Tag: Writers

Playwright Zoo
by David Burgess on 0

Playwright Zoo

Zoo playwriting?

A resource linking you to some of the coolest new trends as well as classics particular to playwrights and their craft. — And check out the Playwright Zoo Archive for past musings and featured artists.

Polar Bears

The coolest.
Michael R. McGuire is one of the playwrights whose opinion I trust. He’s a theater artist working within his community as a major contributor to the local arts scene in New London, Connecticut. He is a self-taught self-starter who also helps other theater-artists see their work produced. I’ve know Mike for a few decades, and we’ve worked together to co-produce new-play festivals and full-up productions. He founded a playwrights group that meets regularly throughout the year where members bring new work to have it read and discussed (then we all go out for food and beer). He’s the kind of guy you want to have around when you’re trying to get a new piece on its feet. Everybody should have a friend like Mike.

Michael R. McGuire has written plays for the past 16 years. His play SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE I MISSED THE TRAIN was part of The Lark’s 2004 Playwrights Week and showcased by The Planning Stage at The Golden Street Gallery in 2006. He was awarded a CT Artist Fellowship in 2005 for his play THE NEW GIRL with which he produced a showcase at the Avery Point Playhouse. His plays PERSEPHONE RULES! and THE MISJUDGMENT OF OENONE are published by Brooklyn Publishers.

McGuire founded the playwrights reading group Writers’ Roundtable in 2000.

The interview:

Michael R. McGuire – why the “R”?

There is another playwright in America named Michael McGuire. We were getting one another’s rejection letters returned. The other McGuire has been around longer so I added my middle initial. Plus, it sounds cooler.

You’re a playwright based in Southeastern Connecticut. What are some of the challenges to you as a playwright not being in a big city?

The biggest challenge is the lack of opportunity to network with theater professionals. Literary managers have no face to put with my name. Of course this might also be an advantage…

What are the benefits?

I enjoy being an outsider. Because so many playwrights live in NY, they tend to have a New York sensibility. My New London, CT sensibility is a bit different and informs my writing.

Living in a small arts community like New London County, how essential to you and your work has been the acquisition of production skills?

I have produced, directed and also acted in many of my own productions. It is essential for a playwright to see the work in front of an audience. If opportunities do not present themselves, you must create them.

What makes you want to produce the works of others as well as your own?

I sometimes come across a script that I simply must see on stage. Your play TO DIE FOR WANT OF LOBSTER was one of these. (That it had a great role for me had nothing to do with it)

I do not consider myself an especially skilled director of the works of others and prefer to leave that to others when I can.

Being outside of the mainstream loops and circles that life in New York or another theater hub could offer, how do you get your work out there? Do you have a marketing plan? If so, how does it work?

I wouldn’t call it a plan so much as a dogged tenacity to submit my work to every theater I can find that might be appropriate. In addition to Dramatists Sourcebook, I also search online and scour the resumes of playwrights I admire for theaters they began in.

I keep a database of all my submissions and mail frequently. How does it work? I’m not so sure it does!

While the stereotype of the struggling playwright places him/her in a room, alone, flushing out genius across pages, waiting for discovery – how does it really work from your experience? Are you alone or do you depend on others?

I write in coffee shops. I need a bit of hubbub to write. Silence is deadly to me. I read a great deal and consider all writing as part of a larger conversation. Nothing is created in a vacuum. Our playwrights group Writers’ Roundtable has been a valuable resource for feedback and inspiration.

How did you find other artists in your small-town community to work on your plays?

Mine is a theater-heavy small-town due, in part, to our proximity to The O’Neill. New London has an artistically thriving if financially struggling community. I am also fortunate to have an actress girlfriend, Heidi Harger, who has inspired imagery for more than one of my plays.

What resources are do you use to expand your knowledge of writing? What’s available when you’re off the beaten path?
Given Amazon.com everything that is available elsewhere is available here. The works of Gary Garrison, Jeffery Sweet and Stuart Spenser have been valuable, especially early on. Reading the works of current playwrights has also been important. I have to travel a bit to see professional theater, but every playwright should watch live theater.

You recently participated in a 24-hour play experiment, which was the first of it’s kind in the New London area – what was that like? What was unexpected?

We were given an assignment in the evening and had to have a 10 page play written by morning. The plays were handed off to randomly selected actors and director who rehearsed and had the play before an audience that night. It was fun for me because I didn’t have to direct it myself, a rare treat.

Unexpectedly my director, unknown to me before the project, is interested in an on-going collaboration on future plays.

