The Sketch That Landed

I had a pretty good day on Thursday. I had an all right Toastmasters meeting, during which I learned that I got a callback for an audition. Later in the day, I had an interview for something else that could prove very interesting if it comes to fruition. After that, I had a very successful run with that Hashtag Wars thing I described the other day. The day effectively concluded with word that I'd gotten a sketch into the news-based sketch show I've been submitting two line jokes to for so long. I couldn't sleep for hours after that, but that's beside the point.

Most weeks I've gotten two line jokes into the Top Story Weekly show. There's some reward to if if a joke is very well received, or if I get a lot of them in there. My personal bests are five jokes total and a joke that killed so well that the woman delivering it could scarcely get it out through her laughter. There's a bad side to those jokes. There's much uncertainty about getting them in there and having them stick. They're over all too quickly, and the memory of them fades quickly.


A sketch is something else. It's also over fast, but not as fast: it can last several minutes instead of fifteen seconds. It's also a more sure thing that it's going to be in there for the show. It's true enough that you are turning it over for some other person to rewrite it, and for actors to alter it themselves with improvisations, but it's a better payoff than the two liners (even considering how much more work one sketch is than one two liner). That's because, I think, while the two liners can get great laughs, they just don't stick in the mind the same way.

We shall just see how this sketch goes. I am not ever certain that I can attend, the show being on Super Bowl Sunday maybe a couple hours after the game. I want to be, because a video just can't convey the way the room took the joke the same way. You have to be there. I hope that the sketch goes very well, and I hope that I get the chance to do more sketches. I remain a believer that merit can overcome the less fair contributors to success.