Watching Cartoons in Your Underwear

Comedy n' Junk

[ginaippy2]

The Overwhelming Feeling of Wanting to Quit

Lately I've been hearing a lot of "What am I doing? I should quit. I'm not good at this," type stuff from my comedy friends. I totally get it, since right now, nothing is really staffing, or shooting, or being bought, so it's a slow time for creative types. Whenever I teach, I tell people the following advice.

It may seem overwhelming, being around so many talented people who all want to act, or write, or show run, or some combo of those things. It might seem hard to stand out. But eliminate all the assholes who may be super talented, but no one wants to work with or help out. We all know them - the ones who go from sketch team to sketch team and butt heads with everyone. The ones whose names get brought up and people go, "Ugh I hate that guy."

Next, eliminate the people not willing to take notes, or advice, or change, or grow. The ones who get feedback on a pilot or a sketch, but think they know better, and never take it. The ones who've been doing the same thing, the same sketches, the same show, for years, and never get outside that box.

Then, eliminate the lazy or stunted ones. They're the ones you meet with, give career advice to, and two years later, meet with them again to find they've done nothing you suggested. The ones who do anything but work on their pilot, or their audition, or their reel. Maybe they're afraid to do it, because they're worried if they really try, then they'll really fail. Maybe they "keep meaning to get around to it,” but never do. They're the ones who may be talented, but never work quite hard enough for it to pay off.

Then, eliminate the ones who will crap out in a year, or in five years. The ones who don't hang around long enough to really give it a chance. The ones who think they should have "made it" after just three or four years in a community and a new city and a new theater, despite the fact that that rarely ever happens. The ones who move away or switch careers or take some job that's only peripherally related to what they wanted to do in the first place and say, "At least I'm KIND of doing what I wanted."

Then eliminate the self sabotagers (which, I'd argue, most of the things above are some form of). In comedy, there are a LOT of these. The ones who sort of aren't taking care of the mental stuff they need to take care of in order to get out of their own way.

Boil it down to the talented, friendly, works harder than most people around them, been doing this for seven years, always working towards their goal, always improving, not self sabotaging or being their own worst enemy, and what percentage of the comedy community are you left with? 20%? 15? It seems much, much less overwhelming when you hear that number. It seems much more doable. And I'd also argue that everyone who has done that, has, in a reasonable amount of time (again, 6-8 years, which, in any high end profession, is pretty reasonable), has had some sort of career milestone. I don't say "made it," because that's an arbitrary term meaning nothing (you can have a hit movie or get staffed on a show and then not work for a year, or get cast on SNL and then not work for a year). I'm talking got their first big writing job, or got cast in their first big national commercial, or got a fellowship, or won a pilot competition. This year, I've noticed a bunch of people and thought, "Oooh okay she's about to get something good. I just know it." A year from now, I bet I'm right, because I've seen it before. "Hmm why isn't that person working? They're doing everything they need to be," usually turns into me congratulating them on their FB wall a year later when they get some huge accomplishment.

Keep at it and take care of whatever junk you need to take care of in your life and don't despair. Like I said in a post a week or so ago, I started UCB in 2007 and didn't quit all my "side hustle jobs" until 2015, and during that time, I definitely thought, "Crap am I not good at this? These people don't think I'm funny, or they think I got on this team because I'm a woman!" But I never truly despaired or worried about not having anything to show for myself. I had a backup job (still do) but never legitimately thought about quitting comedy to go do it, and never thought about moving to another state where I'd have the same brain/issues/personality/talent level because I wasn't getting what I wanted in LA. Remember, 20% of a community is a small number, especially when it's an already small community. To the people already doing all these things, keep at it. It will almost certainly pay off at some point. Also, if this post upsets anyone (I sincerely hope it doesn't, since that wasn't the intention), take a second to figure out why, and do an honest assessment of whether you fall into any of the "what not to do" categories above. If you do, work hard to get out of it. It doesn't mean you'll never get hired. It's just going to make it that much harder until you address whatever is going on with you.

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The Road to Writing

In 2010, I got my first paid writing gig. It was for a now nonexistent comedy website called Babelgum, and they paid me, and a group of other amazing writers (including Haley Mancini), $125 a day for three days to pitch sketch ideas. A mass email had been sent out to me through the comedy theater I was involved in about the gig, and I submitted, met with them, pitched a few ideas, and got it. I was transcribing for reality shows at the time for around minimum wage, which was flexible enough to allow me to take the gig.

In April of 2012, I co-wrote a sketch with someone on my UCB sketch team, who paid me to use it on his youtube channel. That was the second time I got paid for comedy writing. On October 31st, 2012 (Halloween! The office was dressed up!), I got hired at Break .com for three days at $125 a day. I had met the guy who hired me while being an unpaid extra in a friend's shoot for a channel 101 thing, and had run into him a few times around the comedy community, and he'd seen some of my sketches, and thought of me when they were hiring/testing out freelance writers.  I was still transcribing to make money. On December 9th, 2012, I became a staff writer for the short form Hulu show, The Morning After (hosted by my now good friend, Haley Mancini, who passed along my writing sample). The gig lasted until January 10th, 2013. I was also writing (unpaid) for the CBS Diversity showcase, and still transcribing. I immediately hit up Break (who had expressed interest in hiring me again) to let them know I was now free for work, when the Hulu gig ended.

On January 25th, 2013, I got a month long gig at Break. Break/Defy Media/Screenjunkies would hire me off and on, usually for a day or two at a time (whenever they needed an expert in something truly nerdy), for the next few years. In August 2013, I started freelance writing for a website called Wisebread. I heard about this gig when someone I knew in the comedy community posted on FB that the company was hiring freelance writers. I contacted them, wrote a test article, and they hired me. My job was to compile reviews of every day household products from various review sites and put them in article form for $50 a pop. I was still transcribing as well.

Throughout 2014, I got a lot of little gigs here and there, mostly through previous contacts I'd worked with, or new contacts I made through the comedy community. I worked at NewMediaRockstars, a youtube channel called Petcentric (we wrote funny inner dialogue for dogs and cats!), Break again. I also got a College Humor grant for a thousand bucks to film one of my sketches (I had 13 cents leftover once everyone was paid!). I got this by filling out an application on their website explaining the sketch. In June of 2014, I got hired for a couple of weeks on an ABC Digital sketch show (by my previous boss at Break). In December of 2014, I was hired (thanks to my iO sketch teammate, Alex Logan, who passed along my writing sample) as a writer/producer on a Yahoo series called TV in No Time, which was very similar to the format of The Morning After. I used the sketch I shot with my College Humor grant money to prove I could both write and produce, and samples from my Morning After days to prove I could handle the format. Also in December of 2014, I got to write an episode of The Powerpuff Girls (thanks once again to my friend and head writer of the show, Haley, who passed along my writing sample). I was also driving for Lyft, Uber, still transcribing, and working maybe five other side hustle gigs (I taught chess, did background work, was a PA for a day for a friend's thing, a casting assistant for a day for another friend's thing, etc.). I started teaching and coaching sketch and giving notes on writing packets for $30 a pop.

In 2015, I was finally able to quit transcribing. On July of 2015, I got hired as a writer on Cartoon Network's Regular Show. I still would occasionally freelance at Yahoo (working the night shift after my day job at CN), and also took a short gig writing from home for Rooster Teeth ES (I'd come home from Yahoo at 1 AM and write the Rooster Teeth scripts, or write them on my lunch hour), a job I got because one of my former sketch coaches recommended me for it. I also sold a few sketches to Anna Akana for her youtube channel.

In 2016, after Regular Show was done, I went back to work for Yahoo (I'd kept a good relationship with them through freelancing), and my old Yahoo boss had since moved over to IMDb, so she hired me there for a few smaller gigs (I got to work with Kevin Smith! Twice!). Also, Haley and I sold a graphic novel!

In 2017, I wrote for Awesomeness TV's Hacking High School series (thanks to my friend and iO sketch teammate, Heather Woodward, who passed along my writing sample). In August, I partnered up with my friend and former UCB sketch teammate, Skander Halim and we got staffed on the live action Disney show, Bunk'd off of one of our writing samples we did together.

In April, 2018, Skander and I got hired to write on Murphy Brown from the same writing sample we’d submitted to Bunk’d. I still coach and teach sketch. I still take any freelance writing job that happens to come my way, if I'm able. The graphic novel I wrote with Haley is coming out in March!

It took me five years of writing jobs until I was able to quit my "makes me money/side hustle" jobs. It's taken me eight years to get where I am now. I know a lot of you are broke, and it's hard, and it sucks, and I had the privilege of always having a somewhat flexible, albeit low-paying side gig to get me through those REALLY bad, eating-ramen-every-day days, and also the privilege of awesome friends who looked out for each other when it came to the job hunt, and the EXTREME privilege of very, very, very supportive parents who believed in me. Take every job you can afford to take. Always have a strong writing sample ready to be passed along. Meet dope people who are hard workers along the way and keep working with them. Be nice, and hard working, and cool to work with, and try not to burn any bridges, but also, don't waste time with cynical jerks who think you suck, or who suck your creative energy away. Help your friends whenever you can. When you're sort of settled in, pay it forward somehow (like by creating a fb group to help your friends get some extra side hustle gigs, or writing blog posts with lessons you've learned along the way!). Things will go up and down, and that's just the nature of it. I had an awesome time on every single one of those writing gigs, and it's still kind of bonkers that this is how I make a living.

