Editing Comedy

This week my production hit a small roadblock that led to a great conclusion. After meeting with my editor the unfortunate truth was revealed, she didn't know how to edit comedy. It's something you don't always think about when picking an editor, the genre they're used to working in that is. However it soon became apparent when I saw a rough cut of some of the film. Jokes that the characters were saying were being cut off. Worse than that sometimes when the joke was being said the camera was put on the non-speakers face for a reaction. Jokes weren't landing because they weren't being given space to breath. It was a mess. Luckily my assistant director and I figured out a solution that will allows us to keep back on track but for me it was a learning experience I won't soon forget. Throughout writing, directing and producing the piece my mind was always focused on making sure that above all the comedy always came out on top. I tried to control the entire process but when it came time to edit I assumed it was best left in someone's hands who had more experience than I. It was a careless mistake and one I'm lucky to have been able to remedy but it's been an eye opening experience that has allowed me a more in depth look into making comedy.

SNL Breaks My Heart

This weekend Donald Trump will be hosting Saturday Night Live. A 40 year old institution Americans turn to for its take on the issues, SNL is known for its impact on elections. But in this case instead of going after the political agenda they're inviting one of the candidates to do it themselves. The reason they're doing this is hardly a questionable matter, ratings baby. People are going to watch Donald Trump on SNL. A trick that might be expected from any other show but from SNL? An institution that prides itself on its content and voice above cheap tricks, well so a seasoned comedy fan like myself would like to believe. But what's more upsetting is the lack of outrage surrounding his appearance. Donald Trump is known for his famous remarks, where he called illegal Mexican immigrants "rapists". Imagine instead of Mexican immigrants it was replaced with Jews or black people? Would NBC so quick to allow him onto one of their shows? Of course not. Because advertisers would be fleeing left and right. However because Trump's remarks were towards a group of people our country deems fitting to criticize without limit, there he will be on Saturday night, being as welcomed into our homes as Alec Baldwin or Steve Martin.




 

That's not to say there aren't some people taking a stand against his appearance. According to a report on the Huffington Post "Several dozen activists gathered Wednesday in front of NBC’s headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Center demanding the network rescind an invitation to GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump to host “Saturday Night Live" on Nov. 7 and vowing to pressure the network's advertisers to join their cause." The activists have gained over 500,000 signatures on their petition to get him off the network but to no avail. SNL has never been one to bow to pressure and with the network and the anticipated ratings on their side they're not likely to start now. As SNL fan myself, I just hope they have a few tricks up their sleeves, and knowing SNL they're likely to as well.

Saturday Night Live: Comedy Daycare

I like to think of Saturday Night Live as a daycare for comedians with Lorne Michaels as the overruling nanny for all the little kids who don't know any better. After 40 years on air, it's a proven staple on our television line up. It's popularity has only risen in recent years because of Internet video sharing, and sites like YouTube, in which 4-6 minute videos are all anyone's attention can handle. Not only that, but we've seen the success of past SNL comedians and the all the brilliant work they've done after leaving the show. With people like Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy and countless more, the potential for success after leaving the show is very high. So like I said, it's a daycare. Young, talented comedians come in and play around with their funny and creative ideas. They grow and step into their comedic talent, mastering impressions and nailing their punchline timing. It's very obvious which cast members are brand new and which are the veterans. All the while, Lorne Michaels watches over with an insightful eye and approves or disapproves of whatever skit is being pitched. He turns these no name youngsters into show runners and head writers. It's a given that some skits will work and others will completely miss the mark, but that's part of the growing process for all these comedians.
 After leaving daycare, many of these talented jokesters have gone on to write and/or star in our favorite television shows. Most recently, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have finished their long running shows, 30 Rock and Parks and Rec. In addition, many of SNL's recent departures are now putting their footprint on the industry. Fred Armisen, who was on SNL for 13 years, is now in his 6th season of Portlandia, which he created. Last Man on Earth, Fox's new hit comedy, stars Will Forte who spent 10 years at SNL. Andy Samberg, digital short genius and 8 year cast member, is now the star of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and recently hosted the Emmys. Kristen Wiig gifted the world with Bridesmaids, and Seth Meyers is the host of Late Night. These recent SNL grads are only at the beginning of their post-SNL career and have a lot of room to grow. 

