In this episode, Catherine Donnelly, joined us to talk about getting web series into festivals and what goes into writing and producing internet content. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode Jere and Tweedy are joined by Jake Michels (June's Cleaver, Geek and Sundry) to talk about the frustrations of being a writer or performer. I'm sure this conversation will link up to many types of writing and comedy. Of course they also read some sketches and do some pitching. Tweedy opens up like these two are his therapists. If you want to hear a man cry in his coffee about sketch comedy - then THIS is the episode for you. Check us out on Twitter: @foowpod See acast.com/privacy...
iO west is dead. Jeremiah and Ryan were both performers there for years and we will miss it dearly. We decided to scream into the black void that is the internet on this week's episode. We both loved the opportunities that iO gave us, we loved the community and we loved our teams. We gained many, many things from the theatre and we owe it a lot. We get into all positives and negatives on the podcast and if gossiping like high school kids is your thing then this is the episode for you. #RIPIOWEST...
Our dear, dear friend, Eddie Rowley, jumps on Fish Out Of Water with us this week to talk about Shakespeare, being an actual actor and what he thinks is funny. Eddie is a California Native that has been writing and performing for over a decade. In wit is only matched by his musical genius and he brings a new energy to the show. Plus he beat boxes so he's way cooler than us. Get more info on Dad Jeans HERE Get more info on June's Cleaver HERE Check FOOW on Funny or Die HERE Like us on Facebook Fo...
Boy Howdy is it good to be back! Jeremiah and Ryan took a 4 month hiatus to make some videos, work some jobs and kick some ass and we're all out of video ideas. So here we are, ready to do season 2 of the Fish Out Of Water podcast! We got really lucky to have our first guest of the new season be Henry Kaiser. This is actually the lost episode from season 1 but we wanted to start here because it was such a good episode. Moving forward we are switching up the format to feel like more of writers ro...
Nate is a performer on The New Deal at the Upright Citizens Brigade and has been a writer/performer all over Los Angeles. He started performing comedy in college and has never stopped. You may recognize from TV shows and movies and all sorts of cool things. You can follow Nate on Twitter HERE You can follow Fish Out Of Water on Twitter HERE Send us your scripts to critique at foowpod@gmail.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit mega...
Eric Owusu (Wuwu) joins Ryan and Jeremiah to talk about how he got his literary agent. He also has written sketch shows and pilots and pitched them all over Los Angeles. After joining a sketch team in college and going to Washington D.C., he was accepted into the CBS diversity showcase and moved to Hollywood. Now he writes for Raven's Home on The Disney Channel and also for Dad Jean's at iO West. We also want to thank Hayley Ellman for sending in a sketch to read this week. Find Eric on Twitter ...
We are lucky to have Jesse Klein, writer for the Pack house team Haymaker, with us today. Jesse talks with us about idea generation and always being prepared with several pitches and sketch packets for every occasion. Another thing that Jesse shows us is a way in generate an infinite number of sketch premises and honestly it's pretty great. On the show we came up with over half of a dozen sketch premises in less than 5 minutes. The episode is worth the listen for that part alone. Jesse has writt...
Zora Bikangaga may possibly be our most interesting guest to date. This man has been on "This American life" because he pretended to be an Ugandan international student for an entire semester. After committing to the bit for so long he followed his new found love of acting and writing down to Los Angeles. I say down because he's from Northern California. Mr. B was a middle school teacher and a social issues theatre performer and talks about using some those real situations to create characters a...
Connie Shin joined us on FOOW this week to talk about writing for her Maude team Karate Karate, her process of formulating beats before she writes her sketches and the task of trying to identifying legitimate news stories vs ads. Connie Shin currently writes for the team Karate Karate at UCB's Maude night and sometimes Sketch Cram. She also performs improv with group "KanYay! West" and sketch with "Basic Bitches". Follow Connie on Twitter HERE See the trailer for "I do...Until I don't" HERE Tick...