[ginaippy2]

I Went on a Podcast and Gave Career Advice!

The very awesome Austin Nasso had me on Working Comic Podcast to ask me all about making it in the industry (or at the very least, not having to live off Ramen anymore). Give it a listen, and check out the other episodes with some other rad working industry folks!

http://www.workingcomicpodcast.com/index.php/2018/03/01/episode-3-gina-ippolito-tv-writer-building-community-doing-everything-and-how-to-be-a-writer/

[ginaippy2]

Advice for the World Regarding the Treatment of Women

For the past couple of years, I've been trying to make the comedy community safer for women. Sometimes I connect women who have the same abuser. Sometimes I contact theaters directly to warn them about dangerous men. Sometimes I make a post on social media warning other people about dangerous men. Sometimes I tell show bookers names of dangerous men so they don't book them. Sometimes I talk to reporters, when it seems like no one is listening to these women, and everyone is siding with their abuser.

Before I started doing this, I was just, ya know, doing comedy. I was on improv teams and sketch teams and did stuff at different theaters, and it was cool. After I started doing it, it became what everyone associated me with, which is also fine. Women started hitting me up more and more, just to talk, or to ask me if other women had come to me with a name of a certain guy that they'd just had a bad experience with, or to ask me for resources to get help dealing with rape and abuse, or to ask me how to get a restraining order.

In these past few years, most people have been awesome and had kind things to say about this whole process. Other people, though, labelled me difficult, or a feminist bitch, or said I must have some sort of ulterior motive to be doing all of this (although I’ve still yet to hear what that ulterior motive might be). People I had been cool with for years started ignoring me, or saying stuff behind my back (which yes, always gets back to me, by the way), I never got a job out of being “the woman who helps other women talk about their assault.” I never made a team at a theater because I was “the woman who tells people not to book the guy that raped seven women.” Quite honestly, it would be dope as hell if I could go back to just, ya know, doing comedy. This has all been exhausting, and I’ve spent countless hours doing it, all the while hoping that eventually, it would get significantly better, and I wouldn’t have to do it anymore.

Here’s the thing, though: Every time something like the Harvey Weinstein thing happens, people talk about it for a while and wring their hands and say they’re shocked and things have to change and oh! Look at this! It must be changing if this happened and soon there won’t be guys like this anymore! But there are always guys like that. Most of the guys women have come to me about in the comedy community are still actively performing in the comedy community. Most of them have not been banned from theaters. Most of them are still highly regarded. Most of them will never be “outed” as predators, and will continue victimizing newer, younger improvisers.

So, I have some advice if we ever REALLY want things to change for women. This can be applied to any community you’re in. It doesn’t just work for comedy. It works for sports and chess and poker and theater and tech companies and basically anything where men and women interact (and even places they don’t). This is based on some of the things I hear most commonly (mostly from men, but there have also been women as well) when stuff like the Weinstein thing happens. By the way, if you’re reading this right now and thinking “I really want to talk to Gina about X, Y, and Z because maybe she’s never had that conversation with a guy before,” I have. Trust me, I have. I have patiently had hours long conversations with guys who have said and done every single one of these things on this list to me. I had one just yesterday, and it was about the 10th guy I’d had that conversation with. If you’re a guy and you doubt women, or think some women are telling the truth but a lot of them lie, it’s not my job to educate you. If you don’t know the statistics on false rape accusations, or how infrequently rape cases go to trial, or the psychology of why a victim might not go forward to the cops about a sexual assault, yes, I will likely patiently explain them to you over and over and over, but every time I do, I die a little, because that shouldn’t be on me. You should be actively educating yourself about those things or, ya know, shutting the hell up about them. Hopefully this guide is a first step to doing that. Without further ado, here is a pattern of behavior I’ve noticed when guys get outed as predators:

Some women will say, “He never did that to me!”

Yeah, we know. Someone can still be a murderer just because he hasn’t murdered every single person he ever met. You know the same is true of rapists, right? Tip for the women: stop saying this. For real. Stop saying it. It makes it harder for the women who HAVE been assaulted by those guys. To be 100% clear, I’m not saying lie and say “Yes he did that to me,” when he didn’t. But there’s no reason to weigh in on threads where other women are sharing their stories. There’s no reason to have that be the first thing you say. Because when you do that, it leads right into my next thing...

Men will hear that a guy didn’t do it to EVERY woman, and assume the women he did it to are lying

Yes, this seems nuts (again, see my previous statement about murderers) but it happens more than you’d think. I have heard “Well my girlfriend worked with that guy for a while and she said he never did anything to HER, so maybe those other women are lying, or maybe he was joking around with them and the women didn’t realize it.” Again, I will say this a billion times: people treat everyone differently. This should not be a hard concept to grasp. 

People will say they’re shocked

I absolutely understand the impulse to say this, but think about what it’s actually doing. It’s showing women that, unless a guy is so blatantly a piece of shit to women in front of men, people will always be shocked when she comes forward about her abuse. It makes a hard hard hard hard thing even harder. It also makes other people who didn’t bother looking into the details say “Hmm a lot of people are saying they’re shocked. I wonder if there’s more to this story than just what the women say.” Change your public proclamations of “I’m shocked” to “I’m horrified, and I believe women.”

Men (and some women) will ask if the internet is the best place for these allegations to be brought up

Yep, women realize that making a series of tweets where you out a predator isn’t the most ideal circumstance (mainly because she will IMMEDIATELY start getting death threats from the toilet bowl that is the internet community) but what’s your solution? Institutions and the justice system have failed women over and over and over again (again, not my job to give you statistics on it, but go look it up) and when rape is one of the most under reported crimes, and one of the most under prosecuted crimes, and when institutions would rather ignore what’s going on than open up a whole can of worms by actually investigating this stuff and then publicly outing rapists, it’s the best system we’ve got. I agree that in a perfect world, where men and women are legitimately equal, and rape victims aren’t shamed and don’t have their careers ruined and relationships affected by this, we wouldn’t have to do it that way. But we don’t live in that perfect world. We live in this one. You saying this helps nothing and no one, and it’s not an original thought either, so keep it to yourself.

Men (and some women) will ask why the internet was the FIRST place a woman went to, instead of the cops

First of all, it isn’t. No woman gets raped and then immediately goes online to post about it. It’s an agonizing decision, and in almost every single case I’ve dealt with, it’s a last resort at the end of a long road. Many women DO go to the cops (look up the number of untested rape kits in New York alone). Many women DO go to the theaters (or whatever institution they’re involved in). Many women DO go to HR and their employers. If you’ve never gone through any of these systems, you don’t know how utterly impossible it is to see any real action. The Weinstein thing blew up online and then it was taken seriously. You see this time and time and time again. A company doesn’t fire a rapist until there’s public backlash (Bill O’Reilly, anyone?). A theater doesn’t ban a performer until their bad behavior is common knowledge. Again, unless you have a solution, with detailed steps of how to put that solution in place, stop saying this.

People will say they believe most women, but are worried false allegations could ruin a man’s life

So, if this is your priority, one imaginary man who has been falsely accused, instead of real victims, you seriously, seriously have to reevaluate some shit. First off, there are actual rapists and assaulters and harassers who have faced zero repercussions even when everyone knows exactly what they did. People knew Bill Cosby drugged and raped women for YEARS. Look up how much he’s worth and how he still books speaking engagements and shows. Casey Affleck won an Academy Award the same year his bad behavior came to light. Roman Polanski still makes movies. NFL players hit women on camera and CEO’s are given 15 million dollar severance packages and then move on to another company and another six figure job. Donald Trump is president. Who are these imaginary men whose lives are ruined? Second of all, if this is your first, knee jerk reaction thing to say, are you that concerned about people being falsely accused of other crimes? Unless reform of the justice system is like, your passion project and what you went to school for, why is this the hill you want to die on? Yes, it would be absolutely terrible for anyone to be accused of something they didn’t do. But telling women to be quiet, and telling people not to believe women because you’re concerned about someone being falsely accused ignores the statistics on how infrequently that happens.

Someone will say, “But I knew a guy once who got falsely accused”

By far the thing I hear the most when debating with guys is anecdotal stories about how someone’s friend knew a crazy woman with a vendetta. Great. Thanks for that. You do realize statistics speak louder than anecdotal evidence, right? You do realize that people who say “Oh but one time, I was mugged by a POC, so it makes me suspicious of all POC now” is racist, just like “Oh a woman did this thing once, so now I’m suspicious of women and their motivations” is sexist, right? Also, by the way, unless this happened directly to you, have you considered your buddy is lying to you about what DID happen? Because, ya know, it really wouldn’t behoove a dude to say “Oh yeah in college a woman accused me of this... and I totally did it! Crazy, right?” 

