The highlight of The Comedy Lab this week would have to be the fact that “Modern Family,” Executive Producer and recent Emmy Award winner, Dan O’Shannon, stopped by on Sunday afternoon to speak to my students past and present!  If you missed it, I’m sorry… but what I really regret is not having video taped it (although maybe the reason it was so good was that it wasn’t recorded).  I think in the future I’ll attempt audio recordings that I can transcribe and my guests can edit.  Anyway, Dan was awesome!  He was hysterical, informative, self-effacing and answer everybody’s questions.  Among many things worth mentioning were the four things he felt every writer starting out needed: talent (you need to be able to write funny things, etc…), ambition (a willingness to work hard, etc…), an ability to get along with others, and luck.

  I was happy to see several alumni in attendance for Dan’s little chin wag, and I was delighted by the questions asked by (among others) Kenneth Jackson, Gina Nicewonger, Morris Nash, Lisa McFadden Whaley, and Daniel Engel (I know there were others but I just can’t recall them at the moment).  Next time, I promise, I’ll get the keys to the booth so we won’t all be cloistered away in the darkness (metaphorically speaking).

  As most of you know, this was the second of seven weeks worth of classes.  The Talk Show Portfolio class is busy doing more two-liners for their Commentary and Character monologues.  The SNL Sketch Packet class is also doing two monologues, the premise being as if each student hosted SNL as well as each student’s individual hero.  The Sitcom Spec Writing class has begun to outline their specs (which include, if memory serves: three “Parks and Recs,” one “How I Met Your Mother,” one “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia,” and one “Modern Family”).  And the pilot class, having finished the three aspects of their treatments, has moved on to Character Descriptions.

  At 6:30pm yesterday I moved from Studio Two of The iO West Training Center, down the street to the relaxed setting of Caffe Etc (at the corner of Selma and Cahuenga) for 90-minutes of strategizing with Tamra Brown, Sam Rines, Benny Parks, Kenneth Jackson, Stephanie Ancell and Daniel Engel.  Each of them chose one business related thing that they wished to complete by next Sunday, and it will be my job to email each of them on both Tuesday and Friday to remind them of their goals.

  Then came The Comedy Lab Live, in which Joy Regallano did a great job both in the writing of her SNL Sketch Packet, and the inviting of a full audience.  Jade Haviland was nice enough to jump in with a “30 Rock” she’d written (because I had two student cancel).  And as always, The Comedy Lab Players were awesome!  Lindsey, Raf, Sam, Benny, Kelly, and Patty!  The only thing that was missing was my partner in crime, Wendy Wilkins, who was off doing a movie.  BTW, we’ll be holding auditions for The Comedy Lab Players next Saturday, October 8th in Studio Two of The iO West, 6366 Hollywood Blvd, LA, CA 90028.  MMcC 

Every Sunday Evening

Every Sunday evening, from 8:30pm until 10pm my recent former students either have their material performed (in the case of the Talk Show Portfolio class, or the SNL Sketch Packet class), or they have their material read (in the case of the Sitcom Spec Script class, or the TV Pilot Presentation class). Now, even though I’ve taken a break from teaching my four classes until the weekend of September 17th and 18th, that doesn’t mean we won’t still be staging various monologues, sketches and spec scripts on Sunday evenings (with plenty to eat and drink). My co-executive producer of the Comedy Lab Live, Wendy Wilkins, and I have lined up what we think is an amazing batch of folks for the next nine weeks. Here’s the schedule:

Sunday, August 14th
Sitcom Spec Script: Kenneth Jackson’s “Modern Family”
Sitcom Spec Script: Erinn O’Dear’s “The Big Bang Theory”
Sitcom Spec Script: Vivian Matito’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm”

Sunday, August 21st
SNL Sketch Packet: Thomas Mann
Sitcom Spec Script: Lisa McFadden Whaley’s “Mike and Molly”
Sitcom Spec Script: Erik Voss’ “Community”