You’ve also participated in the now defunct Local Playwrights Festival at the O’Neill Theater Center, which was produced and performed by all Connecticut and Rhode Island based volunteers to present workshops of plays by local authors – how relevant was that earlier experience for you?

Having an early play (WHAT’S GONNA SET YOU FREE?) selected for that festival was the encouragement I needed at that time to let me know I might be in the right business. It also introduced me to other playwrights and the local theater community at large. It is impossible to overstate the importance of that event. You may blame them for all my subsequent scribbling.

Any plans for the short play that came out of that?

I’m not much of a short play writer in general, but I may send it out here and there.

What are some recommend reads for playwrights?

I mentioned some writers above, and of course read any play you can get your hands on, but also read magazines, novels, comic books, essays and everything else. Ideas are everywhere. I could live ten lifetimes and not run out of ideas.

What do you recommend a playwright order from the bar when being taken out after a showing of one of his/her plays?

If the show went well, have a Guiness or two. Remain sober enough to absorb the praise. If the show went poorly, start pounding whiskey. I accept no responsibility for anyone who follows this advice.

Anything else?

Learn the rules and then break them with style.

The Monkey House

Musings on the state of theater-arts

A Playwright & Web Forums: How to Use Them for the POWER OF GOOD
(your good & others)
from the mind of Kato McNickle

There are a lot of playwright specific forums, groups on Facebook or MySpace, and other web-based cyber-groups floating around. One thing I’ve noticed from participating in these forums and groups is that about 1 outta 50 playwrights actually knows how to interface, interact, and maximize the potential of these virtual porticoes. How savvy are you when it comes to participation thru posting? Are you that one or the other 50?

If that forum your a member of was a theater — what would you do with it? Would you really only tap on the mike once our twice, see if it was on, and only leave a brief calling card — or would you do more? Can you do something more memorable, more lasting, more significant with your stage-time?

I think sites such as these are like stage-time. How can you do more than leave a calling card? How can you use this forum to make a statement — to leave an impression? From impressions come connections. The connections are what we seeks as artists.

Visit the Playwright Zoo Archive.

Creative Creatures

Workshops for the writer @ Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health

Writing as a spiritual practice, a creative path, or as a way to re-vision your life story helps you access the thoughts behind your thoughts and experience a new intimacy with yourself. Writing helps us make friends with our inner critic, freeing us to create and express without inhibition.

Kripalu provides a welcoming environment in which to turn inward toward the words that are calling you-and offers you a variety of skilled teachers to guide you on the next step of your writing journey.

FastLinks to theaters

These theaters accept unsolicited plays

Actors Theatre of Louisville
Louisville, KY. National 10-minute play contest.

Act II Playhouse
Ambler, PA. Full length plays, musicals, and solo pieces.

African Continuum Theatre
Washington, DC. Multicultural work relevant to African-American community.

Alabama Shakespeare Festival
Montgomery, AL. Plays from Southern writers with Southern or African-American themes.

Amas Musical Theatre, Inc.
NYC. Multicultural casts and themes.

ART Station
Stone Mountain, GA. Full-length plays, musicals, solo pieces that describe Southern experience.

Asian American Theatre Company
San Francisco, CA. Innovative rendrings about the Asian American experience.

Bristol River Theatre
Bristol, PA Cutting-edge works, plays that experiment with form.

Celebration Theatre
West Hollywood, CA. Plays not previously produced that provide a prgressive gay and lesbian voice in contemporary theatre.

Centre Stage-South Carolina
Greenville, SC. Full-length, unproduced plays.

City Theatre
Miami, FL. One acts only that represent a diverse mix of subjects and themes.

Columbus Children’s Theatre
Columbus, OH. Social issue one-acts acceptable for audiences in grades K-5.

Dad’s Garage
Atlanta, GA. Full-length nontraditional plays, comedies.

Detroit Repertory Theatre
Detroit, MI. Full-length issue oriented plays.

East West Players
Los Angeles, CA. Plays by or about the Asian American experience.

El Centro Su Teatro
Bilingual and/or Spanish language plays, plays dealing with the Chicano/Latino cultural asthetic or political experience.

Express Children’s Theatre
Houston, TX. Plays for young audiences.

5th Avenue Theatre
Seattle, WA. Adventure Musical Theatre: ongoing program that commissions original musicals performed for K-6 students.

Foothill Theatre
Nevada City, CA. Seeks full-length plays. New Voices of the Wild West: annual spring series of plays about the rural American West.

Growing Stage Theatre
Netcong, NJ. Accepts plays with a production history suitable for family audiences.