It’s okay to have sympathy for your guy friend who is outed as a predator, as long as you have WAY MORE SYMPATHY for the women he victimized

I know a lot of woke dudes who claim they believe women, make the right posts on social media, march in all the women’s marches, who also immediately close ranks when a dude being accused of something is their friend. I get it, it sucks when you’re friends with the dude. It’s happened to me many, many times. In most cases, I don’t talk to those guys anymore. I know there’s a lot at play here. Some guys feel so guilty that they were friends with a guy like this (and maybe looked the other way when some questionable stuff happened) that it’s way easier to just assume the women are lying than to deal with your own guilty feelings. I also know it’s hard to tell a friend “Hey you’re a rapist, I believe women, I will no longer be associating with you.” It’s hard to kick that guy off your team, or out of your apartment, if he’s your roommate, or un-book him from a show, or un-invite him to a party, or to firmly decide to never work with or refer him for anything again. You know what else is hard? Dealing with being raped. I’d wager that second one’s harder.  Just know that the guys that do this stuff are often masters at hiding it. They’re masters at covering it up, or downplaying it, or making it seem like it’s an isolated incident and the woman is just a jealous ex, or a jilted lover. So, which is more likely? Is it more likely that a woman hatched a plan, falsely accused a man, put her reputation on the line, was ostracized from her peer group and her community just to accuse a guy on the off off off off chance that this one accusation would ruin his life, even though that almost never happens, and then she doubled down on it and kept repeating the story, or is it more likely that you maybe didn’t know that dude as well as you thought?

Someone will ask why some women kept dating a guy, or kept in contact with a guy, after he raped her

Again, I don’t have the energy to explain the pathology of victims to you, so I’ll try and simplify it. Do you believe that Bill Cosby is a rapist? Hopefully, with over 50 accusers, your answer is yes. Do you know that a lot of those women kept in contact with Cosby after he raped them? A lot of the time, it’s the only way the brain can process a terrible thing happening to them (uh oh I guess I do have time to explain some of the pathology). Keeping in contact with an abuser can make a woman feel like she has some modicum of control. She thinks that if she can just understand why it happened, if she can change the guy’s behavior, maybe what happened to her doesn’t have to shatter her life. If you accept that there are women who stay in abusive marriages and relationships for years, you ALSO have to accept the fact that maybe that girl your buddy was dating texted him a couple times (or yes, even slept with him a couple times) after he raped her or assaulted her. It happens. Start understanding that.

I need more details/names/evidence that something happened

Okay so this is probably the most common thing I hear when stuff like this goes down. I get it. I’m a curious person. I’m a logical person, almost to a fault. I want to know every detail of everything at all times. But also, you get why a woman who has been dealing with being raped might not want to talk to every dude in the improv scene directly so he can question her at length about how she was raped, right? You know that, in most crimes, there isn’t any evidence, right? You know that even if those women DO release statements, like the Cosby victims did, they still get so so so much shit for it, and there will still be doubters, right? And finally, who decides when there is enough proof? For me, I believe women, but once a second woman comes to me with a similar complaint about a guy, I 100% freaking believe. For some, they need text/chat/email evidence. For others, they need the woman to go to the cops and get a rape kit (which won’t be tested, likely). You’re not the arbiter of what a woman has to do to come forward about her abuse. At this point, I have dealt with enough abused women to know what they sound like. You could research stories, read psychology textbooks, get certified as a counselor to learn what to listen for, and how women talk about these experiences, and then you’d know for yourself, but it’s much easier just to doubt, right?

Some guy will be worried that women will go too far, and start accusing everyone of everything (including him)

Look, if you’ve never raped or harassed or assaulted a woman and you’re worried about women in the community talking, I get it. You’re a good guy who might be a little awkward around women and you’re concerned that you unknowingly offended a woman once or flirted in a weird way and now you’ll be named online and your life will  be ruined. Let me allay those fears for you. That’s not how this works. It’s not how it happens. It’s not what women want. We want to be protected from predators and abusers. Please please please please please please trust us that we know the difference between an awkward dude and a predator. We’ve been dealing with men since we hit puberty. This is also why you need to believe us when we say a guy is bad. If someone lived in Ohio for 20 years and said to you, “Oh let me tell you this thing about Ohio,” you wouldn’t be like “Oh okay yeah but I know Ohio casually and think your take on it is wrong.” So, if a woman says “I’ve been dealing with creepy guys for 20 years, and I know this guy is creepy” you shouldn’t say “Oh no he’s just a little off kilter, you’re wrong. I know I’m not a woman and he’s never been like that to me, but your experience is wrong.” Just, trust me, we know the difference, and that means we know the difference with you, and again, if you haven’t done anything, you have nothing to worry about.

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If you’ve made it this far, kudos. My suspicion is you were already someone who didn’t do this stuff, and that the people who REALLY need to read it probably read the first sentence and said “Ugh Gina. She has some ulterior motive for writing this. Let me go make a passive aggressive tweet about her or make fun of her tonight with a buddy at my improv show” and then didn’t think about it again. Hopefully that’s not the case. Hopefully, the next time a guy gets accused of something (I feel like with the rate we’re going, it’ll be any day now), you take a second to read back through this and think about it, and do some research.

I’ll end by saying this: Typically, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Where there’s two women, there are almost always more. If you want a bare minimum to take away here, it’s that if two women speak out about a guy, or had an experience with a guy involving rape, harassment, assault, etc, that should be it for you. You should believe those women. Ideally, you believe it when it’s one woman, but baby steps. Guys, it’s easy to hate Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby, but what we need you to do is speak out when it’s your friend, or your coworker, or your roommate, or your teammate. We need you to speak out against him, or, at the very least, distance yourself from him. We need you to stop saying things like “Oh yeah I know two women came forward but one is his crazy ex and the other is that other crazy woman, so...” This is why society is the way it is. It’s not going to change until everyone actively tries to change it.

[ginaippy2]

Knowing is Half the Podcast

For those of you who don’t know, I cohost a podcast about the 80s cartoon, GI Joe. Along with fellow comedians, Robert Chan, and Ray Stakenas, we examine one episode of the cartoon each week as we recap it and add a ton of commentary on all the weird/crazy/insane/inexplicable plots. A fan recently wrote a very awesome review of the show, which you can scope out here.

http://maeve-of-winter.dreamwidth.org/9902.html

If you think you’d be into it, check us out here:

http://boardwalkaudio.com/knowingishalfthepodcast/

and look for us on Facebook at 

https://www.facebook.com/Knowingishalfthepodcast/

and on Twitter @GijoePodcast 

Cheers!

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Things I Learned From One Season Writing on a Show

So, as some of you may know, I got my first real staff writing job a little less than a year ago. In exactly one week, my job writing for season 8 of Regular Show will be over, and, as of right now, I have no idea whether there will be another season. If there is another season, there’s always the question of whether or not they’ll hire me back. I hope they do! I THINK they will. But nothing is 100%, and it’s possible I’m not QUITE as talented and charming and smart and wonderful as my parents would have me believe.

I’ve never been super worried about getting jobs. I’m an eternal optimist, and I’m pretty good about keeping the mindset of “something else will come along,” in all aspects of my life, and now is no exception. I would love, love, love to be hired back, but if I’m not, I’ll continue to do what I’ve done for the past 12+ years in LA and plug away like a tiny, Italian, little engine that could. 

I really dug my time working on the show, and not being picked up for another season wouldn’t dampen that enjoyment at all. If anything, I can take what I learned to my next job, and so I decided to write this about some of the lessons I’ll take away from this, if only to remind myself of them again at some point down the line. Maybe these things will help give a few aspiring writers some perspective, or help them when they find themselves falling into some of the same traps. Maybe it won’t, and I’m just a super egomaniac whose sense of self importance could rival Donald Trump’s. Either way, at least I’ll have accomplished something today other than taking too many photos of my cat!

1.) Stop it with the self doubt

When i first got hired on Regular Show, I was ecstatic. Such a cool show to work on! Such an awesome place to work! Such rad people to work with! Then the self doubt started to creep in. The biggest one, which is often in the back of my mind, and which I blame on a combo of societal bullshittery and a few assholes I’ve encountered in the past for, is always, “Did I get this because I’m a woman?” Someone once told me, “You’ll never be able to be completely sure you didn’t get hired for something just because you’re a cute girl.” Yeah, it’s a crappy thing to say, and basically discounts any talent I may have, but he was just echoing something that a lot of women in entertainment are afraid of, and a lot of men legitimately believe. We all know there aren’t nearly as many women getting hired in entertainment as men, and it’s a running joke on many TV shows that women get hired because, well, they’re women. The Comeback called it out brilliantly in an episode in which Lisa Kudrow only remembers a former writer on the show because the woman says, “I was the girl writer?” Still don’t believe this is a thing? Here’s a clip from Family Guy where they talk about Meg being the only female writer on a show Peter is developing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvXtccC5huQ

Feeling like you got in because you’re a diversity hire and not because you deserved it is obviously not the best, but after a while, I basically took the attitude of “It doesn’t matter why they hired me. I’m here and I’m gonna kick this job’s ass.” Self doubt sucks, but trust that you’re in that room for a reason. There’s a lot of steps that go into the hiring process, and no ONE thing is the clincher for being chosen. The only thing self doubt will do is hamper your creativity, which could lead to a self fulfilling prophecy where you think you’re not good enough, your fears lead to poor output, and then you PROVE you’re not good enough because you’re too self conscious to just trust yourself and your instincts.

By the way, I found out a few weeks into the job that the people doing the hiring read the writing packets blind, meaning without names or anything identifying about the writer, and every single one of them chose my writing packet, and the other writer they ended up hiring’s writing packet, as the best in the bunch, so my fears were completely, 100% unfounded. Trust yourself.

2.) Everyone else around you has the same worries you do

So before I got hired on Regular Show, I wrote an episode of The Powerpuff Girls. A few other writers did as well, but the show runners could only hire one, and instead of hiring me, they hired my amazing, talented, smart, funny friend, Jake. I was happy for him, and he’s kicking much ass writing on that show with my other friend, Haley, who was the one who passed all of our writing packets on in the first place. I definitely had more than a few moments of worrying that my writing hadn’t been as good as Jake’s, or I hadn’t been as compelling or dynamic in the writer’s room as he had, but I put it behind me and took another writing gig, and then got called in a few months later again by the Cartoon Network people.

