The Sketch School
The class I took
I have a couple of things in drafts, but the world's kind of rotten right now, and I haven't been as able to do as much writing as I wanted to this week. It's important to me to keep the cadence of delivering a post weekly on this semi-secret blog/newsletter, so I can build that as a capability. Speaking of building capabilities, I wrote my first* sketch two weekends ago, and it was a solid experience. It was at the Sketch School, run by Marc Warzecha. We used improv and iteration on the scene we improvised to refine game ideas into sketches. It was a simple process, but I think the class was worth it as a good place to get your feet wet.
Before going all in on improv, I spent 20+ years in the business world, and this stuff is in my bones. It informs my approach. When I was getting started in improv, I invited the front-of-house manager at my theatre to get coffee, and he, to his amusement, noted that I had given him my first business lunch. While at first I felt shame, I now see that business lunches are useful. There's a reason they exist. It was a good lunch. I got information, and we built our relationship.
Building capabilities is also very much a business-world thing, but it's helpful for describing a good approach to getting started. While I have a background in writing and I am investing in improv skills, I can take a class to learn how to combine them into something new. Kinda like using the skills you've built over a decade or two in the business world to figure out your place in an artistic community. Look backward to move forward.
*Not really first first, but it's been a while.