Hangar Theatre
Ithaca, NY. Accepts one-acts for for young audiences only.

Huntington Theatre
Boston, MA. Accepts plays from Boston area playwrights only; agent submission all others.

Jewish Theatre of the South
Atlanta, GA. Works on Jewish themes.

Jobsite Theater
Tampa, FL. Topical, politically and socially relevant theatre; plays appealing to 20- and 30- somethnings.

Kitchen Dog Theater Company
Dallas, TX. Plays from Texas and Southwest playwrights.

Kuma Kahua Theatre
Honolulu, HI. Plays set in Hawaii or dealing with Hawaiian experience.

Merry-Go-Round Playhouse
Auburn, NY. Plays for young audiences.

Mill Mountain Theatre
Roanoke, VA. Accepts unsolicited one-acts for CenterPieces reding series only.

Miracle Theatre Group
Portland, OR. Hispanic playwrights, plays that deal with the Hispanic experience.

Mu Performing Arts
Minneapolis, MN. Asian-American expeience, plays combining traditional Asian performance with Western theatre styles, short plays suitable for school tours.

New Georges
NYC. plays by women only, works with vigorous use of language and heightened perspectives on reality.

New Jersey Repertory Company
Long Branch, NJ. Work not produced professionally, social or humanistic themes.

A Noise Within
Glendale, CA. Translations or adaptations of classical material only.

Oldcastle Theatre Company
Bennington, VT. Accepts musicals and plays.

OpenStage Theatre & Company
Fort Collins, CO. Accepts full-length plays.

Oregon Children’s Theatre
Portland, OR. Plays and musicals for young and family audiences.

Playhouse on the Square
Memphis, TN. Full-length plays and musicals.

Playwrights Horizons
NYC. American writers only, works with strong sense of language that take theatrical risks.

Porchlight Music Theatre Chicago
Chicago, IL. Full-length and one-act musicals.

Sanctuary: Playwrights Theatre
Brooklyn, NY. Accepts playwrights with at least one professional production only; prefers plays with unusul structure, radical core ideas, epic form, work that’s off the map or otherwise seen as impractical.

Seattle Children’s Theatre
Seattle, WA. Accepts unsolicted plays for Drama Summer School season only: one-act plays suitable for young actors.

Seem-To-Be-Players
Lawrence, KS. Plays for young audiences.

Soho Repertory Theatre
NYC. Accepts unsolicited scripts for Writer/Director Lab only, deadline: May.

TADA! Youth Theater
NYC. Plays for young audiences.

Thalia Spanish Theatre
Sunnyside, NY. Plays with Hispanic themes.

Theater by he Blind
NYC. Works by and about being blind.

Theater for the New City
NYC. Experimental American works; plays with poetry, music, and dance; social issues.

Trustus Theatre
Columbia, SC. One-acts for late night series – 45-75 minutes in length. No topic or experimental structure is taboo.

Two Chairs Theater Company
Grand Junction, CO. Full-length, one-acts, 10-minute plays. Annual short play fest, deadline Jan. 31.

Unicorn Theatre
Kansas City. MO. Full-length contemporay social issues.

Victory Gardens Theater
Chicago, IL. Accepts plays from Chicago residents only. All others submit 10-page sample and letter of inquiry.

VS Theatre Company
Los Angeles, CA. Accepts unique and edgy full-length unproduced plays with submission form.

West Coast Ensemble
Los Angeles, CA. Plays not previously produced in Southern California.

Wings Theatre Company, Inc.
NYC. Gay themed musicals and plays only.

The York Theatre Company
NYC. Small cast musicals.

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How to Become a Comedian
by David Burgess on 0

How to Become a Comedian

How to Become a Comedian

So you want to become a comedian?

Well, it’s not easy. Many people have tried and failed. But don’t be discouraged, that doesn’t mean you don’t have a shot.

The fact that you are here searching on how to become a comedian shows that you are serious about learning from others. Successful comedians are your best source for information to help you pursue stand up comedy, either as an amatuer or a professional.

Becoming a Comedian

Killer Comedy Jokes Needed
So, people around you find you funny and witty. But is this enough of a reason for you to become a comedian? Well, maybe. Being funny and witty could be a start of a successful career as a comedian. But it is important to note that becoming a comedian is a serious business. To do stand up comedy in front of an audience, you need to have good self-confidence and a strong stomach. Additionally, you need to be ready to deliver explosive stand up comedy jokes. Of course, you wouldn’t want your first standup comedy act to be a bust, right? So, to avoid any embarrassment, you will need to come up with some killer stand up comedy jokes when learning how to become a comedian.