Going in to interview for Regular Show, I realized I was up against another friend, Patrick, for the gig. He’s a hilariously talented writer, and definitely had more experience than me, so I figured I was doomed. They ended up hiring both of us, luckily, and then I was worried that I wouldn’t stack up to Patrick’s skill level (here’s that self doubt thing again!). 

After a couple of months, I found out Patrick had similar fears. I’m a fast writer, and was sending in outlines before he was, which made him nervous (when really, there was no hard deadline for these, so it didn’t make any difference). When we were both given our out dates for work, he checked in with me to make sure that they were the same. He was concerned they had maybe decided to keep me on longer than him, which would have been a bad indicator, in his mind, about who they’d be hiring back, if there was a 9th season.

I also later talked to Jake about the gig he got instead of me, and he said that for the first few weeks, he was worried he wouldn’t do a good job, and the higher ups would say, “We should have hired Gina instead of this guy!” He thought they’d wake up one day and realize they made a mistake, and would fire him and hire me instead. Basically, what I’m saying is, don’t assume everyone else is thinking they’re the shit, and totally deserve to be there, and that they got this and can do whatever they want and everyone will still love them. In fact, in my experience in comedy and entertainment, only true assholes think they’re the shit all the time, and those people rarely end up getting hired. I mean, there are obvious, famous exceptions to this rule, but at the lower levels, no one wants to work with an asshole. They save that for the guys who make the big bucks.

3.) Enjoy it while it lasts, but also plan your next move

You should never be so overcome by thinking about what’s next that you can’t enjoy what’s currently going on, but it’s always good to be thinking in some way about your next move. Working on a show is super fun. You get free food and free swag and you get to go to screenings and meet funny, like-minded, interesting people, but you’re also there to hone your skills and build your resume.

I’ve seen a lot of writers get staffed or sell movies and be lauded as the next hot thing only to be broke and jobless a few years later. Nothing lasts forever, and especially in TV, some things have a VERY short shelf life. Never rest on your laurels just because you have a steady paycheck coming in. Keep collaborating and saying yes to other opportunities (as long as they don’t negatively impact your current gig in any way), and this way, when the job does inevitably come to an end, you have other options and avenues to explore. Not to sound too much like an inspirational framed needlepoint with a sunset watercolor behind it, but stagnation is the death of creativity. Once you stop working and planning and making things, it’s hard to get back into the groove again when you really need to. There’s always someone else there who’s been working diligently on some project who can easily slip in and get the next job that you really wanted.

Over the past few months, I’ve taken two other temporary writing jobs that I did simultaneously with Regular Show for short periods of time. I didn’t do it because I needed the money. I did it because I love to write, wanted the experience, and it filled out my resume. I also pitched a show with Haley to Cartoon Network, which, even if it doesn’t end up going forward, I had a lot of fun working on and honed some creative muscles with a good and talented friend, which is never a waste of time.

So, wish me luck on whatever it is that’s coming next, and good luck to all of you who are doing awesome things. Even if you feel like you’re floundering now, keep at it and don’t doubt yourself. I floundered for years before anyone paid me, and will continue to feel like I’m floundering, on and off, for the rest of my life, possibly at some times when I’m eating flounder. Flounder.

[ginaippy2]

Sexual Harassment and Assault in the Comedy Community

This article, and my following words about it, are lengthy. I apologize.

So, I hope this article does a lot of things for the community. Too many things to list here. Mostly, I hope it shows people that this isn't a case of one or two bad apples, but something endemic in the community and the world in general, and it needs to be treated as such, because bandaid techniques won't help fix it.

I also hope people take away from it the fact that this isn't fun, for anyone. It's not fun for the women who were victimized to come forward and then be violated once again by online trolls and misogynists, or people second guessing their every move following a traumatic event. It's not fun for the women, like me, who are trying to keep this in the public consciousness so things don't return to the status quo. It's actually pretty exhausting and draining. I think, and hope, things are getting better.

Here are some things you, as a man, woman, person in the community, whatever, can do, to help make it better: Make it clear to the guys you hang out with that you don't tolerate shitty treatment of women. Casual sexism is rampant. If you're one of those guys who has guys' nights because "there are things we can say when it's just the guys that women would find offensive" don't say those things. You wouldn't make racist jokes when your black friends aren't around, so don't make sexist jokes when your female friends aren't around. Treat women with respect. Don't be a dick.

Most importantly, believe women's stories. I don't just mean publicly online so you can gain hero points. I mean talking to other people in the community, tell them you believe what is being said. Even if you don't think it will, it gets back to the women when you doubt them. I know of many doubters who have no idea I know or the women know what they're saying. If you hear someone expressing doubts, help educate them. I'm not saying don't ask questions in the community about what's going on, but educate yourself about what's happening before you rush to say women are lying, or a girl is crazy, or what a guy did doesn't sound so bad. On the off, off, off, off chance someone is lying (look up the statistics about that) about being raped or abused, the benefits of believing the vast majority of women far outweigh the damage of you as an individual telling a victim and other people you believe her story.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/katiejmbaker/standing-up-to-sexual-harassment-and-assault-in-las-comedy-s#.ecpwJYKKK

[ginaippy2]

How I Got Staffed on a Show

So I recently had the awesome good fortune to get staffed as a writer on Regular Show on Cartoon Network.

I wrote a tumblr post a while back about how to get and keep writing jobs, and, while ALL of those tips and advice still apply to how I got this gig, a friend suggested I write one specifically about getting staffed since, as he put it, “this is a textbook case of how people get staffed out here.” I’ve gotten asked by a few people since then about how it happened and if I had any advice, so I figured I’d write this up. I’ll start with my personal story and then give what I think are the most important tips for making it happen.

By the way, if you want to start by reading my other blog post, which I definitely recommend, here you go:

http://ginaippy2.tumblr.com/post/104687941895/how-to-get-and-keep-writing-jobs

How It Happened For Me

My good friend, Haley Mancini, got staffed as a writer for the 2016 Powerpuff Girls reboot.

When they were looking to hire another writer, Haley was nice enough to include my writing packet among those that she passed along. They liked my packet enough to bring me in for a meeting, and liked me enough in the meeting to have me come back a few more times and write an episode. Eventually, they hired another insanely talented writer, Jake Goldman, who is awesome and had more experience in animation than I did. I figured that was the end of that and I was extremely happy to have had the experience and the writing credit, and I took another job I’d been offered, as a writer/producer at Yahoo TV, which my OTHER insanely talented friend, Alex Logan, had submitted me for.

Five and a half months later, I got a message from the guys at Regular Show. They had kept my writing packet on file at Cartoon Network as one of the ones they liked, and the woman in charge of reading samples and referring people had passed it along to the Regular Show guys when she heard they were looking to hire writers. They liked it enough to bring me in for a meeting, and asked if I could come in that same day at 4 PM to meet with them. 

I went to the meeting and basically just talked with three of the dudes who work on the show, including the creator. They asked me about myself and I talked about my love of geeky sci-fi shows, the stuff I do at UCB and iO, and the fact that I’ve been playing chess competitively since I was little. The creator was also a huge chess nerd. One of the other guys loved sci fi shows. We geeked out for a while. Basically I just hung out with them and I left the room feeling like it was a fun time. The next day they emailed me to say they’d like to staff me.

So that’s the story. No insane coincidences, no extreme nepotism, no “I saved the life of the president of Cartoon Network’s daughter from being hit by a car so they gave me a job!” All simple, straightforward, and something that anyone could accomplish, with the right tools. That being said, here are some tips.

Tips to Get Staffed on a Show

Like I said earlier, all the tips from my previous blog post still apply, but for brevity’s sake, I won’t repeat them here.

1. Be at it long enough to have a good writing sample

I started improv classes at UCB in 2007. I got my first very, very, very small writing job in 2010 and made a Maude team (one of the UCB house sketch teams) as a writer later that year. So since October of 2010, I’ve been on sketch teams. I got cut from Maude two years later and immediately joined a sketch team at iO to keep writing. I have written HUNDREDS of sketches in that time, all of which have gotten notes from really great coaches and teammates. The writing sample I sent to Cartoon Network was three of those sketches. So if you count the time I’ve been doing improv, as well as sketch, it took me almost EIGHT years in LA to get staffed on a show. According to other people I’ve talked to, that’s an average amount of time. Not fast, not slow, just average. So if you don’t think you have it in you to put that time in, well, maybe consider quitting and focusing on another passion (but one you can do in only a couple of years!). 

My biggest pet peeve is when people who have been at it for a year or two complain to me or ask me when it’s going to happen for them. If I had submitted a writing packet I wrote in 2010 for this job, there is no doubt in my mind I wouldn’t have gotten it. I feel the same way about one I’d have written in 2013. It’s a no brainer that the more you write, the better you get, so write as much as you can and get your sample as strong as it can be, because no matter who you know, or how you get seen, if your writing sample sucks, they’re not going to hire you. 