All in all, we should thank Lorne Michaels for creating such a program to help these comedians grow. Who knows if Tina Fey would have ever written Mean Girls or if Will Ferrell would have starred in dozens of hilarious comedies. Maybe? Probably not. So for all those new cast members who are awkward and mess up their lines, you may have your own show in 5-10 years. Hell, you may even host The Tonight Show.

The Never Ending Commitment of Will Ferrell

Who is your favorite actor? Tough question I know. And with a never ending range of options it's a pretty difficult thing to answer. But back in my youth, there was a simple and easy response: Will Ferrell. 

It's not easy to sell Will Ferrell as the best actor around, and today I'd give a different answer, but back in my younger days he was my top choice. The reason was pretty simple, everything he did made me laugh. I can't tell you how many hours my brother and I spent locked in our TV room watching "Anchorman" or "Old School" or his SNL best of DVD. When it came to Will Ferrell we just couldn't get enough. As I've gotten older my taste has matured somewhat and I've somewhat moved on from the brand of comedy that filled my youth. It's part of growing up and everyone leaves parts of their childhood behind. However, with Farrell there's an element of nostalgia, that keeps me invested in his career.  

Most recently Farrell stared in a 50 minute HBO Baseball mockumentary entitled, "Farrell Takes The Field." The special had Farrell playing 10 different positions for 10 different Major League Baseball teams, a record first achieved by Bert Campaneris in 1965. As a big fan of baseball and Will Farrell, I was immediately intrigued by the idea. Last March, Farrell filmed the special in Arizona playing briefly in 5 different games. Because he filmed it during spring training I was actually able to follow each game online with exclusive footage provided by MLB. The glimpse I got was hilarious and I had high expectations going into Saturday's premiere. 

While it was a pleasant 50 minutes of content, I was overall disappointed with it. They shortened some of my favorite moments from the day and it felt like they cut some great content in order to carry on jokes, that didn't quite hit. While I wasn't completely satisfied with the special as a whole, I still admired Farrell's performance overall. 

One of the things that has made Farrell great throughout his career is his unwavering commitment to a role. Even when the premise of his piece is ridiculous he is completely committed to taking it seriously. In the HBO special, Farrell goes through the games as though he is trying to secure a spot on each team and although it is obvious to everyone involved that it is a joke, Farrell never drops from character. His interactions with the players and the coaches read like a utility infielder trying to fit into a new situation after every trade. And regardless of how the mockumentary came out, all the proceeds raised during the special went to a cancer foundation that Farrell started and that's something everyone can get behind.

While Farrell's movies haven't exactly hit it big the last few years, he has always done a great job of staying relevant through all the different medias that are available to us. Whether he's appearing in random Milwaukee Beer commercials, or creating and posting Funny or Die videos,  he has found a way to stay current. And in each ridiculous video, his complete devotion to the comedy can be seen. Regardless of of your thoughts on Will Ferrell, it's hard not to appreciate his dedication to his craft. His unwavering commitment to each role is something every actor can learn from.

Saturday Night Live: The Alligator

I love Saturday Night Live. Ask anyone I know and they'll tell you I'm the ultimate SNL nerd. I collect the merchandise, I've camped out to get standby tickets and I've absorbed every bit of knowledge and trivia I could about the show. I often encounter people who tell me that the show isn't funny or that "it used to be really funny but now it sorta sucks". I try to take these comments in stride and to squish my normally argumentative disposition down into my gut. Truth be told most of the people who make these comments often don't or rarely watch the show and are parroting things they've heard from their parents or the endless amounts of op-eds you can find online. However this is as good a medium as any to finally tell them they are wrong and why (one of my favorite things to do).

Saturday Night Live is often referred to as a dinosaur. It relies on more old fashioned ways of producing, especially those popular when live television was a more consistent form of broadcast, and it costs a million dollars an episode because of it. Because of these methods, some of which many deem archaic, it is called a dinosaur, a beacon of the "old ways of doing it". But SNL isn't a dinosaur. Dinosaurs go extinct because they can't face new environments or refuse to evolve. SNL instead is an alligator. Sure it existed in the time of the dinosaurs, or as I like to call it, the 70s, but they learned to adapt and were unafraid to do so, they became ready to enter dangerous situations and tread unforseen territory. While many networks have seen a steep decline since the dawn of the streaming age, SNL was already built for the internet, especially making digital shorts their mark on the web. In addition they have consistently called for innovation, circulating in new players to keep the show fresh and capture a new younger audience. Yes each episode cost a million dollars to make but it doesn't matter because SNL, because of it's nature, almost always captures their time slot in terms of ratings. In a television landscape that calls for the survival of the fittest, SNL has proved to be the head of the foodchain.