Tips on making stand up comedy jokes.

There is a common misconception that standup comedians do nothing but tell little jokes or hilarious stories to drunken audience at night. It’s a lot more complex than that! Standup comedians spend hours in making stand up comedy jokes and perfecting their routine. They invest time and effort in formulating stand up comedy jokes that will leave the audience laughing out loud and never have dull moments.

To help you come up with explosive stand up comedy jokes, here are some tips you need to know:

1. Follow the formula – Joke building follows two basic formuals – the setup, which explains the joke and the punch line, which construes the delivery of the stand up comedy jokes. For beginners, it is safe to stick to the formula to get better laughs.

2. Find a joke in everything – This is the secret to prevent embarrassing moments. Try hard to find the funny in everything and in every situation. The more you are creative in making stand up comedy jokes, the better you will get in making up jokes.

3. List your stand up comedy jokes – Jot down a list of hot jokes that you know will beef up your comedy act.

4. Observation stand up comedy jokes – By simply pointing out absurd and real funny things that happen every day and are part of everyday life, you can make people laugh.

5. Mimic stand up comedy jokes – You can mimic someone in a funny way. This will definitely add humor to your act. Make sure that the person you mimic is a well-known person so that everyone can relate to.

Beyond stand up comedy Jokes

In addition to these tips on enhancing your stand up comedy jokes, you also need to build up your comic vocabulary. Some terms you need to be familiar with are To Kill (to do really well), To bomb (to do really badly), Set up (the explanation part of a joke), and all other stand up comedy jokes term. Now that you have read this advice, you can now improve your stand up comedy jokes and start killing your audiences with your stand up routines. Master the tips and you are way to getting the fame as a pro stand up comedian.

Killer Comedy: Become a Great Comedian

If you happen to read good comedy books or have watched good killer theatre shows, skits, or films, then you know that there’s nothing more relaxing and medicating than a few good laughs. Yes, it is expected that comedy should be hilarious, but if you think that making killer comedy stories is simple, you are wrong! Good comedy is a serious business as it entails hard work, dedication, and most of all, excellent writing skills. The ability to create a real piece of killer comedy can be attributed to a moment of inspiration or a sudden light bulb moment. But putting that idea into the right words demands comedic skill.

In order to be effective, a killer comedy should instantly capture the emotion of the audience. Once this is done, expect it to get good laughs. As mentioned awhile ago, a lot of hard work should be put into it so as to put together a killer comedy piece that will leave your audience rolling in the aisles. Creating a killer comedy piece involves phrasing, reviewing, rephrasing, and then some polishing. This process goes on and on until a good killer comedy is produced. More than that, comedy writers also need to know what type of comedy they write the best.

Being a Killer Comedy Writer

Each comedy writer is unique. They have their own strengths and weaknesses thus, they should decide what type of killer comedy they should write and present. The kinds of killer comedy vary from one liner to lengthy ramble or also known as routine. A routine can be made up of various “gags” or it can have one theme. Sketches, on the other hand, are a type of killer comedy that are long and are packed with gags. Writers that write good sketches are much acclaimed than those who do not.

Since writing killer comedy is a tough job, it is always an edge for those writers with inherent talent for writing comedy pieces. This can be a good and fruitful occupation. All that is needed is focus, hard work, and mastering trade tricks. Aspiring killer comedy writer can learn and master the tricks of trade by simply observing expert comedians at work. By meticulously analyzing their works, they can easily grasp and learn the intricacies of comedy variations. Aside from that, another important thing that aspiring killer comedy writers should understand is the holistic concept of comedy. They will never be called noble writers without having the know-how about comedy.

Killer Comedy: Timing Matters

Killer comedy pieces are created by excellent comedy writers. Obviously, they are made and presented with the ability to amuse the audience while delivering a specific message. These are what professional comedy writers are known for. They have the ability to inject the right jokes at the right place and the right timing. This is what makes a killer comedy very appealing. Though a writer may be packed with jokes, but without delivering it on the right timing, all can be dull. Timing is a critical angle that comedy writers should work on. By mastering this aspect, they can make a difference to a good joke. To learn and acquire excellent comedy techniques, proven systems from the funniest pro comedians is the answer!

How to Be a Comedian Through Comedy Classes

Some people are born comedians. They usually are the jokester in the group, making funny jokes and leaving everybody in tears laughing. If most of your friends or family say that you are naturally funny and witty then why not try to make this as a profession? Consider taking comedy classes to bring your comedic talent to the next level. If you enjoy cracking jokes and making people laugh or if you know the value of comedy, you are a prime candidate for comedy classes. By enrolling in elite comedy classes, your natural comic abilities will improved and honed.