Billy Merritt graced FOOW this week to talk about scientology, not writing for the Denny's Twitter feed and finding the deeper meaning in your sketches. We discussed writing material that appeals to all ages (and the fact that all kids across the world laugh at fart jokes) and using your "where" to help find the deeper meaning in your sketches if you're stuck while writing. Billy has been a performer, teacher and director with the UCB Theatre since it first opened in New York. He is a founding m...
Brian James O'Connell (better known as BOC) stopped by to talk to us about digital comedy and screenwriting. He broke down the process that his comedy team "Dr. God" goes through as they create films and digital sketch. They started as an improv team and then decided to take it to the next level. BOC is also a co-founder of the Pack Theatre and the head of their digital program. He wants to make sure that everyone understands that if you can write and you look for the resources to create - you w...
Joe Hartzler, the master of comedic suspense, joins us to talk about taking the audience on a laugh voyage, not just a laugh bus ride. Mr. Hartzler wants comedians to start using every part of the bit, not just the funny part. He helped us explore the nature of our comedy by showing us the many paint brushes that we have artists - not just the obvious ones. Joe has been a performer at UCB since 2007 and taught improv there for several years. He was a member of one of the first maude teams - Up U...
Joan Ford is super smart and thoughtful. That's what I liked the most about this conversation. We talked about the trap that many writers fall in to - especially when writing about something that bothers them or makes them angry. Joan spoke to the idea of writing characters that you don't like in real life and broke down a challenge she gave herself which was to find the humanity in them and make them relatable and more accessible.Ultimately, she was trying to find a way to make assholes funny. ...
David Baldy, who has had many writers jobs and various production jobs in Hollywood, was kind enough to stop in and talk to us for damn near 2 hours. This episode is loaded with tips on how to get that staff writer job you've always wanted. Mr. Baldy, took calculated risks but also made sure he was prepared for the job he wanted. He started as a writers assistant and worked through the ranks until he reached the level of Co-Executive Producer. He shared with us how he got started and also how he...
Charlie is a writer for the team "The Truce" and a host of the popular indie improv show "Purgatory" at the Clubhouse. He also hosts Catharsis: Dramatic Improv at UCB Sunset. We delve into a deep conversation in this episode and It pops up fairly organically. Charlie brings up an interesting point that it's easier for Straight White Males to find everything funny because of our place of privilege in society. It makes for an interesting discussion. We'd love to hear what everyone thinks. So chime...
Anna is a phenomenal writer and one of the funniest people we've had on our podcast BUT that pales in comparison to how hard of a worker she is by all accounts. So, obviously we were very appreciative that she made time in her busy schedule to come on and talk with us. And talk she did, we spoke about the best practices for getting to be a part of the CBS diversity showcase. She explained how she puts a packet together, what should and should not go into it, how long it should be and also some o...
Bob Wiltfong has had many successes in life. He was a writer and correspondent for "The daily Show With Jon Stewart", he was in the pilot episode of "The Chapelle Show" and had a very lucrative run with a one man show at the fringe festival. He talks about how he accomplished all of that and he also gives pointers so that we can actively pursue the same goals if we so choose. Follow Bob on Twitter: twitter.com/bobwiltfong Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/foowpod Send us sketches to read: foowpo...
Our old friend, Hal Rudnick, joins us this week and talks about his process in creating characters and writing sketches. You may know Hal from "The Midnight Show", "Screen Junkies", and "Tournament of Nerds" plus he's been all over your TV and internet. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL, Hal is in the next season of "America's Got Talent" doing an original character he calls Eric Jennifer. Mr Rudnick is a character expert. He would have a PHD from Harvard in character creation - if that was a thing. Hal teache...
Will Hine is an improv legend,. He's also an author, a sketch writer, a maude director, a teacher, a podcaster and an honest, genuine guy. Not to mention he's insightful and thoughtful when finding the comedy nuggets in the mundane details. This is a great episode in finding the truth in comedy, the grounded reality that we can all relate to and laugh at together. You may want to grab a notebook and jot down some of Will's brilliance - or don't - I'm not here to tell you what to do. We also brea...
