Ideas exist outside of man. And drift into one's consciousness if one allows it. None of these ideas are mine, I only take them from the ether and put them back out in a more solid form.
Related posts tagged 'Coming up with ideas'
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Related posts tagged 'Coming up with ideas'
plotting can be tough because you're never quite sure you're doing it right - it's usually kind of like an exploration. You try something, and figure out what it needs. For instance, one episode we were plotting last night, I felt like it was all things happening, and no emotional connection from our charaters. So we figured out what my own personal connection to the plot would be, and that actually helped us figure out the things that would happen more easily. It's also helpful if your characters can have opposite points of view about what's occuring.
To motivate, I would try to outline as much as you can before you ever start writing a line of dialogue. If you're having trouble plotting, ...
Question: how do you organize and develop your material and various jokes? Do you have notebooks full of detailed notes and jokes, or do you just sketch them out and wing it on stage?
Answer: I believe in detailed notes and jokes, and also winging it onstage. But, not for your first open mic. For your first open mic, my advice to you would be to make sure you have what you're gonna do memorized, to the point that one of your friends can gently slap you across the face, and you'll still be able to get it out of your mouth.
You know, you’re very funny. But these people have no time for your cleverness. Just get to the point. (advice told to John by Ross Bennett)
Yes I do. I'm constantly talking to my phone. Whenever an idea occurs. Sometimes I don't say enough. I'll dictate "large coffee cup" and have no idea of what I thought was funny about that subject.
Nick and I came up with Too Much Tuna in five seconds with Jessi Klein about ten years ago at a restaurant on 6th avenue called French Roast. We got a plate with too much tuna and we said "this is too much tuna."
Don’t be afraid to look like an idiot during the creative process - if you don’t look like an idiot, you’re not trying enough things out.
Larry David and I discovered that we were both obsessed with superman and admired him and also found him very funny at the same time, so that is why he came up a lot. Are you related to the hot dog Kobayashi in Coney Island?
Often both... some ideas pop in out of nowhere and come easily and almost HAVE to exist... some ideas need love and care and work and attention.
Our process is... we rarely ever start with lyrics... it often begins with us jamming (or jammin') on some riff and then we start singing a melody that fits the music... and whatever words come out that's 90% of what we go with. We got a rule that we can't revise lyrics cuz we think it's funny. DO YOU?!!!
I come up with a few bits on TEAS a lot of the time, those are my genuine reactions to what's happening. He does some weird stuff on that show and it throws me off sometimes.
The first time we did it, Fred just starting doing that voice ("Whaaaaaat are you doing here?!") and Kristen and I were like "What?" It was so funny. I hadn't heard him do it before. Man o man it made me laugh. Then it became a game of who could stretch out the vowels in their sentences the most. It got crazy.
Those New No-No's come from such a deep dark angry place within me that I can just access it on the spot.
J/K!!!
I usually search on the internet for gripes people have and then I'll write a few words on some paper and go from there. So definitely not off the dome. But it's fun to keep things open and loose though cuz Scott is so fun to goof around with
Question: You come from a very affluent family – are you a reformed “rich dick” or are those characters informed by people you went to school with? Or both? Or neither?
Answer: All of my characters are informed by who I am and people that I've come into contact with, as well as everyone else involved in making the show - like in the case of Rich Dicks, John Daly and people that he knew.
We like to tell each other about bits after they've been developed a bit. Usually it's because we are excited about the bit. But we generally don't share new bits/premises for fear of crossover and both of us are very private in our "incubation" phase. I hadn't heard any of Tom's stuff until his last taping in Denver. It's also more fun that way. We collaborate a lot of YMH so that's the space where we come together.
i usually just think of one funny grain of the character's identity and let it build from there. with hoho, for instance, i just wanted to be an elf who delivers toys to naughty kids.
I think everyone gets tired of who they are, or their own brains sometimes. I think the important thing is to keep pushing through into unexplored territories - new ways to express ideas or new jokes. that's when I feel really good- hitting on something new.
There's no rhyme or reason. I take an idea or story and write it or try it on stage. I'll remember what worked and try to fix what didn't. The length of time varies based on the bit.
It’s just a series of steps that take place haphazardly. The file cabinet contains most of the things that are sort of in waiting, ready to be transformed into a usable language, you know? That’s the holding pen. The observations keep coming and the comparisons that the observations represent that are, you know you have a world view and it’s like your matrix and so, when you see things happen, you’re comparing those things to what you already know and how you already feel. That produces your impression. So those are things I write down, those impressions that I get from the world. So, some of them are in half form states, some of them are just ideas, just highlight, the key words, patterns, ...
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