I found it! As I mentioned yesterday when I posted "Hal's Recycled Tree Lot," that skit was a brother to this sketch. This was a skit from my college days. I forget the reason we wrote it, I don't recall having a venue for it. We often wrote things for the heck of it back then. It was good practice for spending the rest of my life writing things for no reason. But the big tradition in the Northeast is swimming pool dealerships which would start selling Christmas items in the off-season. They were the original places that sold the big over-sized house decorations long before every store carried inflatable lawn displays. So, we thought it would be funny to watch one guy buck the trend. I found this version of the skit re-formatted for submission to the Prairie Home Companion show. It has a very SCTV vibe to it which would slide off into Python absurdity. It's a fun, short bit. This edition of Skit Happens is brought to you by "Lost Claus" the snappy comedy mystery! Leaping Yule Logs, Santa's missing! And only one man can find him, Nick Flebber, PI. Get your copy today at Amazon!
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Here's an old bit, written for radio, then recycled (how apt) for multiple venues afterward. This is kind of a sequel to a much older sketch which I co-wrote with a friend (which I'm looking for). I never sent that one out without his permission, so when he dropped out of sight, I decided to come up with a new bit, solo. Remember when recycling was a thing? Here we try to take it to new extremes, because that's what comedy is about, extremes. This edition of Skit Happens is brought to you by "Lost Claus" the snappy comedy mystery! Leaping Yule Logs, Santa's missing! And only one man can find him, Nick Flebber, PI. Get your copy today at Amazon!
I've posted this and lamented about this bit before...
While I was attempting to mock the "War on Christmas" as if some smug atheist was gloating about his lawsuits making headway. The news always seems to focus on the few people out there who go out of their way to cheer on the banning of ANY religious aspect to the celebration of the BIRTH OF CHRIST. Like, just in the recent news, banning candy canes from school because the principle thinks candy canes are the letter "J" for Jesus instead of candy in the shape of a CANE. Anyway, it got rewritten...
This edition of Sketchy Tales is brought to you by "Lost Claus" the snappy comedy mystery! Leaping Yule Logs, Santa's missing! And only one man can find him, Nick Flebber, PI. Get your copy today at Amazon!
Secular Christmastime
Well here's a bit I wrote a couple of years ago, but probably wouldn't get done today. Those high-wire kung-fu pictures were all the rage. I had played with the idea for Halloween and when that didn't fly, I re-worked it for Christmas. I'm guessing they didn't have any Asians on staff, so those accents are pretty non-PC. But that was then and as we all know, comedy is only funny when it reinforces your political agenda...
We present this comedy to remind you that my Christmas Comedy Caper, Lost Claus is available over at Amazon. So buy your copy today and avoid the holiday rush!
2001: there was a recession coming that nobody wanted to admit was happening. Post-9/11, businesses had closed, effected directly or not. There was talk of government bail-outs. Economically, it was the beginning of dicey times. And who would not adjust well to economic hard times? Charlie Brown, of course! I mentioned this skit in passing when I posted a Prairie Home Companion bit which reminded me to post the original skit my line was lifted from. Anyway, I liked the way it turned out. I even inserted it into my "Christmas Carol" script. I've tried to rework it for stage and whatnot, but it never gets picked. Sigh.
We present this comedy to remind you that my Christmas Comedy Caper, Lost Claus is available over at Amazon. So buy your copy today and avoid the holiday rush!
A Charlie Brown Mid-Life ChristmasSketchy Tales: Christmas Edition - The Grinch: If I Stole Christmas Here's How It Happened12/14/2018
Looking back on my material, I didn't do a lot of O.J. bits back when the trials were going on. Lord knows everyone else was. This was before the internet so stuff like that was left to the pros. Also, that earlier on, (for the same reason) there wasn't a real pressing need for me to do topical humor. Later, as the trial faded from memory, OJ wrote a book. And I had an outlet. And the holidays were coming up, so, I did an OJ bit, kinda...
If you liked this bit, you'll love my book, Lost Claus, the story of a tough PI and an elf who have to save Christmas. It's over at Amazon. Buy a copy today! Yule be glad you did!
Man, did I beat this bit into the ground! It was a prose piece originally, which made sense, as I was parodying letters. I got that printed in the Staten Island Advance. Also The Big Jewel ran a version of it. Then I decided to re-do it as a radio bit for PHC and they went for it. Few liberties were taken and the voice work was A-1. The ending was altered a bit, as endings usually were to sent up the next segment better, or because PHC bits often didn't end on "jokes."
We present this comedy to remind you that my Christmas Comedy Caper,Lost Claus is available over at Amazon. So buy your copy today and avoid the holiday rush!
Yikes, Virginia! The Further Correspondence of Virginia O’Hanlon & Mr. Francis ChurchSong parodies are tough sells; on one hand, they are perfect for radio content, short and sweet. On the other hand, if you can't get them on the radio, there's very little chance it'll go elsewhere. Comedy troupes don't really do song parodies (at least that's what they started telling me). And I don't play an instrument or sing well, so doing it myself wasn't an option. Also, I have no friends, so I can't get them to do it. So, I'll put them here! "Polar Vortex" was written for one group, hence the lead-in to the song. It was the first winter they started talking about weather conditions being created by the Polar Vortex over the Arctic. And a lot of people were denying it existed and was a "made-up" term. "Coal" was written back in my ACN days because they were always open to a decent song parody and they loved holiday content. And "Only the Good Die Young" kinda merged nicely with the "Yes, Virginia" story. Also, it was easy to write holiday stuff well ahead of time to submit. We present this comedy to remind you that my Christmas Comedy Caper, Lost Claus is available over at Amazon. So buy your copy today and avoid the holiday rush! The Polar Vortex Only The Bad Get CoalYou fall into some ruts writing comedy. Like, for example, trying to figure out how many different plays on the work "Claus" you can come up with. Or, how many times can you mock the Kardashians? Or what if you can combine the two during the holidays? So, attempting to put a twist on a trope, that popped up out of a funny title, threw in some jokes that had been knocking around in my head that had no home and this happened. This was written for ACN and their short-form sketch format. It is what it is and there's was no real reason to attempt to expand it. This edition of Skit Happens is brought to you by "Lost Claus" the snappy comedy mystery! Leaping Yule Logs, Santa's missing! And only one man can find him, Nick Flebber, PI. Get your copy today at Amazon! The Claudashians
As American Comedy wound down, I was starting to download audio files of all my produced bits they did. And I found this one late in the game. I'm sure I've mention it before on the blog, but it was the first piece they bought from me. What a hoot, right? It got a massive rewrite, however. The song was lifted from a script I had written, a family comedy about a Christmas pageant and I wanted a bit where the kids would write a Christmas song. I had the song kicking around, based on "Do you know the way to San Jose." And it was more like "Do you know the ways of Santa Claus" about gift giving. So, still, it was a beginning.
ETA: Hey, I found a version of it in my script of "Christmas Carol." It's included now! Compare and contrast!
Sketchy Tales is brought to you by "Lost Claus" the Christmas Comedy Caper that's more fun than a barrel full of elves! Get you copy today at Amazon.com!
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Dan FiorellaFreelance writer, still hacking away. Archives
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