A Brief History of a Comedy Sketch
I wrote a sketch six years ago originally titled “The Lazy Superhero.” Next month, you can hear an audio play version of it as part of a podcast series. On top of that deliciousness, I had the pleasure of getting a sneak preview of the scene two weeks ago... when I recorded the behind-the-scenes commentary. Yes, it’s true, this podcast has a commentary track for the hard-core fans of the series.
Let’s all stop for ten seconds for a small dance party in celebration. Okay, that’s enough, Frank. Frank always takes things too far.
As you can imagine, most writers don’t see their work come to life too often. Even successful writers have volumes and volumes of unproduced work... is what I keep telling myself. So, I wanted to share a brief history of the sketch for anyone without a Seminar subscription, who thus won’t get to hear the full commentary.
My original idea, like many of my ideas, came from my own personal experiences -- as a lazy superhero. Well, that’s not quite right, as I’m not really lazy, and if I’m being honest, I’m not a superhero.
Back in 2016, I joined a sketch group in L.A. at iO West called “The Cover Up,” which provided the challenge and excitement of continuously generating material for a monthly show. I felt lucky this good-natured, supportive group included me, despite my random crying fits and that one misunderstood stabbing incident.
Much of my comedy inspiration comes from mocking something that bothers me, especially if that something is me. In this case, my job involved a relatively flexible schedule and lots of perks, such as free movies, fresh popcorn, and the occasional interview with a fellow filmmaker. Always on call, the busy season would sometimes bring out frustration for not having complete control over my schedule.
After venting one day, I realized I had no good reason to complain, but what if someone with an important job complained. For example, what if a superhero got tired of saving people and refused the call for help?
After notes from the group, the lazy superhero sketch morphed into a hilarious tale of an angsty teenaged Superman. I slotted the original sketch into the the modern-day drawer we now call “computer folder.”
Flash forward to 2021, when I discovered I could submit to the podcast Seminar, an anthology series that features original stories, as told “through the lens of lessons in a futuristic post-apocalypse.” This time, after a few super helpful notes, this one-joke superhero sketch transformed into a super scene with a much better storyline. I appreciated the collaborative process, and the producers created a high quality, entertaining audio recording.
My nerves gave me quite the pounding before recording the commentary, because I hate talking about myself, but on the other hand, I love talking about myself. These tensions drifted away once the recording started and the Krispy Kremes kicked in. I hope the true fans of the series enjoy hearing all about how a personally-inspired comedy sketch in 2016 became a nano-sized part of sci-fi podcast history in 2022.
Check out any and all of the 103 episodes of the Seminar podcast series since it started in 2007. Then stay tuned for Episode 104, which will feature “Waterman is the Worst.”