Andy Harris is a freelance Comedy Writer for Radio Shows all over this glorious country. He has over a decade of experience and has worked with many, many clients. His job consists of writing and producing up to 20 bits a day, so naturally we talked to him about his idea generation process. Andy guides us through how he comes up with so many, nearly 100, topical sketches a week. His process is very different than what we usually do on this show and he even presents us with a finished product of ...
Mark Rennie is the director of UCB Maude team "Karate Karate" and he is also one of the creators of the popular web series "Gay of Thrones" on Funny or Die. Mark was kind enough to come in and meet with us and talk about finding our personal voices. It was a good discussion about how we should be writing what makes us laugh and writing what we want to see on a stage. He has many great ideas about comedy and my personal favorite was "who cares what assholes think?" Who cares, indeed Mark. Who car...
Making Canale, the Managing Director, as well as one of the main voices in putting together sketch teams at iO West talked to Ryan about what goes into deciding who has got the goods during the audition process. We talk about what you should put into a writing packet and how to approach both a scene and solo character audition. We also talk about enjoying what you do. Mike brings up how important having fun is to the process. This was a great episode, even if Jeremiah was in Portland. See acast....
Bill Kessler wrote for Hollywood Squares in its hay day! He tells us how he got that job and also the things he could have done differently once he was in it. We also got to pick his brain for the almost 20 years of sketch writing experience he has. Bill also wrote and starred in a successful web series called "Gary CK needs work". We talk to him a little bit about the process and how to generate ideas for web series of our own. Watch "Gary CK Needs Work" : https://www.facebook.com/pg/garyckneed...
Kate Huffman, ladies and gentlemen! She is a Writer/Performer for the team Drug Money at iO West and also a Writer/Performer for the team Sidekick who you can see at The Second City. Kate also recently premiered a one woman show called "I'm Too Fat For This Show" which will be having a run at the Los Angeles Fringe Festival June 2nd, 10th, 18th, 19th, and 25th (link below for more info). Kate was kind enough to talk to us about the process of writing a one women show and all the challenges that ...
Joey Clift is a Los Angeles based comedian who mailed his beard to a presidential candidate, who outsmarted the Garfield twitter team, who has a team of comedians that throws hamburgers at audience members. Joey also hosts a podcast called "25 Minutes of Silence" and co hosts "You Should Love Wrestling". Where does he get all the ideas? Boredom. Joey sits down with hosts Jeremiah and Ryan and talks about the idea of the bit being as important as the bit and how actually following through with co...
James Mastraieni is one of the most funny and arguably highest comedians in Los Angeles. You may know him from his successful live show and podcast "I'm Too Effing High" as well as long running improv show "Outside Dog Gets One Star". He's written all over the city with his writing partner Drew Difonzo Marks and also for the comedy powerhouse, Comedy Central. He coaches and teaches and performs and he's also a super cool guy. So check him out whenever you have the chance. Subscribe to his podcas...
This week we talk to the comedy black belt champion, Kerry O'Neill, from the UCB Maude Team Karate Karate. Kerry brings a sense of realness and honesty to this episode. She's from NYC and moved to Los Angeles twice, which in itself is a real feat. We talk about everything from working at a wing restaurant, to Harolds, to the importance of never underselling your pitches, which may be the best lesson one can take away from this podcast. We pitched off of 3 short but true monologues about ourselve...
Fish Out Of Water"To make the right bits you gotta have the right bait" Kale Hills is the best! He's not only the nicest guy in Hollywood but he's also one of the funniest, sharpest people that has entered the Fish Out Of Water studio. Kale is a member of the Upright Citizens Brigade harold team "Nomi Malone", new Maude team "The Audacity" and he also performs characters for UCB's first character showcase team "Characters Welcome". You can find Nomi Malone show dates here: https://franklin.ucbth...
Consider this episode a thought experiment if you will. Jeremiah Burton and Ryan Tweedy brought in the same sketch to 4 different guests (Eric Voss, Amos Vernon, Joe Cabello, Jason kaye) and had them each note the same draft of it. Ultimately, we wanted to see what was objective and what was subjective when it comes to giving notes. it ended up being very interesting and enlightening about what was conclusive between all the guests and what wasn't. If you like to nerd out about comedy then this ...