2. Collaborate with people you like and who work hard

This may be the most important tip. I have known Haley Mancini for years. We’ve been on an improv team together for ages, have worked on several jobs together, and have collaborated many, many times. We have similar comedic sensibilities and just genuinely like hanging out with each other. Haley is one of the hardest workers I know. She is a crazy talented actress, improviser, voice over artist, writer (this list goes on and on). Haley is also super organized, and a bit Type A, just like me. This all means I can refer her for a job and I KNOW she’ll kill it. She’ll make me look good for referring her. People instantly like Haley. She sets them at ease and can speak on a number of topics. I know that if I refer her for a job, she’ll show up early for it, bring her A game, be great in the room, and deliver. She referred me for the Powerpuff gig because she knows how I work, and she felt confident enough that I wouldn’t go in there and embarrass her.

I have seen way too many people wasting their time collaborating with people who don’t have the drive or the motivation to make it happen. There are tons of talented people out there who are just plain lazy. Those are NOT the people you want to collaborate with. You also don’t want to collaborate with people who you dislike, or who drive you crazy. I’ve tried working on projects with people who I just didn’t mesh with, and it’s never a fun time, and again, if this is something you’re going to be doing for the rest of your life, don’t you want it to be fun? 

Most of the people reading this are likely in the comedy community doing stuff at one or several of the theaters. Find someone who you think is funny and hard working, and ask if they want to collaborate. They may say no, or be too busy, and that’s fine. Then you move on to the next person. Almost every writing job I’ve gotten has been through some sort of initial referral from someone I’ve worked with. Don’t ask someone who doesn’t know you well to refer you for something. Instead, collaborate with people you know have the drive and talent to get jobs, and then help each other out. Cross promote each other. Be proud of your friend when they do something great, and they’ll be proud of you when you do something great. I’m  not suggesting by any means that you use people, or latch onto people because you think they can do stuff for you, but being friends with other like minded comedy folks is always going to lead to great things.

3. Once you’re in the room, show them you’re someone they want around

I know that, for some people, this can seem like the most terrifying tip on the list. Comedy has a tendency to attract introverts, and to them, going into a room of strangers and talking about themselves is a nightmare. I, unfortunately, don’t have much practical advice on overcoming that. I’ve been an extrovert my whole life, and talking with strangers is my jam. I would say try and do as much practicing as you can. Try as hard as you can to break out of your shell, because otherwise, you’re handicapping yourself. Go to therapy, if you’re someone who doesn’t mind doing that. Just do anything you can to overcome that, because a huge part of getting writing jobs is how you are when you finally get in the room.

Writing jobs are different than other jobs, because you’re going to be in a room and working closely with these people for many hours a day. They want to hire someone who they like hanging out with and being around. Writer’s rooms are typically relaxed environments, and a lot of fun stuff goes on in them. If you can make the room laugh, or make them feel like you share common interests, it goes a long way. Be friendly, be open, be funny, be witty. Show an interest in the things that they say, and learn how to read a room. Again, I know that to some people, this can seem like the equivalent of being held down and given a pink belly for 4 hours, but it’s really not that bad. Most comedy writers are nerds, or at least have nerdy tendencies. Talk to them like you would your friends, and I promise you, if you’re genuine, they’ll give you a shot.

4. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get it the first time (or the second, or the third)

Like I said earlier, after I didn’t get the Powerpuff Girls gig, I assumed that was that. I would have, of course, loved to get the job, but I wasn’t angry or discouraged because I didn’t. First off, I now had a new credit on my resume. Second, I had a good experience and knew that, in a year, I could turn on the tv and watch the episode I’d written. Then I got that email from the Regular Show people. This is at least the second time since I’ve been working that I submitted for something, didn’t get it, but then got contacted months (and in one case, a year) later saying they wanted to bring me in. I know it’s hard, but if you don’t get something, keep at it. Whenever possible, ask for feedback. After not making a Maude team the first time I submitted, I met with the AD and asked what I could do to up my chances for the following year. I followed the advice and then made it the second time around.

5. Be nice from day one. To Everyone.

Okay so I know I said I wasn’t going to repeat anything from my previous blog post, but I lied, and that’s because this is the most important thing, to me, in business and in life. Be nice. Not because it will get you anywhere (it will) but because it’s what good people do. I have come across a lot of assholes in my time, and I will never refer them for a single job. People who are nice in this industry, in this city, in this world, always stand out. Think of the nicest person you know right now in your head. How would you feel if they succeeded at what they want in life? Hopefully the answer is “ecstatic.” That’s why those people get hired. Also, there’s definitely something to be said for karma. 

So those are my tips. I feel like a lot of them are common sense or common knowledge, but sometimes, it helps just to see them written out. Remember, I didn’t do anything crazy or have any huge hand up in getting this job, and that means that pretty much anyone can do it if they stick with it, have a good attitude, and collaborate with the right people. Bye for now!

[ginaippy2]

How To Get An Agent - by Diona Reasonover

I asked Gina if I could write this post and she graciously agreed (’cause she's the coolest) back in Feb. And right after I did, two separate friends asked me how to get an agent. And I figured welp, may as well test this out and make sure it still works.  So I told them the advice below, waited a few months and boom. Both now have rep.

This may not work for you. People who guarantee you anything in the entertainment industry are usually either trying to sell you something or d-bags. In fact this hasn't worked for everyone. But it worked for me and it worked for the majority of my friends who tried it. So, ya know no promises.

Also a heads up, I'm gonna get pretty awkward at the end of this post.

How I've gotten an agent:

1). Made a list of agencies I'm interested in.

2. Called those agencies and ask if they take email submissions. If they do, asked for the email address to send it to.

3). Wrote a short (4-6 line) email outlining my basic merits and include a link to my imdb or website (which had my headshot, resume and reel)

4). Chilled.

5). Followed up in two weeks if I hadn't heard.

That's pretty much it. Here's a more in depth versions:

1). Made a list of agencies I was interested in. What kind of agent do you want? Theatrical? Commercial? Whose names do you see on sign in sheets? Narrow it down to a manageable list and be realistic. Like, probably not Manny Pacquiao's people. (But I've seen weirder stuff happen. Did you know they're bringing back the tv show Coach?) Also if you're a black woman named Diona (ahem), that doesn't speak Spanish (this is me we're talking about), maybe don't sign with that agent who specializes in Hispanic and Latino actors. (Again, me. This is still me.). The agent was a great guy but it wasn't a great fit. No one believed me when I said I could play Portuguese.

2). Called those agencies and ask if they take email submissions. Internet search it or get one of them there books at Sam French with the names and numbers of the agency offices. I don't care what brand. I'M NOT YOUR CORPORATE SHILL! Ask whoever answers the phone if their (commercial/ theatrical/ kids/ voiceover/ home gardening) department takes email submissions. If its a yeah, ask for the email address. If its a no, say thanks and hang up. Either way this phone call should be less than 2 mins of talking. No need to ask about how to format the email or what they're looking for. If you have the thought "Since I have them on the phone, I might as well...." STOP. You've gone too far and crossed into Dick-ville. Don't live in Dick-ville. Dick-ville smells and while it has great real estate, its got a very high tax rate for the city services they provide, which are none.

Also, don't call people home or cell phones. That's weird.

3). Wrote a short 4-6 line email outlining my basic merits and included a link to my imdb page or website.

Give em a brief glimpse into the goods. An actual email I sent a few years ago is below.

Hi XXXX,My name is Diona Reasonover, and I’m currently seeking commercial rep. I'm an improviser with Second City and iO, a grad of Cal Arts, and just finished Chris Game’s commercial class. My headshot is embedded in this e-mail below, additional headshots and my resume can be found at (website) Also if you’d like to see me perform (I've got lots of shows), I’m currently in “Best of Second City,” a sketch review, and perform with my improv teams, Ficus and Ham Radio at iO West at least once a week. Feel free to contact me for industry compsThanks, DionaCell phone

I embedded my headshot but looking back on it, I wouldn't have. And I stopped doing it the second time around. Cause it was showing up as an attachment and I don't open emails for folks I don't know with attachments. A lot of folks don't. And I don't want to look like a Nigerian Prince that needs a Western Union transfer. So later versions read:

Hi XXX

My name is Diona Reasonover and I'm looking for commercial rep. I'm a young Black female improviser blah blah blah.

No one HAS to include a breakdown of gender or ethnicity. I did it because I was specifically seeking out places that said they were seeking black female talent. Remember this is just me saying what worked for me at the time. You do you, boo.

Also the places I was looking had tons of people they repped in teams at these schools. So I offered em tickets, and named dropped a select few shows. Yepppppppp I showed em I'm pretty cool. [Throws on sunglasses, pretends she's a cool emoji]

4). Chilled. You know what's up. I ended up going to dinner with my awesome friend's awesome parents. Shoutout to Mr and Mrs. Solan!

5). Followed up in two weeks if I hadn't heard. A quick note directing them to your website and asking for a meeting will suffice. Like seriously short. I'm not including an example because I already know you got this in the bag!

So uh, that's what I did guys. Got it? Great. I'm terrible with goodbyes. This party sure is nice. Oh god is that my ex? Oh god, I'm sweating. Is anyone else sweating?  Can you tell I'm sweat- will someone smell me to make sure I smell ok? You know what? I'm just gonna go. Kay bye.

[ginaippy2]

How To Put Together A Great Resume by guest writer, Jake Goldman

Hey everyone,

So some people have asked me for a few tips on writing a resume that won’t just get thrown in the trash at first glance. I know many people say that “it’s all who you know,” but unless your friend is the exact person doing the hiring, a bad resume can still screw you over. I see it all the time. I saw it this past week. Seriously, I could be recommending my best friend in the world for the job, but if he or she gives me a poorly formatted mess, the Producer will usually respond with a, “What the fuck am I supposed to do with this?” 