Sunday, August 28th
SNL Sketch Packet: Kelly Campbell
Sitcom Spec Script: David Stephens’ “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia”
TV Pilot Presentation: Lindsey Stoddard’s “Salem and Agie”

Sunday, September 4th
NO SHOW, LABOR DAY…

Sunday, September 11th
SNL Sketch Packet: Patty Guggenheim
Sitcom Spec Script: Morris Nash’s “Community”
Sitcom Spec Script: Annie O’Rourke’s “Modern Family”

Sunday, September 18th
SNL Sketch Packet: Mark Primiano
Sitcom Spec Script: John Cruz’s “East Bound and Down”
Sitcom Spec Script: Gina Nicewonger’s “Modern Family”

Sunday, September 25th
SNL Sketch Packet: Joy Regullano
TV Pilot Presentation: Geetika Lizardi
TV Pilot Presentation: Kara Lee Burk

Sunday, October 2nd
SNL Sketch Packet: Daniel Engel
TV Pilot Presentation: Elysa Koplovir
TV Pilot Presentation:

Sunday, October 9th
TV Pilot Presentation (one hour): Joshua David Gray, Eve Hars

Keep both those people and their projects in mind, and stop by! The more the merrier! Plus, we are always interested in what you think and how a given piece can be improved. Better you make suggestions than a William Morris Endeavor agent.

by Michael McCarthy
The Comedy Lab
Executive Producer

So, suddenly everybody seems to be teaching a class in something, whether they’ve actually (professionally) done that thing or not.  I’d be a tad leery if I were you, young seekers!  Who are these magical people who have suddenly been imbued with this special knowledge that allows them to teach things that they themselves haven’t done?  I’ll tell you who they are:  Charlatans!  Nar-do-wells!  Hipster Douche Bags!

At the risk of seeming immodest, there’s a couple of things I’d like you to know about the curriculum I’ve created, called The Comedy Lab—as well as my odd TV writing career.  I’ve been teaching this stuff for almost twenty years.  AND I’ve been doing it for almost thirty.  In 1983, at the age of 24, I was hired to write for “Saturday Night Live”; in 1992, I started the writing program at The Second City in Chicago, while still a member of the mainstage cast of that venerable institution.  And there’s other stuff:  worked for Channel Four in London, created a comedy festival in Ireland, got a DUI in Chico…

Here’s the thing about the four, seven-week courses I teach—whether it’s the Talk Show Portfolio class, or the SNL Sketch Packet class, or the Sitcom Spec class, or even the TV Pilot Presentation class… you leave with something you can REALLY use!  The curriculum revolves around the actual creation of script samples that producers, agents and network executives will REALLY read.  It is not hypothetical misinformation delivered by well-intentioned, often misinformed novices without credits or representation, who scanned John Vorhaus’ “The Comedy Toolbox,” 20-minutes before class.

Also, along with my partner in crime, Wendy Wilkins, The Comedy Lab has a kind of buyer protection plan for its alumni, balancing the concepts of “art” and “commerce.” Every Sunday from 6:30-8pm, in conjunction with Caffe ETC,  we hold what’s called The Salon (which is all about the business—building relationships, finding an agent, getting a job, etc…); and, every Sunday, from 8:30-10pm, we stage both readings and performances of Comedy Lab students’ work!  These readings and performances are staged before a live audience at The iO West, in The Del Close Theater.  We even have an amazing ensemble of actors standing by to help!

So, before some of you give your parents credit card number to just anyone, consider The Comedy Lab!  With its proud list of alumni (everyone from Jon Favreau to Tina Fey); with its highly personal classroom instruction (I’m the program’s only teacher); and with its evolved buyer protection plan (focus on agents and jobs), it’s the best deal in town!

Michael C. McCarthy

Pam Thomas (center) with several members of Michael McCarthy’s Comedy Lab, after her little chin wag with regards to getting literary representation, as well as developing better TV pilot presentations.

