Are you still seeking sketches for the show?

I've been busy with our short film recently, but am taking the time out to ask about the show?

I have lots of material written

Yes, they said they want material for their September show.

Ok. So who do we send the sketches to? i.e. email?

Contact details are in the original post.

Dan

One of mine was featured (fairly early on about naming an impending huricane). It came and went without much of a reception, but it was very useful to see it being performed.

It was a damn good night. It was interesting to note the sketches which worked the best (in my opinion). There was a couple with an intimidating mechanic and another series about an MI5 operative which really stood out. The actors really brought the sketch to life. Not sure I would have pegged them as winners from just reading them.

Look forward to the next one.

Hi greensville, I recall your sketch - thought it went down well enough. Mine was the one about guests who wouldn't leave, which again was on early. It was good to get it out of the way so I could enjoy the show.

I agree the mechanic (by our own James Harris) and the MI5 operative were the big hits on the night - possibly the chemistry between Renton and Nick carried over from one to the other. The seance sketch also went down very well, which was interesting as it is not the most original setting.

I remember your sketch Timbo. That was great! The performances were spot on for your one.

How many re-writes did they ask for? I got 2.

I think if I submit more I'll have a lot of stuff to bear in mind. Most of the sketches I write I imagine myself performing them! Which probably isn't helping matters.

Only the one rewrite - but they gave me a lot of notes! I learnt a lot just from working out why they wanted changes. It has made me rethink my approach to sketch writing a bit, certainly for the stage.

I did two rewrites. I had originally performed the sketch in Edinburgh in '07 (in fact our show was called "Why I Hate Mechanics" with that sketch as the centrepiece), so it was written with "liveness" in mind, but the rewrites kind of changed the whole sketch. Wish I'd seen it!

Anyone wants a copy of the script, just PM me (including your email address)...

Greensville - I enjoyed the hurricane one - well done for getting in. It probably didn't help being on so early though - quite a rowdy crowd by the end weren't they?

James your sketches went down very well. Shame you didn't get to see them especially as you could have compared with the originals. All of the cast were excellent. The guy from Reggie Perrin played the customer in your scenes and I don't know the other chap but he was perfect as the mechanic (and later as the MI5 man).

I recommend submitting scrips and going along to the next show although I think it will be a different venue.

JP

Damn you and your Mechanic sketches, James. I'm incredibly jealous. They were brilliant. Dan Skinner's and Nick Mohammed's performances in them were spot-on. Argh, I've got to work harder.

Greensville, we didn't meet at the rehearsal or at the performance did we? I was certain that Hurricane sketch was written by a member of the (for want of a better term) comedy mafia.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for the audience) my sketches were cut for time at the last moment; though they might be in the next show.

Oh, and all the actors seemed like very nice people, which is always a plus.

P.S. Hopefully the post-rehearsal conversation with me and the other comedy writers didn't put you off comedy writing too much Timbo.

Three sketches sent off today.

Hello all,

Thanks for your feedback on the first Works show, it's all very much appreciated. We're now full steam ahead with the next one.

We're in the midst of finalising a deal at the moment, but the next show will definitely take place in the second week of September. Most likely, it's going to be at Madame JoJo's again, on Friday the 11th.

I know some people had concerns about the venue, but it's very unlikely that we're going to be able to find another central London venue that will let us have the run of the place on a Friday night, and I think we'll lose momentum if we move to a Sunday or a weekday night. It probably wasn't made clear at the time, but we had to clear the venue by 10pm as they have a club night that starts at 10.30 on a Friday. If we do the show there again, we'll make sure that we've hired a room in another bar or pub nearby for 10pm so that we've all got somewhere to go afterwards.

So the deadline for first drafts of sketches will be Friday 21st August, after which we'll have a read-through of the selected material with the cast, then come back to the writers with any notes. This gives you a week or two to do the rewrites before we get into rehearsals.

A lot of you said that it was useful to come along to the rehearsals, and that's something that we'd definitely like to arrange again. I'll let you know more once we have some rehearsal dates booked in. We'll also put a programme online for the next show rather than just a list of writers, so you can see who wrote each sketch.

So, based on the last show, here's a slightly more detailed writers brief for the September show:

- We didn't include any particularly topical material in the first show, and while we're not ruling it out altogether, I think we should try and avoid sketches that rely on stereotypical views of public figures for their laughs. No-one in the cast is an impressionist, and sketches that have to explain who it is that they're parodying ("what are you doing here, prime minister?") don't really work.
- We included two three—part runners in the first show - they really helped to hold the night together, and got some of the biggest laughs of the whole thing. We'd definitely like some more of those, please.
- Equally, the sketches that we split into two parts worked very well. We'd definitely rather have more of those than sketches that have to be drastically cut due to length.
- Three minutes is a very long time on stage, and although we trimmed down all of the sketches some of them still felt quite long. Please bear in mind length while you're writing. The majority of the sketches that worked best came in at around the 1.30 – 2 min mark.
- More female roles, please! There was a huge bias in the writing towards the boys, which was unnecessary - If you're writing characters that are gender-blind, don't assume that they have to be written as male. It would be nice to see some more all-female sketches too. The girls in the cast are all amazing performers – use them!
- When you're submitting sketches, please don't send everything you've ever written! Your three or four most suitable pieces will do nicely.
- Try to avoid sketches that crucially rely on a sound effect or a costume. Our budget is tiny, and sound effects and music cues will never be as good as they could be on TV – please bear in mind the limitations of the stage. That's not to say we don't want to use effects, but if your punchline relies on an effect being really good… you might be disappointed!

I think that's everything. That deadline again...

FRIDAY 21st AUGUST

... if you could let us have your new sketches by then, that'd be terrific. We'll be in touch by the 24th to let you know if any of your material has been shortlisted for the show.

All the best!

Isabel & The Works Team

And the email address for submissions hasn't changed - it's still theworksscripts@googlemail.com

Isabel x

Damn, I mostly sent topical or semi-topical last time.

I have a few new generic sketches up my sleeve, so I'll write and submit them.