I’m no expert but I have been working steadily in television and film production for almost nine years now and I have been on both sides of the interview desk. I don’t think there are any bombshells on here, and I’m sure there’s more tricks of the trade out there. If so, I hope this can get the conversation rolling. I’ve also included a copy of my resume so people can judge and see if I practice what I preach. Anyway, here we go:

TEMPLATES: If you have no design sense (like me,) it’s totally cool to use a template BUT realize that if you’re using a template from a popular program (like Microsoft Word) you run the very real risk that someone else applying for the job has a resume that looks exactly like yours. I recommend taking the time to adjusting a template to suit you. Play with the fonts. Play with the borders. See if you can create something you like. Either that or just invest in another program. I use Apple’s Pages (if you’re on a Mac,) which has some templates I like and is way less popular. I think it runs for about $20 and as investments go, I think it’s worth it. 

HOW LONG: Your resume should be ONE PAGE. It doesn’t matter how much experience you have. It should still fit into one page. I throw out every resume that goes on to page 2. 

PDF’S ONLY: Save your resume as a PDF. You may have fonts or a program that the hiring manager doesn’t have. If they try to open the document, Word will plug in a new font and completely reformat your sweet resume. 

WHAT YOU SHOULD LIST: My resume currently has the following information in order: Name, Contact Information, Experience, Education and Skills. That’s it. I used to have an “Interests” portion, but I don’t think it’s necessary. Some argue for it but I think it’s really just filler. However, if you feel your resume is lacking without it, go nuts.

OBJECTIVE: DON’T LIST AN OBJECTIVE. This is the part where someone writes at the top “Obejective: To gain employment and pursue film productions” or some such. I don’t know where this came from but I see people do this all the time, especially if they’re just starting out. No one cares what your ultimate goal is or whatever flowery vision you have. We all know why you’re here. Let’s not put lipstick on the pig.

EXPERIENCE COMES FIRST: I see a lot of resumes come in with “Objective” or “Education” first and for the love of god, I don’t know why. Experience is what you bring to the game and it’s what everyone is really looking for. Lead with that.

WORK TITLES: Ok, so here’s something. Production Assistant is a really broad term. So is Coordinator. And Producer. Your job on one show can have wildly different responsibilities and experiences than the same position on another show. It’s on you to tell what you did at your previous jobs. Don’t assume people know.

THIS IS A HUGE ADVANTAGE TO YOU! This is your chance to craft the focus of your old job so it applies to your new job. Let’s say 99% of your old PA job was picking up groceries and 1% was prepping for table reads. Now, let’s also say you’re up for a Writer’s Assistant job. You’re going to want to focus on every little involvement you had with scripts from the PA job. Lead with that. Focus on that. Act like that was 99% of your job. You survived your old job so now you get to write your own history about it. 

NOTE: This does not mean lie. You are selling yourself. Upsell every relevant bit of experience you have. 

USE THE “ACTIVE VOICE:” When describing your previous work, be sure to write in the “active voice.” Because I’m not an English teacher, here’s what a quick google of the difference between “active voice” and “passive voice” said: 

“To know whether you are writing in the active or passive voice, identify the subject of the sentence and decide whether the subject is doing the action or being acted upon. Passive Voice: the subject is the receiver of the action.”

Another google search brought up this example: 

“This statement makes it sound as if the candidate just stumbled onto a promotion: Selected as interim supervisor for 10-12 employees. A simple rewording of the statement gives the candidate much more credit for the activity: Managed 10-12 employees as summer interim supervisor.”

KEEP IT BRIEF: Under each post in your resume, there should be a 2-3 line description of your previous job. This is usually where a lot of people trip up. It can be hard and annoying to write in that cold resume speak. 

Here’s what I recommend. Write in the first person, and then remove the “I”’s. So “I answered phones.” Becomes “Answered phones.” This has the added bonus of helping ensure that you use the “active voice” in what you write. 

I would also do the same to remove any articles (a, an and the) and helping verbs (have, had, may, might, and forms of "to be": am, is, are, was, were). So “I was in charge of managing all designs and storyboards.” You can cut down into “In charge of managing all designs and storyboards.”

EDUCATION: The entertainment industry tends to put less of an emphasis on where you went to school than other industries, but still this should be included. You got that degree. You paid the money. Show them goods. Who knows? Maybe their cousin went to your school or something.

SKILLS: List every program you have knowledge in that you think can apply. This can be just a simple list. No need to get fancy. I will tell you the programs that I have found to be the most valuable for a general position: Excel, Photoshop and Filemaker Pro. Every interview I’ve been on the past few years has asked about these. You don’t need to be an expert in them (lord knows I am not) but it would certainly help you to familiarize yourself with how they work on a very basic level. 

“I DON’T THINK I HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE…”: Everyone has valuable experience when it comes to entertainment jobs. It’s just a matter of selling your old jobs so that it applies to your new job. There’s a lot of overlap from being a Lyft Driver to being a P.A. if you know how to make a comparison. If this is your first job or you’re switching careers, don’t be afraid to tell people that! 

REWRITE YOUR RESUME FOR EVERY JOB YOU APPLY FOR: Ok, I don’t mean a page one rewrite. Again, I’m going back to focus. Do your best to make your resume fit the job you're applying for. If it’s for Set Work, I’ll expand the sections that I think fit. If it’s an Office gig, I’ll go more into detail on any office jobs I’ve had. If it’s a job that you really want, take the 20 minutes to do this.

That’s it, really. Resumes are annoying, but if you have one that looks the part it will help get you into the interview so you can razzle dazzle them with all your relevant razzle and dazzle. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. 

-Jake

[ginaippy2]

How To Get and Keep Writing Jobs

So, I've been fortunate enough over the past few years to have gotten a fair amount of comedy writing jobs. Some have been freelance, others have been more permanent, all have been awesome. Lately, friends and people I coach have been asking me for advice on how to get these jobs, and I figured, what better way to talk about writing jobs than by writing about it. So here goes, my top tips for getting and keeping writing jobs. Feel free to take it or leave it as you see fit. It's not like I'm Diablo Cody or anything. Also, I wonder what Diablo Cody is up to right now.

1. Get Yourself In a Community

So I happen to be a member of a comedy community. I've taken classes at UCB Theater and iO West. I was on a Maude team (one of the house sketch writing teams) at UCB, am on a main stage iO sketch team, I coach and direct a sketch team at iO, I direct a monthly show at UCB, and I am on a very long running indie improv group. Every single one of my writing jobs has come out of this community and my contacts within it. It's also just a great place to try out ideas, fine tune scripts, and get instant feedback from peers attempting to do the same thing you are, which, as we all know, is writing jokes about poop and farts for a living.

2. Do Stuff In That Community, & Don't Limit Yourself To One Theater

The easiest way to get writing jobs is to be referred for one by someone you know. The easiest way to get to know people is by doing things in the comedy community that you're a part of. This means form teams, apply to get on teams, do bit shows and open submission shows like Not Too Shabby at UCB or Go Sketch Yourself at iO. The more stuff you do, the more people will think of you when it comes time to refer people for gigs. Doing stuff at more than one theater exposes you to more people, and, perhaps more importantly, to different kinds of comedy. Not every job you take will be the same, and versatility is key to nailing that gig you snag, so don't fall into the trap of thinking that you only need to do stuff at one place. Yes, sometimes this works, but more experience is never going to HURT you, so why not try getting in at multiple comedy theaters. UCB, Miles Stroth Workshop, The Clubhouse, iO, Groundlings, Nerdist, Second City, they're all good for different reasons, and all offer opportunities to broaden your writing spectrum.

3. Be Nice From Day One. To Everyone.

This is, in my opinion, the most important item on this list. I've had the opportunity to refer a lot of people for a lot of jobs. You know who I'll never refer? Dicks. I've worked with dicks. I've been on teams with dicks. I know dicks just from "around" and no one wants to work with those people. In a community with so many insanely talented people, why would you EVER think you would get the job over one of them if you have a rep as being unpleasant to work with? I've seen people not get on sketch teams because of their asshole attitudes, and that's at a very low level of "things you want to achieve in comedy." Don't give anyone a reason not to work with you. Be nice, to everyone, and they will want to work with you.  I don't just mean be nice to their faces. Don't talk behind people's backs. Trust me, in a small community, everything you say will get back to that person you are crap talking. It doesn't matter if you think the person you're complaining to is vaulting it. I've had people's roommates, teammates, significant others, etc. all tell me when someone has talked trash about me, and you know what? Now I will never refer those trash talkers for jobs. Also, don't be nice just in hopes of getting gigs. Be nice because you should always be nice anyway. It's way better than being an asshole. Be genuine. People know when you're being fake. I realize this advice is hard if you are, in fact, an asshole, but, you know, maybe try really hard to not be an asshole. It only takes one person to prevent you from getting a job. That girl on your sketch team who you said was a loser may someday be given the opportunity to refer potential writers for a network show, and your ass will definitely not make that short list. Be nice. For real.

