Category: Skit Happens - Dan Fiorella: Writer @ large

Dan Fiorella

Skit Happens: Thanksgiving Edition - Debbie’s Free-Range Accidentally-Killed Turkey Farm

11/18/2018

This bit goes back to PHC days, where it was rejected. It's kicked around a while and a couple of years ago I rewrote it for TMI: Hollywood, where it was also rejected. It was a shorter bit for radio, but I padded out a little bit to make it more stage-worthy. It's not really topical at all, and I certainly could keep sending it out. But's it's been through the wringer. Man, I just remembered that a bunch of these bits were submitted to some Texas comedy troupe. A goodly bunch. For naught. So, for sanity's sake, let's just post it here and be done with it. Happy Thanksgiving!

But it is Thanksgiving time, and autumn is here, which means falling leaves, a nip in the air and UFOs... Yes, we're here to plug my Nick Flebber mystery, Space Case, a X-citing investigation for all you X-philes out there. Available over at Amazon!

Debbie’s Free-Range Accidentally-Killed Turkey Farm

Skit Happens: Thanksgiving Edition - House of Stuffing

11/17/2018

Back in 2001, we were looking at the first post 9/11 Thanksgiving. So naturally, I started to roll out my silly side. The "Inappropriate" Store has been a grand source of comedy for me, heavily influenced by Monty Python with these, like the Parrot Sketch or the Cheese shop. As mentioned elsewhere on this blog, my first sketch of any merit was "The Pet Rock;" that was my pet store sketch. I've done plant shop, a travel agent and a cheese store (which I even repurposed for movie script) and then there are the commercials for Inappropriate Stores, such as this one, the House of Stuffing. Also part of a grand tradition, well mined by SNL. Much like the shops themselves, it's a niche field. But perfect for people who really, really like stuffing. Anyway, PHC didn't use it. I thought I really captured his voice and pacing and spirit in this bit. Oh well. I pitched it elsewhere until it wound up here.

And, of course, this whole celebration of fall is to help remind folks that my book, Space Case, is available over at Amazon. It sure beats stepping on a rake!

House of Stuffing

Skit Happens: Election Edition - The Sarcastic Party

11/6/2018

This is one of those bits I wrote up that I really, really enjoy but no one else seems to. It's been bumping around awhile. It's not really topical but I've submitted it in one form or another to every venue I've been a party to over the years. It's a deep dive into my sarcastic passive-aggressive side that rarely gets unleashed in my bits but when it comes to watching pandering politicians who promise the moon but are just so insincere about it, I can go there very easily. Very.

But it is election time, and autumn is here, which means falling leaves, a nip in the air and UFOs... Yes, we're here to plug my Nick Flebber mystery, Space Case, a X-citing investigation for all you X-philes out there. Available over at Amazon!

The Sarcastic Party

Skit Happens: Election Edition - Barrack be a Muslim Tonight

11/5/2018

A quickie song parody from 2008. Remember back in the day people had to make up shortcomings about a president? Good times. I actually had a run of these type of songs back there, it was a weird, weird time.

But it is election time, and autumn is here, which means falling leaves, a nip in the air and UFOs... Yes, we're here to plug my Nick Flebber mystery, Space Case, a X-citing investigation for all you X-philes out there. Available over at Amazon!

Barack be a Muslim Tonight

Skit Happens: Election Edition - The First Ladies Club

11/5/2018

Ah, the excitement of of a new administration! The comedy troupe is always looking for female-heavy skits and I try to fill that niche. Sometimes. But the idea of a First Ladies Club seemed an obvious choice. So obvious, SNL did one as well, only more supernatural, with long-gone ladies appearing to Melania. Dated in certain ways, I note Barbara Bush is gone now. I don't know why I didn't have Rosalyn there. But there's stuff beyond the topical which still works. There's some snappy lines in there. The line about being the first lady but not the last is one I came up with for a political comedy play I wrote once. Nice running gags and character moments. It's not a classic, but it would have been a slick bit of comedy of its time...which has passed.

But it is election time, and autumn is here, which means falling leaves, a nip in the air and UFOs... Yes, we're here to plug my Nick Flebber mystery, Space Case, a X-citing investigation for all you X-philes out there. Available over at Amazon!