  This weekend will begin another session of The Comedy Lab with my TALK SHOW PORTFOLIO class beginning on Saturday, April 16th at 11:30am in Studio Two of The iO West Theater, 6366 Hollywood Blvd.  And then from 3-6:30pm will be my SNL SKETCH PACKET class; and the following day, Sunday, April 17th at 11:30am will be my SITCOM SPEC class, followed at 3pm by my TV Pilot class.  Four classes, evenly spaced through the course of the weekend.  And students are more than welcome to take them in whatever order they chose, but there is a little bit of an order and design.

  I arranged the classes in the ideal sequence of Talk Show, SNL, Sitcom, Pilot—in order that it somewhat resemble the writing careers of most of the writers on the 1950’s pioneer television comedy, Sid Caesar’s “Your Show Of Shows.”  Most of those guys began by writing straight ahead monologues (or variations thereof), either writing for the many reviews that were opening on Broadway at the time, or on radio.  Then, as the show got more and more popular, their sketches got longer and more intricate and started to embrace the intrinsic qualities of television itself.  

  After the series ended, a couple of the writers (most notably Neil Simon) created a sitcom called “Sergeant Bilco,” starring Phil Silvers, and later (most notably Carl Reiner) created “The Dick Van Dyke Show.”  So essencially these pioneers of television comedy grew into the medium.  They started out small with monologue jokes and writing for a cast of one; and then they grew organically into sketch writing, which changed again through the eight year run of Sid Caesar’s shows; and then they grew organically into creating and maintaining various early situation comedies.

  So, when I went about creating the curriculum for The Comedy Lab (along with my guide being ‘What do I wish somebody had told me when I moved out to Los Angeles from Second City in Chicago?’), I allowed it to be informed by the journey these pioneers had taken.  Make sense?  With the TALK SHOW PORTFOLIO class, we begin with monologue jokes based upon the front page of The LA Times; two-liners we call them… the first line informs, and the second line points out the irony.  Then we move on to the nuts and bolts of a Talk Show submission: a page of desk piece pitches, a page of remote idea-pitches, and finally a catchall page that includes idea-pitches that incorporate the show’s guests, the audience, the staff and/or crew, and finally the band.  And then, if the student is up for it, I make it available to each student to actually perform his or her material in front of a live audience (believing that’s the final test, the final arbiter of whether it works or not, is a live audience).

  Next, there is the SNL SKETCH PACKET, which includes between seven-to-eleven sketches (depending upon how many the student chooses to complete) incorporating the current cast, and the current vibe of the show, written (and rewritten) in the format of the show; and, upon completion, suitable for submission either to the show itself, or to a prospective agent.  The best four of these sketches are then chosen to be presented in The Comedy Lab Live, on Sunday nights at The iO West Theater, specifically The Del Close Theater in the back.  That show occurs every Sunday night from 8:30-10pm and includes refreshments.  Stop by!

  With the student gaining proficiency and confidence in both monologue and sketch writing, he or she is ready to attack the gold standard (especially in terms of seeking literary representation in Los Angeles), a good sitcom spec.  Like the Sid Caesar writers, he or she has grown into an appreciation for the structure that goes into a good sitcom spec (the keyword being “good”).  So, with the SITCOM SPEC SCRIPT class, we begin with choosing a show to spec, pitching six very involved ideas, picking one, creating an outline, writing a first draft, and a second draft and then presenting a reading of that second draft live on stage on Sunday night in The Comedy Lab Live!

  And last but not least, again modeled after the likes of Neil Simon, Woody Allen, Larry Gelbart, Carl Reiner, etc… (some of the writers associated with Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows,” and later “Sid’s Hour”), comes my final class, TV PILOT PRESENTATIONS and how to create an affective Treatment (logline, paragraph, page description of the show the student wishes to present), Character Descriptions, Episode Scenarios, 2-minute promo, and pilot script!