Being a stand-up comedian is no laughing matter! It is more than just making the people laugh, or simply retelling common jokes and wait for your friends and the people around you to chuckle. Comedy is more about putting the right jokes in the right place and in the right timing. Comedy classes will teach you the true essence of comedy. They will teach you how to be tenacious and cognizant about your comedy piece. The core function of comedy classes is to build-up your humorist talent. They will allow you to be knowledgeable about the stage, know how to write effective jokes, and develop holistic comic charm.

Be a pro standup comedian thru good comedy classes

For inborn comedians, undergoing comedy classes will not be a hard task. But for people who wanted to develop their comic skills, it can take years before hitting the big time. Taking up comedy classes and workshops will help you get started on a successful career as a stand-up comedian. These will get you up in front of an audience, create good jokes, and master the art of delivering jokes. More than that, comedy classes will teach you to write and structure jokes. Structuring techniques are important in making good jokes.

Most comedy classes offer performing opportunities for students. This is a good platform for students to exhibit and perform their comedy piece in front of an audience. This does not only provide an avenue for aspiring comedians to show what they have learned in comedy classes, but this is also a good opportunity to bring out what they got like spouting funny adlibs and delivering funny lines spontaneously while doing the entire standup comedy. Through good comedy classes, a great comedian can be spawned.

The advantages of taking comedy classes

While it is a fact that taking up comedy classes can be tough, on the contrary, they can be worthwhile. Through comedy classes, one can build up his or her personality. You yourself can create a unique comedy trademark that people will instinctively recognize. For beginners like you in comedy classes, it might be awhile before you can find your unique comic personality. One way to discover it is to test your comedy piece in front of the public and ask for feedbacks or reviews. After, you can tweak your stage presence until you have created the trademark you want to exude. Examples of famous comedians in the Hollywood that are popularly known for their distinctive comic personality are Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Dave Chapelle, and many others. When people hear their names, their comic styles are instantly recalled.

Anyone interested in taking up comedy classes should seek a professional standup comedy class. There are a myriad of comedy class offered in the internet today and all you have to do is pick and enroll in a comedy class that suits your criteria as well as will bring out the best in you.

Refine Your Comedy Through a Comedy Class

Do you think you are hilarious or do your friends and family often tell you how funny you are? If yes, then you may benefit from taking a comedy class. Taking a comedy class will bring your comedic talent to the next level allowing you to try a stand-up act in front of an audience. If you dream of becoming a professional comedian, a comedy class is the way to achieve your desires. If you are good at making everybody laugh, then why not turn it into a career? Not only can you have a fruitful profession, but you are sharing what you love doing and making people laugh in the process.

Basically, a comedy class aims to provide a supportive environment where you can write, edit, and perform a comedy. Additionally, your comic skills will be honed and further develop. This will be successfully achieved thru a good comedy class that offers workshops where you will learn joke formats, performance techniques, how to deliver killer comedy and explosive jokes, write a comedy piece, and more. By learning a handful of this knowledge from a comedy class, see yourself soar as a professional and excellent stand-up comedian.

What you will learn from a comedy class?

So, imagine that you have enrolled in a comedy class and you have learned everything and almost every technique. It is imperative that you will think that you already have the guts to have your own show. But don’t be so ecstatic! Before this happens, you will still need tons of practice. Before taking your act on stage, first of all, focus on one goal and that is to make every person in the room laugh. In any comedy class, the first thing that you will be oriented about is how to observe and learn from the expert comedians. After this, your comedy class will encourage you to write your funniest material.

Once you have finished writing your comedy script, the next thing you need to do is practice your delivery. Here, you will implement everything that you have learned from your comedy class. The timing, your punch lines, intonation, voice volume, and adlibs will all come together now. By mastering your delivery, you will become more confident facing an audience and evade yourself from any embarrassment. This is the advantage of taking a comedy class. More than just the mere idea of making jokes and making the people laugh, taking comedy class is more about the techniques you need to have for a real exceptional and amusing stand-up comedy.

Comedy Class: Things to think about

Aspiring stand-up comedians should understand that being a pro is a serious business. If you want to pursue it as a career, take a head start by enrolling in a comedy class. Once you are in a good comedy class, make yourself ready as there is a long way to go. It is hard to earn applause and the pay is not as rewarding as the efforts thus make sure that you stay funny to reap the rewards. Know what makes people laugh and remember to take a comedy class so as you will make it big in no time.

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