4. Ask For Help

If you see someone in the community doing what you want to do, ask them for advice. I'm not saying be that annoying person who bombards someone with questions, because no one wants that, but a simple "Hey how did you get your first writing gig," can't hurt. Keep in mind that people who are working steadily are probably very busy, so value their time, and say thank you if they give you advice. Also, put the word out that you're looking for work. I've often times referred someone who I just saw on FB was in need of a gig. Again, don't post about it incessantly, because, unless you are in a community comprised solely of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, chances are, most of the people you know are also looking for work. Just let it be known what you do, and that you'd like to do it more.

5. Take Classes

One of the biggest mistakes I see in comedy is people not honing their craft. Taking one sketch writing class does not qualify you to be a writer. Take multiple classes. Do multiple shows. Write as much stuff as you can. Ideally, you should be writing every week. If you wanted to be a surgeon, you wouldn't do one operation a month, so what makes you think writing one sketch a month, or one pilot a year is going to train you to be a writer? Creative jobs are still jobs. Treat them as such, and prepare for them as you would any other job. The bonus to this is that classes will fill out your resume before you have many real credits on there. If you go in for a job and all you have to show is an intro level sketch class and that college short you wrote, you're probably not gonna get it. Take classes at least until you really start to get those paying gigs. And furthermore...

6. Be Patient

I have had people who have been doing comedy for one year come up and ask me why they're not getting work. I started UCB classes in 2007. That's seven years ago at this point, and only recently have I started to get enough writing work to be able to scale back my normal day job stuff. Again, you wouldn't expect to be a doctor, or a lawyer, after one year, so why in the hell would you expect to be a working, professional writer after one year? If you don't have it in you to last several years before work becomes consistent, then you're probably not in the right line of work.

7. Say Yes to Everything

Someone in your 101 class needs an extra for that sketch he's filming and you're available? Do it. A friend asks you to help out with a bit at one of the theaters and you don't have plans? Do it. Someone asks you to hold a boom mic for his web series? Do it. One of the first writing jobs I got was through a guy I met while acting in an online comedy thing he was directing. I had no lines, and I didn't get paid, but a friend of mine asked me to do it and I said yes. Since then, that director has hired me on three jobs. The most impressive items on my writing resume have mostly come from him. You never know what will lead to opportunities. I still say yes to everything I can, even if it doesn't pay. The more people you work with, the more opportunities you have of getting hired by, or referred by, one of those people. Also, once you show you'll work hard for no pay, these people know you'll work that much harder for a paying gig. If you're available, do it. The worst thing that happens is nothing comes of it and then you end up just having an experience, which is never a bad thing.

8. Work Harder Than Others

No one wants to hire a lazy person, no matter how talented they are. I'm not saying lazy people never get hired, but they are likely the most insanely naturally gifted ones out there. Again, there are a lot of people in this community, and you never want people to have a reason not to hire or refer you. I'm that person on my sketch and improv teams who gets ribbed for being so type A organized. I'm on top of everything and volunteer for all team jobs, and more than once, I've heard that I got referred for something because of how hard I work. Don't just do the bare minimum. Write more sketches than anyone. Don't worry if people think you're trying too hard or are a nerd for doing so much work. You can be a nerd at your new job while they sit at home wondering why no one is hiring them. Once you get the job, work harder than the others there. Write more jokes, come in earlier, be more present. They'll remember that and hire you the next time they need someone.

9. Scour The Community Boards For Job Posts

Every comedy theater has its own community group. There's the UCB Underground Network, the iO West Skillbook, the Women of UCB group, and many others. I look through these groups every day, and often times there are postings for freelance writers. This is the easiest way to get informed about jobs. Submit to everything you see that is remotely in the field you'd like to be in. I recently created a Comedy Jobs Group on Facebook, and it is purely for posts about paying work, so feel free to request to join, and I'll add you. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/730368893721504/

10. Always Have Stuff Ready To Go

Sometimes, I've gotten notified of a job the day before I have to go in and pitch. This is why I have a pitch notebook filled with over 150 sketch pitches, and about 200 already written sketches that I can sell at any point. You never want to make a bad impression by being unprepared. Always have scripts, pitches, outlines, ideas ready to go, and you'll already be ahead of a lot of the other people vying for jobs.

11. Don't Have an Inflexible Day Job

Odds are, you're not going to get staffed on Key and Peele with zero experience or credits. You have to do a lot of freelance and part time writing gigs to fill out your writing resume, and that's impossible to do if you have a job that you can't take days off whenever you want. Get a lot of good, part time, any time jobs that can sustain you between freelance gigs until you get that permanent writing job you want. Freelance jobs can come up at a moment's notice, and you need to be able to say yes without having to worry about how many vacation days or sick days you have left at your regular day job. Sometimes I get contacted by people who want me to write up a script and turn it around in a couple of hours. I couldn't do that if I was sitting at a desk in an office all day with other responsibilities. Quitting a good paying, steady, regular job with health benefits is scary, but in LA, if you're unavailable, that writing opportunity passes to the next person, and you may not get another chance at it. Again, there are a LOT of talented people who write, and the ones with flexible schedules are the ones who are going to get the gigs. LA, luckily, is rife with flexible, part time jobs. You could drive for Lyft, or cater, or deliver food, or nanny. If you have editing skills, you could do some freelance editing. If you have shooting skills, you could shoot stuff for people. There are literally dozens of ways to make money. Sure, you'll likely be broke a lot of the time, but you'll make enough to pay your rent and bills, and honestly, if you wanted to save up money before living your dream, you could have stayed in your home state for a couple of years before moving to one of the most expensive cities in the US and being chained to your desk at a job you don't like.

12. In The Meantime, Keep a Blog, Tweet, and Shoot Your Sketches

Writing jobs will often ask you for samples of your work before they'll hire you. This doesn't just necessarily mean a writing packet or a spec. I know a guy who will Google people before hiring them and watch the stuff they have online. I interviewed for a job last week where they asked me to bring in online samples of stuff I've written. I had 10, very different things ready to show them when I walked in to that interview. Some were sketches I'd filmed with my sketch group, some were from past jobs I'd worked, but you have to have something out there for people to look at. I've sent this very tumblr to people when they ask for writing samples, and gotten jobs based off of it. More and more employers today are looking at your Twitter. My own is a very sad affair, with only a few hundred followers, but just tweeting regularly gets you in the mode of joke writing. The more stuff you do, the more stuff you can show people. Also, feel free to follow me on Twitter if you mostly want to read anecdotes about my cat.

https://twitter.com/GinaIppy

13. Have the Strongest Writing Packet/Spec/Pilot Possible

Everyone trying to get jobs has a writing packet, a pilot, or a spec. Some have all three. Some have that stuff and a full length feature script, several episodes of a web series, and an hour long drama. Make sure you have had several pairs of eyes on whatever you will be offering up. If you have a writing manager, ask them to take a look. Send it to your brother. Ask that girl in your class to read it when she asks you to read hers. Make sure there are no typos in there. Make sure you have the strongest jokes possible. Make sure your structure makes sense and the scripts themselves are a good representation of what you can do. You don't want to lose a job you know you'd nail because your packet was weaker than someone else's.

14. Make a Website & Keep Your IMDB Page Current

Odds are, that potential employer is going to check out your IMDB page. Make sure everything you've done is on there, even if you have to add it yourself. Make sure every video you've done credits you as the writer, and then add that video to IMDB. If you have a website with samples of your work, your resume, and your contact info, that's a bonus thing you can send people who want to refer you for things. Your best sketches can then be all in one place for someone to watch, instead of some of them being on Funny or Die, some being on College Humor, some being on Youtube, etc.

15. If a Friend Refers You For a Job, Thank Them

Again, there are a lot of people out there who do what you do. This means there are a lot of people your friends could be referring for work. It's not a small deal that they chose to refer you. If you seem ungrateful, or have an attitude about it, they may not refer you again. Thank them profusely, even if you don't end up getting the job. When someone refers you, they are telling that employer that they trust that you will do the job well. They are putting their own good reputation on the line, so acknowledge that. I have a few people I will refer for every job, every time, because I know they'll deliver, they'll be grateful, and they won't make me regret it. If you get the job, do an amazing job and work hard so that your friend doesn't end up looking like an asshole to the people who hired you.

16. When You Get The Gig, Know What You're Doing

Don't be afraid to ask your more experienced friends exactly what is expected of you in a pitch meeting. It doesn't matter if you're green. Just go in the room with as many tools as you can. Post on Facebook asking for advice, or email an old coach or teacher. Do a great job, be nice, be fun to work with, and you'll get hired back.

17. Don't Be Afraid To Self Promote Online... A Little

We all hate it, but it's a necessary evil of what we do. Keeping people apprised of what you're working on may feel self congratulatory and icky, but when it comes time to refer people or hire people, friends will remember that you were just working on a project for Comedy Central, or writing a one woman show, or a web series, and know you can handle what they have to throw at you.

18. Once You're In a Good Place, Refer Friends

This is everyone's dream, right? To hook up our friends and teammates and acquaintances with jobs so everyone can be getting paid for what they love doing. There is nothing I like more than referring people for jobs. It makes me super happy, because, let's face it, this is hard. Living in LA and making money doing what you want to do instead of what you have to do is freaking hard, and odds are, at some point, someone helped you out by giving you advice, or referring you for something, or just being kind to and patient with you, so pay it forward by referring people every chance you get, This is probably the number one way people in this community get jobs. Refer people you trust and like and want to see succeed. And, you know, if you're ever in the position, maybe write up a blog post or two about what you've learned. Then end it with a picture of a something funny, like a dog pooping.