  And that’s it.  That’s the blueprint or outline for all 28-weeks of The Comedy Lab, starting with writing for a talk show, then SNL, then sitcoms and finally pilots.  And it all begins this weekend, Saturday, April 16th at The iO West.  If you’re interested in joining us either for this session or some future one you can either go to The iO West’s website: http://west.ioimprov.com/ or call (323) 962-7560.  Thank you so much…

  A question I try to remember to ask, at the beginning of any class I’m teaching is, “How many people have too much time, and not enough ideas?” And oddly, the answer is always the same: nobody.  I’m sure somewhere, somebody has a lot of time, and can’t think of what to write (prisoners, the makers of pagers, the former staff of “Two And A Half Men”), but for the most part, the rest of us have too many good ideas, and not enough logistically umph to “make the abstract concrete,” as Del Close used to say.

  Here’s a possible solution (and I hesitate to make any declarative statement with regards to anything creative… or anything really).  Try to develop a daily discipline. Give your emerging creative process at least the respect that you would, say, working out; and, even though I’m barely qualified to talk about such things, I think they’re somewhat analogous.  For instance, you wouldn’t jump right into working out for three straight hours, would you?  No…  Never mind the fact that there’s something wrong if you have three whole hours a day to work out a day anyway.  You would have to grow into that routine—you would have to build toward it.  You’d start by warming up, and then maybe go for 15-minutes, then 20, etc… You’d start out with a short burst, and then you would stop.  Same thing with writing.  I recommend that you begin by writing for only 15-minutes a day and fucking stopping at the 15-minute mark.  This technique is NOT to get the juices flowing—but instead it’s a way of setting up a kind of interior dialogue with your creative center, that you will: a. Focus with white heat on the writing task at hand; and b. You will stop at the preordained time.

  After a week of writing for just 15-minutes a day, up the ante to 25-minutes a day; the length of time it takes you to make and drink a cup of coffee.  This is an especially good technique for those who drink coffee.  Here’s what I suggest in the second week… that you leave a notebook in your kitchen, and, in the morning when you wake up and you troll into your kitchen to make your cup of Joe—that you enhance the whole waiting game by starting to write, and that you continue said process as you sip. Before you know it, you’ll have focused for 25-minutes with white heat on the task at hand, and then as you did in the week prior, you STOP writing.  And with a new relationship of trust beginning to develop between you and your subconscious (i.e. creative center), you sally forth into the next week! 

  In the third week, as you have begun to settle into a daily discipline (15-minutes, then 25-minutes), my next suggestion is that you make a bit of a leap to reading for a half-hour, then writing for 45-minutes and then stopping.  That’s right.  Begin by reading; and I would recommend a book that has nothing to do with what you’re attempting to write (that this not be research, but enjoyable).  In fact, why not pick a book that you’ve been meaning to read… or just pick one randomly off the New York Times’ Best Sellers list.  The more enjoyable book you’ve chosen becomes, the easier to trick yourself into writing each day.  

  By reading for a half-hour and writing for 45-minutes a day, over the course of a week, you’ll begin to make a big ass dent in what you’re attempting to write.  Think about it: 45-minutes a day!  45 minutes a day X 6 days a week = 270-minutes a week (or four-and-a-half hours).  Bang!  You’re a writer.  The fact that you may not have been paid yet is pure semantics!

  Some of this theory came out of my misinterpretation of transactional analysis—that the conscious mind is composed of three elements: the parent, the child and the adult. The parent aspect being that part of us that worries about deadlines and arranges for the left-brain completion of a given task.  And the child aspect being that part of oru brain that likes to play and create unencumbered by clocks and budgetary restrictions, etc…  And the adult is the bringing together of those two diametrically desires.  What the daily discipline (with its built in stopping point) does is to kind of make a deal with the child aspect (the idea source).  The user of this technique is in essence saying, “if you help me with this project then I will stop at this pre-ordained time, and will go play.”  And my advice is, and not too sound too California touchie-feelie, if you tell you “child” that you’re going to go play when you’ve finished your task, then you better go play.  