Jimmy Fallon, Best Tonight Show Host Ever??

Jimmy Fallon used to host Late Night With Jimmy Fallon before he took over for Jay Leno and became the host of The Tonight Show. Since he has taken over he has completely raised the show to new heights and increased the ratings immensely. Steve Allen started as host and was succeeded by Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and now Jimmy Fallon.

Starting on Saturday Night Live Jimmy Fallon has been a well known name for a while, and he's stolen the hearts of many people that watch him. Since he has been host, he has brought a youthful vibe back to the show and many entertainment and comedy based sketches. He's done various fun skits including, classroom instrument versions of songs with famous music artists and lip-sync battles with celebrities such as Emma Stone and Joseph-Gordon Levitt. He's "mom-danced" with Michelle Obama, done 90's dance sketches with Will Smith, created the famous "EW!" video with Will.I.Am, and so many other famous skits that people quote on the daily.

Fallon was named Entertainment Weekly's 2014 Entertainer of the Year and the viewership of the show has gone up 31% since Jay Leno hosted the show last. He's had guests range from Taylor Swift, to the late Joan Rivers, to Nicole Kidman and Bill Cosby. With all of the excitement of this show, not only viewership has sky rocketed, but also social media. The Tonight Show twitter raised from 514,000 to 1.8 million followers and went from 1.5 to 5.2 million subscribers on Youtube. The Tonight Show is one of my favorite shows to watch on weekday nights, and it's a show that a lot of people look forward to every day as well. It has a laid back vibe filled with plenty of jokes, musical numbers, and famous guests and it's never boring to watch. Jimmy Fallon has brought late night television back to life and made it 10 times better.

30 Rock, just the best show ever... nbd

Tina Fey's brain child, 30 Rock, is without a doubt a strange beast, but one of my most favorite, and in my opinion one of the best sitcoms ever. I have watched the entirety of the show more times than i can count, and still laugh out loud at every episode, even ones where i know all the jokes (which is most of them). 30 rock is a strange combination of unrelenting humor, heartwarming story-lines, insane plot twists, and calls attention to the fact that it is a show constantly,  for all intensive purposes this show should not work, but it does. For all those who haven't seen it (even though you should have, like really should have, like go watch it right now) the show revolves around Liz Lemon, played by the always amazing Tina Fey. Liz is the head writer of a some what low rated comedy show, in the same idea of a less successful SNL, called The girlie show. the show starts with Liz getting a new boss, Jack Donaghy, played by Alec Baldwin, who suggests that she should hire Tracy Jordan, played by Tracy Morgan, an A-list Comedy star to boost the shows ratings. So basically its a comedy show about a comedy show, that revolves around the fact that it pokes fun at its self and the industry insistently, its perfect and here are 5 episodes that prove it.



1. Tracy Does Conan (season 1, Episode 7)
To many, This is the first truly great episode of the show, that showed what 30 Rock would grow into. in this episode, Tracy is ambivalently booked on the Conan show, to promote his new movie and TGS, despite trying to stab Conan the last time he was on the show. however, tracy is off his meds and is new ones are causing him to hallucinate (not great for Conan). This epode is great for a multitude of reasons. firstly, the character development. Liz is trying to break up with her  current horrible boyfriend, but decides to stay with him because it is easier than starting over. however the best part about this episode is that it introduced my personal favorite reoccurring character on the show, Dr. Leo Spaceman played by Chris Parnell. His questionable morals and medical skills provide perhaps the funniest lines in the whole series.