The First Ladies Club

Skit Happens: Election Edition - Debating Debates

11/4/2018

Remember a time when Clinton and Trump were arguing about when to hold debates? Remember when when Trump looked like an idiot and we all thought Hillary was going to win? Boy, did this skit get dated!
I mean it was bad enough that we were starting to inundate TMI Hollywood with political sketches, since they were mostly dealing with pop culture, but then 2016 was the first pop-culture presidential election. Hillary here is so confident. Trump is flailing. OK, so maybe not all of it dated. The biggest trick in these things is trying to find you're own take on a character and not just do an SNL sketch the way they were defining them. It's hard. I often find myself writing in the voice of the SNL version of the person. But the sketches were now better fleshed out, there was a decent POV and a good closing gag. So, there's that. And now it gets to see the light of day...

And, of course, this whole celebration of fall is to help remind folks that my book, Space Case is available over at Amazon. It sure beats stepping on a rake!

Debating Debates

Skit Happens: Election Edition - Clinton House of Balloons

11/3/2018

A cute little trifle I wrote after the Democratic Convention concluded. It's short, a black out more than a sketch, but it was something everyone noted about the Clinton's and the balloon. The big meme was "Find someone who looks at you the way Bill looks at these balloons." So, a commercial parody. Who knew they would actually have to consider this as a job after November?

So, Space Case, my second Nick Flebber mystery, which just happens to take place in the fall, is available at Amazon. Grab a copy today. I'll be glad you did.

Clinton House of Balloons

Skit Happens: Election Edition - Face the Press

11/2/2018

It's election time, so let's pull out those election sketches. Yes, I have written election sketches. And here's the first to prove it...
It's a weird one and dated as all get out. Apparently, the National Enquirer got some traction during the 2016 primary campaign by reporting that Ted Cruz had had affairs. So, let's toss them into the mix of a standard Sunday morning news panel with all the hot-shot newspapers, right? I sure didn't know that Trump had the Enquirer in his pocket, and that the publisher and he were besties. And, yeah, I treated the Enquirer as if were still publishing the supernatural stories that they had long since transferred to my old employer, The Weekly World News (which I cop to in the sketch). This sketch is very of its day. And typically anti-Bernie, as was my want.

But it is election time, and autumn is here, which means falling leaves, a nip in the air and UFOs... Yes, we're here to plug my Nick Flebber mystery, Space Case, a X-citing investigation for all you X-philes out there. Available over at Amazon!

Face the Press

Skit Happens: Post-Halloween Edition - Post-Holiday Depression

11/1/2018

Okay, here's another bit I stumbled across in my files. It's dated 2007, but that's long after I cease being involved with PHC. But the skit is such a PHC bit, the pacing, the delivery, it had to have been a Ketchup Advisory Board piece originally. It looks like I attempted to update it to two guys talking instead of a MARRIED couple, so it must have went to the radio syndication companies, too. It feels like I just lobed off the standard Ketchup monologue opening and the song and sign-off. I'm just not certain. It certainly is a strange bit for me to attempt to resurrect. But it's one of the few post-Halloween sketches ever written, and it may have been a sequel to my post-Christmas Ketchup sketch that PHC did produce! Happy All Saints Day!

So, to remind people that Halloween WAS coming and I STILL have a Halloween book to sell, here is...

Post-Holiday Depression

Skit Happens: Halloween Edition- The Tell-Tale SFX

10/29/2018

I adore this sketch. Yeah, yeah, it's mine...but I thought it was the quintessential Prairie Home Companion bit. It was Halloween, it was a take on a classic tale and it was ABOUT SOUND EFFECTS. Garrison Keillor loved doing SFX skits on the radio. I thought I nailed it. Alas, it was not to be. I re-did it a couple times. Even got it accepted to a Halloween-themed stage show, but that collapsed when they lost funding. It was part of a radio script I submitted to a contest, but they broke up my anthology 20-minute script and just featured another bit (War of the Worms) from the full script. Oh well...

Anyway, all in good fun and here to remind you to get a copy of Halloweenies today!

The Tell-Tale SFX

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