  Probably the most fundamental principal behind the curriculum I’ve created is—what do I wish someone had told me, when I arrived in Los Angeles back in 1893?  Why I must have spent over a hundred years trying to figure out how things worked out here. I had several dysfunctional models from which to compare and contrast, which really didn’t seem to match: family, college, Second City, SNL… but none of those seemed to match the unique strain of Los Angeles dysfunction.

  The answer began with: a. Me pulling my head out of my ass; b. Me beginning to side-step my tendency to blame others (and sure it’s fun, but not that productive); c. Me attempting to distance myself for my hobby of self-pity… and d. Me getting my hands dirty with self promotion. Meaning, incorporating into my daily routine, the messy business of strategy, i.e. getting in touch with the little Roy Cohn inside me. Upon further analysis, and for my student’s benefit, I’ve broken it down into two three-ring binders (and doesn’t the left-brain simply love something that can be three-hole punched and placed inside a binder).  The first binder we label “Art,” (and it contains every single thing the student writes… every two-liner based on the front page of the LA Times, every pitch, every cold opening… everything); the second binder is label “Commerce,” and deals with “da business.”  Items contained within the latter’s plastic covers might include: the list of agents and agencies taken from the WGA website, a growing contract list, an always-evolving generic letter to an agent, etc…

  And as my four classes gear up for the seventh and final week (next Saturday for the Talk Show Portfolio and SNL Sketch Packet guys… and next Sunday for the Sitcom Spec and Pilot guys), our focus turns from the art of writing a given thing to… to the commerce of selling a given thing (or, at least getting somebody to read it).  

  Across the board, that’s what Week Six is… selling!  How do I turn an avocation into a vocation?  And how much trouble would I be in, if I pretended to know?  But here’s what I suspect—four words, in two sets of two: 1)  Clever and brave; 2) Relationship and precedence.  CLEVER, create a plan of some kind… if you’re having trouble, maybe sit in on the Salon some Sunday (6:30-8pm on Sundays at Caffe ETC, on the corner of Selma and Cahuenga).  BRAVE, once you’ve hatched something… grow the balls to actually do it.  I think the general concept of being CLEVER and BRAVE, falls under the category of “simple, but hard.”

  The other two words, RELATIONSHIP and PRECEDENT, are a tad more complicated. It’s been my experience that one of the worst things you can do out here in Hollywood is embarrassed somebody who trusted you.  It’s not impossible to recover from this scenario, but it does take time.  I’ve done it several times.  And whether you’re a casting director, or an agent, or a friend on staff, etc… the way you hedge your bets with regards to the Hollywood Darwinian process is RELATIONSHIP and PRECEDENT. How well do I know this schmuck?  And what has said schmuck done that can both reassure me that I’m making the right decision and, if things go south, what might I appeal to as a defense… and I’m talking about credits.  How well do I know this person?  And what has this person done?

  So, for those just starting out, your job (beyond the Maslow hierachy of needs) is to meet more people and do more stuff.  The way we attempt this in The Comedy Lab is by staging both readings and performances of students works.  The Talk Show Portfolio and SNL Sketch Packets tend to be performed; while the Sitcom Spec Scripts and TV Pilots are read.  On any give Sunday, from 8:30-10pm, in The Del Close Theater, located behind The iO West Theater at 6366 Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood, CA 90028 we’ll presenting some combination of Talk, Sketch, Sitcom, Pilot… and we take seriously the audiences reaction… because another fundamental principal behind The Comedy Lab is… there’s no better judge than a live audience.  Until next Monday… 

NOTE:  It’s 4:00am on Wednesday, February 9th and I’m about to leave Chicago and fly back to Los Angeles, having just flown into town to attend, and speak, at the Memorial Service of a woman who, except for my own parents, meant more to me than anyone else: Joyce Sloane.  Because some of you have asked (okay, one person), here is a copy of the speech I blubbered my way through, all of twelve hours ago.

