless


(Balberon)
Breakfast cereal and eating the unhealthy cereal maybe "crapflakes" while on the way to the checkout has lots of possibilities for extension , funny images coming to mind.Water sketches could also be interesting to take a look at.

(curious richard )
Lizard sketch has potential , though for most people whos association with them being a threat is usually when they think of David ike so he has to be tastefully put in

(Pob)

Great stuff and ideas.Aliens now in 3 Density could well be worked on and has many possibilities in regards to anything , religion is the first obvious one that springs to mind.

Brought to mind a book i heard of a long time ago called (i think) "how to take over a planet" or something like that.

The radio show idea has many possibilities and may just go that way.I use to get goon show and monty python scripts from the library when i was a child and record them while taking on all the characters. That was fun for me.

Many years ago i appeared on stage at the Canal cafe theatre in London in what is still called i think "News review" (usually political satire )

People like Rory Bremner appeared there in the earlier parts of their careers.

News review at the canal cafe consists of four actors (usually two male and two female) a music director who usually plays the piano and a director.

Writers send in their sketches , the actors read through the writings and if the sketches are found to be funny by all it is worked on and included in the performances.

The writers recieve points for how long their sketches remain in the show , which manifests as money/payment at the end of the month.

For me it was a great experience and we may aim for this kind of review in the near future. As we have a number of people around who work in film and animation this media is also a possibility.

The radio is probably the easiest to get of the ground. But first we are going to have a group meeting within the next two weeks.

Still love to see more sketches and ideas enter this thread , its fun.