i started an improv class

when i was going through my nickelodeon fellowship interviews, the director told us she was going to have the fellows take an improv class as part of the fellowship. i thought that was a great idea, so even though i didn’t get in, i decided to sign up for one on my own.

the main reason is i think it’ll help in interviewing and presentation, and since that’s what cost me the fellowship, i need to fix that weakness. i think it’ll also help with my understanding of comedy in general. it’ll also help in terms of knowing what it’s like to perform for when i direct, and maybe i’ll meet some people i can work with on my short films and stuff.

these were the schools i was looking into:

• Second City
• IO West
• Upright Citizens Brigade
• Groundlings

based on my research, i heard that Second City, IO West, and UCB are all somewhat similar in principal, and Groundlings is very different. i decided to sign up at IO West because they also had a lot of writing classes available.

i had my first class last night, and it was fun. i’m looking forward to seeing how the rest of the class goes.

prep work for my 30 rock spec

i’ve been reading some 30 rock scripts and breaking them down to figure out their structure. the scripts are all from season 1, but i don’t think that’ll be a big issue. i did the same thing i did for the office spec and the himym spec, which is to make a spreadsheet and write down each scene and how long it was, and what characters are in each scene. it’s time consuming but it’s worth it.

i have a basic logline for the episode and i have rough stories figured out for jack, jenna, and tracy, but i need a better liz story.

my plan is to have a rough draft for my writers group meeting next month.