  First off, Cheryl and Sasha, I am so sorry for your loss… and to the 2500 members of your immediate family—and those are just first cousins—you have my deepest, most heartfelt sympathies as well.

  I am extremely honored to be here… to have been asked to speak at Joyce’s Memorial Service is something I will never forget, and to be on the “bill,” so to speak, with THESE people, all of whom are my heroes, makes me suspect that there’s been a mistake.

  And as eloquent as these people are, and they really are, I don’t think any of them, myself included, could hope to match the breathtaking eloquence that’s already occurred on both Joyce and Cheryl’s Facebook pages.  I defy you to read a dozen of those entries without blubbering like Gweneth Paltrow (or me), and that’s whether you knew Joyce or not!

  There’s a book, fuckers!  Simply print out what has already been written about Joyce by the people who felt moved to say something—deftly written, knee-buckling eloquence to beat the band!  And as you read these snippets, take note of the range of personalities that felt so moved to say something.  It’s an extremely ecumenical group, to say the least.  And, in a way, those blurbs on Facebook are a portrait of who this woman really was… each one, sort of a sonar reading of the beautiful topography of this beautiful woman’s soul.

  I first met Joyce on January 3rd, 1981, when I arrived at Second City to begin my internship, while still attending Ohio University.  Cheryl certainly helped with that, but I think Joyce herself was simply amused by the fact that a hayseed from Ohio even knew about Second City, let alone wanted to work here.

  It was an amazing time in this institutions history.  Evidence of “The Blues Brothers” film shoot was still around… Del was still directing and teaching… and the magical alchemy of Bernie, Fred and, when he could, Sheldon—were constantly reinventing the work.  And all watched over by the only real adult who ever worked at Second City, Joyce Sloane!  And I got them all coffee!

  I remember part of my internship was that I was allowed to sit in on Del’s classes, and in the very first class that I attended, he had everyone warm up with a good ole fashion Latin Devil chant of some kind.  NOT an invocation… are we clear?  But a Latin Devil chant.  Got it?

  So I completely flip out—I’m all of 20, I think—and I run into Joyce’s office shaking, and Joyce looks up from behind her desk, adjusts her glasses like she used to do, and says one of the most profound things I’ve ever been told: “Oh Michael… Del’s like a film festival… 90-percent of him’s bullshit, but 10-percent’s really good!”  And then she added, “Look at Chunky (her dog), he thinks he’s a human being.”

  CUT TO, October of 1988 and I’m touring, and we’re in Chico, California and it was Tim Meadows, Greg Hollimon, I think Jane Lynch, Jill was in ETC by then… anyway, I get a DUI, in fucking Chico, California!  And, I think Tim Kazurinsky may have talked about this at the funeral, but I’m sitting in a drunk tank (and by the way, a place I deserved to be sitting… I hold no ill will toward the California Highway Patrol), and I get one phone call and I call Joyce.  I didn’t even think to call anyone else.  I called Joyce.  And in less than an hour, like some sort of Jewish ninja, some distant lawyer cousin of Joyce’s was there bailing me out.  Hi-ya!

  Lastly, probably the way Joyce had the biggest impact on my life, was that she wouldn’t tolerate cheap shit on her stage!  Anything that even slightly smacked of racism, misogyny, or homophobia—intolerance on any level was severely and immediately squashed.  Now, I would never consider doing anything that was even remotely racist.  It wouldn’t enter my imagination.  It’s not how I was raised… but misogyny and homophobia is where I lived!  I’m from Ohio! THAT’S comedy!  Joyce changed that by simply not having any patience for it.  And she would sit on the bench over there and watch me.  And my eyesight is such that I can’t see into the audience. So, a survival skill that I had to adopt was that I had to always assume she was over there, sitting on the bench; and it forced me to work at the height of my intelligence.