2. The Rural Juror (Season 1, Episode 10)
This episode is by far one of the best episodes of the first season, and again show what the show would eventually evolve into. This Episode mainly (and I say mainly because every episode has many, many, sub plot lines) revolves around Jenna Maroney, the original star of the Girlie show, played by Jane Kraowski, and her appearance in the film adaptation of a "Kevin Grisham" novel (yes, John's brother) entitled the Rural Juror. One running gag of the episode is that no one actually knows the title of the film, although there were some good guesses, including "the Oral Germ Whore". This Episode also deals with Tracy and Jack trying to market The "Tracy Morgan Meat Machine" a Gorge Foreman Grill type invention. however the Meat Machine is made poorly and shoots out hot oil. as a result,  it can only be sold in the Ukraine, and is eventually endorsed by Whoopi Goldberg. Despite this episode being absolutely hilarious, it is also the first time in the show that there is any character development, and it really worked.

3.  Gavin Volure (season 3, Episode 4)
Its no wonder this episode is on my list, you cant really go wrong with a guest star like Steve Martin. In This brilliant Episode, he plays an billionaire agoraphobe named Gavin Volure, who wile at a dinner party, finds Liz so attractive that he asks her to spend the weekend with him in his mansion, too good to be true right? Right. In a true 30 Rock plot twist, it turns out that Gavin is actually not who he seems. he is under house arrest for fraud, arson, embezzlement, and racketeering, and only invited Liz for the weekend to attempt escape. This episode exemplifies the great acting talent of all cast members on the show, and has some great satire, with Gavin representing a number of Wall street crooks. there is also a side plot involving a strangely life like Japanese sex doll of Tracy.

4. Dealbreakesrs Talkshow (season 4, Episode 7)
this episode starts after Liz's relationship book "Dealbreakers"  becomes a best seller (even in China, although there her names is translated as "Lesbian Sour Fruit). After the success of her book, Jack decides it would be a good idea to have Liz come to the front of the cameras to star  in her own Dealbrakers talk show, it isn't. it starts off with Liz getting a, not so great, makeover, and her slow decent into insanity, acting just like the crazed actors she is usually forced to take care of. wile this is going on, Frank, an other writer for TGS played by Judah Friedlander, is put in charge wile Liz is filming the show. As a result, he slowly turns into Liz and you understand why Liz is the way she is a little more.

5. Hogcock! / Last Lunch (season 7 Episode 12/13)
unlike most shows, one of 30 Rocks best episodes is its last one (or last 2 i guess). this episode starts off after TGS is canceled, wile Liz is living relatively happily at home with her new husband and adopted children, however she really wants to get back to work. luckily for liz, it is descovered that if Tracy does not do one more episode of TGS his contract says he will have to be payed $3 million. As per usual Tracy avoids work, and Liz must force him to do his job, however not in the usual way. this episode is packed with heartfelt dialogue and sentimental situations, including Liz having to get tracy to come back to work after he flees to a strip club where we first meet him in episode one of season one. wile in the club, he Explains to Lemon that he is just avoiding work because he doesn't want the show to end (tear jerker, i know). however the show is still packed with humor, humor that would arguably only work for a show like 30 Rock. for example, the last few moments of the show shows we zoom out to see Kenneth, now the head of NBC, holding a snow globe of 30 Rockefeller plaza. we hear Liz Lemons granddaughter pitching Kenneth a show about Liz's life, and her working on TGS. Kenneth replies "I know, i love it" as a ship from Star Wars flies past his office window.

Colin Jost, Cecily Strong, and the Weekend Update Desk

This week, Saturday Night Live announced that Michael Che, currently a correspondent for The Daily Show, would be replacing cast member Cecily Strong and joining head-writer Colin Jost at the Weekend Update anchor desk. This comes just half a year after Jost took Seth Meyers' seat at the desk. I think that Lorne Michaels and the show's other creative staff made a serious misstep in this decision.

The history of the Weekend Update segment in the 21st century is dominated by names that went on to achieve even greater success elsewhere. Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Seth Meyers have all gone on to anchor their own shows: Poehler and Fey found second lives on the NBC sitcoms Parks and Recreation and 30 Rock, respectively, and Fallon and Meyers occupy back-to-back time-slots in the network's late-night schedule. However, when Meyers announced his plans to depart at Christmas 2013 posed a unique problem for the show, with no truly strong contenders in the cast available to take his place. Lorne Michaels decided to pair Meyers with Cecily Strong for the first half of the show's 39th season last fall:

Meyers and Strong

After strong reviews of the pair, hopes were high when Jost, the show's head-writer and Meyers' best friend, replaced the male half of the pair. However, Jost gave a less than memorable performance in his first couple of shows, and although he began to improve by the end of the season, he had already lost the trust of much of the SNL audience. It was clear that the show was going to make changes at the desk going into the 40th season. However, this week's announcement seems like a step in the wrong direction to myself and many other fans. 