  And that’s where she will remain from now on; just out of eyesight, forcing me to work at the height of my intelligence.  I love you, Joyce.

xxx

  One thing that I’ve always loved about the spirit of both The iO West and The iO Chicago is how accessible all the stages are to students.  There is a profound lack of mishigas (one of my favorite Yiddish words for “craziness”), when it comes to testing things out on stage; and I’m proud to say, Sunday night, The Comedy Lab Live (in The Del Close Theater, round back) displayed that ‘Viking Swimming Lesson’ type spirit!  Students from my Talk Show Portfolio class (Eric Wielochowski, Eddie Zareh, Michael Kadish, Benny Parks, and Sara Berard) leaped on stage and each presented their five best two-liners! And they killed!  After a 90-second intermission, the students from my SNL Sketch Packet class (Matt Sweeney, Lyric D. Lewis, Katie Fimple, Eddie Zareh, and Dan Torson) presented an extended Weekend Update, that was every bit as funny as what was presented on Saturday Night Live the night before (although I don’t know if that’s saying much).

  Prior to The Comedy Lab Live, we had our Salon at Caffe ETC down the street (actually down the street… take a right… no, don’t cross Cahuenga, you’ve gone too far… wait for the light to change, cross back… there!) at 6371 Selma Avenue, 90028—which had an amazing turn out of almost 20 people, each declaring one business-related thing a piece that they’ve each vowed to accomplish over the course of this week.  My job will be to remind each of them via email on Tuesday and Friday of what they need to accomplish.  If they fail, there will be consequences: 30 push-ups in front of the Men’s Room!

  This was the fourth week out of seven for all four of my classes: Talk Show Portfolio, Saturday 11:30-3pm; SNL Sketch Packet, Saturday 3-6:30pm; Sitcom Spec Script, Sunday 11:30-3pm; and TV Pilot Presentation, Sunday 3-6:30pm… and the quality of the work is really high this session.  The Sitcom Class has slugged through their outlines and will be attempting their first acts this week.  I have three people doing a spec for “How I Met Your Mother,” as well as three other people doing “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia,” and still three more doing a spec for “Modern Family.”  There’s also a “United States of Tara,” “Raising Hope,” and even a “Mike and Molly.”  Look for each of these guys to stage their readings in March or April.  And my TV Pilot Presentation class, having completed their treatments, character descriptions and episode scenarios are attempting their 2-minute promos this week.  I am blessed to have a really talented group of students attempting some really good pilot scripts.  I hope to have a couple of them shoot their promos, so that I might share them in this blog.

  So, anyway, it was a great fourth class from my perspective!  And I have plans in the works to bring in a couple of kick ass speakers including Molly McNearney (head writer for “Jimmy Kimmel Live”), Christine Zander (Co-Executive producer of “Raising Hope”) and Jill Soloway (among others, Co-Executive Producer from “Six Feet Under”).  In the not-to-distant future Jon Favreau has said he’d stop by to talk, which will be awesome!  And I’ll keep all of you posted.

  Until next week, illegitimi non carborunoum… don’t let the bastards grind you down.  I remain your servant, Michael McCarthy.

Michael McCarthy has been a staff writer for “Saturday Night Live,” “Sesame Street,” “The Drew Carey Show,” and most recently “Mike and Molly.”  He’s also an alumni of The Second City Mainstage in Chicago, having done a total of five separate shows (oddly titled affairs with names like “America Lite,” “Economy of Errors,” and “Winner Takes Oil”).  He has also created a kick-ass curriculum for anybody interested in writing for television which he calls, The Comedy Lab.  It’s a 28-week course, divided into four seven-week classes: Talk Show Portfolio, SNL Sketch Packet, Sitcom Spec Script, and TV Pilot Presentation.  It has been his honor to teach the likes of Jon Favreau, Tina Fay, Matt Kuhn, Travis Bowe, and current SNL featured player, Vanessa Bayer (as well as many, many more).  And now, he wants to try his hand at a weekly blog, based on the most recent happenings,  of his Comedy Lab!  Enjoy…