Michael Che's work on The Daily Show has admittedly been strong. His correspondent segments often dealt with race and the experience of being a modern black American in interesting ways. 

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Daily Show on Facebook

However, Lorne Michaels' decision to go with Jost instead of Strong shows a bit of bias towards the longer-tenured writer, who may have payed his dues on the show more. That's all well and good, but I     believe that the stronger performer should have won out. Many fans are speculating that the decision was based on giving Cecily Strong more time to write and perform sketches and characters. I hope that that's the case. 

Alex Buono and SNL's Djesus Uncrossed

Like many of you, Saturday Night Live has always been one of my favorite shows on television. I've always been amazed at how the cast, crew, and writers can assemble a full live show in only a week. However, in recent years, filmed segments have become more and more prevalent on the show, with the rise of The Lonely Island's digital shorts and other pre-taped skits. These segments also interest me for a couple of reasons: they almost always perfectly capture the tone of what they're trying to parody; they excellently utilize the hosts and other special celebrity guests; and they have amazing production value for the short amount of time they're assembled in. As a fan of these skits, I was thrilled earlier in the year to discover the personal blog of Alex Buono, the DP for SNL's film unit. My favorite post of his details the production of Season 38's Djesus Uncrossed sketch, a parody of Tarantino's Django Unchained, starring that film's Christoph Waltz.

The blog post details the full production of the sketch, from Buono receiving the script at 9am on Thursday morning to the finished sketch airing around midnight on Saturday night. Some highlights include insight into a location scouting process where shooting was to begin the next day, the insane shooting timeline required by SNL's tight production schedule (the crew never shot with Christoph Waltz during the day), and the specifics of aping Tarantino's distinctive visual style from a cinematographer's standpoint. This specific sketch required the use of a crane to capture the cinematography of Bob Richardson, Tarantino's go-to DP, which is a rarity for SNL. Buono's entire blog offers insight into the kind of work that goes into a high-stakes, high-pressure production job. The technical advice throughout the blog is invaluable, and it also gives you a real sense of how crazy a real-world shooting schedule actually is. Below you'll find links to the Djesus blog post, the main link to the blog, and the finished sketch!

http://www.alex-buono.com/

http://www.alex-buono.com/how-we-did-it-snl-djesus-uncrossed/

WARNING: The violence in this is pretty cartoonish, but you may not want to watch it if you're squeamish.

DJesus Uncrossed (Saturday Night Live) from razorgrind on Vimeo.

Late Night with Seth Meyers

As my all time favorite late night show host moves on to the bigger leagues, it is time for Seth Meyers to move up in his career. Seth is taking over the Late Night show on February 24th. I have always been a huge fan of Seth on SNL. My favorite part of the show would be the Weekend Update with Seth and Amy Poehler (when she was still on the show.) It will not be the same without him, however I could not be more thrilled for the launch in his career. Seth has a way of connecting with his audience and is an incredible writer. He is funny, but not too cocky. He has wrote some amazing sketches on SNL.  One of my all time favorites that he co-wrote was the opening with Tina Fey playing the role of Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler playing the role of Hilary Clinton. This was one of the best sketches on SNL of the presidential election back in 2008.

To start off the show, Amy Poehler will be Meyers' first guest. I think this is the best decision for the show. It will create tons of hype because it will be a reunion and a new beginning at the same time. The Late Night show is going to be different for sure, but it is time for a change. Seth deserves to move up in his career and to be the spotlight. As devastasting as it is that after 22 years, Jay Leno is retiring, it is time for a new face to shine in Late Night. I believe that Jimmy Fallon is the perfect choice to fill Leno's shoes and will continue the shows longtime success. With Seth Meyers going into the Late Night Show, I have complete faith that he will make us all proud. I can't wait to see what these two shows, Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon have in store.