[ginaippy2]

Street Harassment: No You're Not Just Being Nice

So this video has been making the rounds of the interwebs lately:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1XGPvbWn0A

I myself posted about it yesterday, and apparently, some people (no desire to pigeonhole or generalize, but my own personal experience has been that all of these people have been male) take issue with it because they don't feel a lot of the stuff in the video can be categorized as "cat calling." I've also seen a lot of responses to this, but felt the need to weigh in on it to hopefully show these people a different side to it.

Women are taught from a very early age to constantly be on our guard when we walk alone. We're told it's dangerous and we should do things like walk in the middle of the street at night so it's harder to snatch us away down dark alleys. We're told to walk with our keys in our hands, not talking on our phone, always being alert. If, god forbid, something DOES happen to one of us, there is often the refrain of "Well why would she walk by herself late at night?" The implication here is that we were asking for it by not being safe enough. So now look at how ridiculous it is to blame us for not being safe enough, but also tell us it's not okay to feel unsafe when someone yells something at us. Do you see the problem here?

Those of you saying things like "These guys are just saying hi to be friendly," ask yourself whether those guys would say hi to other guys. If the answer is no, then there is no way that they are just being friendly. When you say something to a woman that you wouldn't say to a man, the implication is that you're hoping for something to happen with that woman. The implication is that you give a level of respect to a man that you don't give to a woman.

I walk by myself quite frequently, and about 95% of the time, something is said to me. One time, it was "My friend here is going to rape you." Another time, it was "Hey pretty lady. You looking real pretty tonight." Another time, it was "Hi. Have a good evening." Those are clearly different levels, but the result is usually around the same. My hackles are instantly raised. I go on the alert. I clutch my pepper spray tighter and make sure my finger is on the button, ready to spray. I look behind me to make sure they're not following me (several times, they HAVE BEEN following me, and I can't even explain the terror that that induces). 

Women have every right to be able to walk down the street like everyone else without being told to smile, without being threatened with rape, or complimented on her pussy, and yes, they have every right to not have someone say hello to them simply because of their gender. Society conditioned us to be wary and alert, so now society has no right to tell us we're being rude by being wary and alert. Every single woman I know has a street harassment story. How many men do you know that have one?

If you are genuinely a nice guy, who has no ulterior motive for saying hi other than to try and brighten someone's day, and you would say it regardless of gender or attraction level, congratulations. Don't do it. This isn't me being cynical. It's me saying women have no idea what your intentions are when you say hi, and there is no reason to talk to a woman walking by herself when she is obviously on her way to go somewhere. Also, if your first instinct after watching that video was to say "Yeah but some of that wasn't harassment," then fine. So watch it again and take out every instance where you feel the woman in the video isn't being harassed, but being spoken to nicely. Then count up all the instances where you feel she is being harassed. Then ask yourself if maybe the not as bad incidences feel worse because of all the other incidences. 

Also, in case you don't think there's a problem, I'll leave you with this:

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/aspiring-actress-catcall-video-receiving-rape-threats-exec-article-1.1991391

[ginaippy2]

How to Have a Great Sketch Submission/Audition

So lately I've been getting asked a lot of questions about sketch submission packets and auditions. It can be a confusing process, especially if it's your first time submitting, and there are a lot of mistakes that people often make, so I decided to put some stuff down in a helpful little list that you can refer back to whenever you like. Keep in mind that a lot of this stuff is based on my own opinions and experiences, but seeing as I've read hundreds of packets, watched hundreds of auditions, and will be one of the ones grading them at iO this go around, I don't feel like TOO much of an asshole when I suggest you do these things.

YOUR WRITING PACKET

1. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, FORMAT IT PROPERLY. Look, I get that not everyone wants to shell out the dough for Final Draft. It's expensive, and we're broke comedians. Celtx, however, is totally free, and formats scripts in almost the exact same way Final Draft does, and once it's switched to a .PDF, you can barely tell the difference. You should never ever ever ever be writing scripts in word, or notepad, or any other non script writing program. It is off putting to look at and doesn’t transfer to pdf well. Also, if you have any desire to be a writer for a living, just shell out the money for Final Draft and then write it off come tax time. 

2. A PACKET SHOULD BE 3 FULL LENGTH SKETCHES. What this means is, you may think you have a hilarious blackout, and maybe you do, but the people reading packets typically want to see three fully fleshed out sketches. Three is not a lot, and we want to get a feel for what you can do. Throwing in a blackout is only hurting you. I am also not a fan of runners in packets, but that's more of a personal preference.

3. "FULL LENGTH" DOES NOT MEAN 7 PAGES. The sweet spot in terms of sketch length for me is between three and a half and four and a half pages. Anything longer than that, and it better be the best damn sketch I have ever read in my life. I understand that SNL does 10 minute sketches, but really, have you ever seen an episode and genuinely wanted the sketches to be that long? Also, there is a difference between a show on tv that's an hour and a half and a live sketch show that lasts 20 minutes. More than four pages and the readers WILL get bored. Trust me.

4. CHARACTER SKETCHES DO NOT READ WELL. Look, I'm sure you have an amazing sketch where you do an impression of French president Francois Hollande riding a pony during a snowstorm, but if the funny parts are overly dependent on your performance, it's probably not the best thing to submit when people will just be in their apartments, reading them quietly to themselves. Stick with premise stuff that's funny on paper.

5. OVERLY VISUAL SKETCHES DO NOT READ WELL. Again, I'm sure you have a great silent sketch ready to go, but keep in mind that seeing funny visual stuff is vastly different than reading funny visual stuff. If I write "Charlie Chaplin does the dance of the rolls by putting two dinner rolls on the ends of forks and using them as tiny legs and feet," you might be thinking "What the hell does that even mean?" However, when I show you the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoKbDNY0Zwg

you suddenly get it. Stick to sketches that don't need to be seen to get a laugh. Which leads directly to my next point...

6. TAKE OUT ANY UNNECESSARY STAGE DIRECTIONS. In a sketch packet, stage directions should be minimal. If it needs a ton of stage directions to be funny, don't include it in your packet.

7. MAKE SURE THE SKETCHES ARE VARIED. In writing, people often say “write what you know.” However, if I have three sketches in my sketch packet about being an Italian girl from suburban New Jersey with two cats, people are going to assume that that’s all I can write. If this is the only thing you want to write, then write a sitcom, or a movie, but sketch packets need to be show diversity in writing. Keep in mind that a sketch team is a team. You will be writing for other people, and audiences don't care who wrote what. I want to see three different sketches with different games and different kinds of characters.

8. RAPE, RACIAL HUMOR, AND "CONTROVERSIAL” JOKES ARE BEST LEFT TO THE EXPERTS. You may think your sketch about rape is absolutely hilarious, but I bet you 100 dollars the people reading your sketches won't think that. I am of the mindset that not much is off limits when it comes to comedy, but let's face it, you're not Dave Chappelle. I have read SO MANY packets with these above three elements in them, and I have, without fail, always found them to be in poor taste as opposed to "edgy." If you think being a racist is edgy, it’s time to take some more classes.

9. DON'T FORGET TO EDIT THAT TITLE PAGE. Once again, nothing screams "I don't know what I'm doing" faster than someone accidentally leaving a blank title page at the beginning of their packet. Include a title page with your name on it, and a title (It can literally just be *Your Name* Sketch Packet). If you’re not sure how to edit the title page, or how to save a document with the title page, Google it. It’s pretty simple and Google will explain exactly how to do it.

10. SHOW A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF GAME, BEAT, HEIGHTEN. I saved this one for last because it is by far the most important. While some coaches may disagree on what exactly it's called, whether it's "game" or "direction" or "thrust of the sketch," trust me when I say every sketch MUST have a game. You should be able to pitch your sketch to me in one sentence. The pitch is the game of the sketch. What this means is, if I have a sketch about a janitor who loves ham, I can pitch that to you as "there's a janitor who loves ham." If you can't easily pitch and summarize your sketch, it probably means you don't have a good grasp of what it's about, and the people who are reading it sure as hell won't either. Get out the game of the sketch, and then heighten it to make it funnier. Almost all of the time, the notes coaches give on packets that they like are "Strong understanding of game. Good heightening." If you don't know what these concepts mean, or have no idea how to implement them, you should take some classes and wait to submit until you do.

YOUR PERFORMER AUDITION

1. DO YOUR AUDITION SEVERAL TIMES FOR A FRIEND BEFORE YOU FILM IT. Having someone watch you is beneficial for a lot of reasons. The more you do it, the more comfortable you are, they may notice things you were previously unaware of, and they may have some good pitches or advice. If you have the funds, you can also hire someone who knows what they're doing to coach you a bit first. There are a lot of GREAT sketch actors in the community with reasonable rates for this kind of coaching. Ask around and you'll find them.

2. SHOW YOUR PERSONALITY. Whenever I coach people, I tell them that yes, the people watching these videos want to see your characters, but we also want to see you. Even something as simple as how you introduce yourself tells us a lot. Do you seem nervous? Shy? Bubbly? Warm? I have seen the note "likable" a lot when it comes time to grade auditions, and it has never hurt someone to be labeled as such. Treat the camera like a friend in the room with you. Engage with it. We want to know if the audience will like you, and this is the easiest way to tell.

3. FIND SOME WAY TO MAKE IT PHYSICAL. The truly great sketch actors I have seen use everything at their disposal. They not only change their voice or their accent, they change their physicality. If you're playing a blue collar dock worker on an episode of Law & Order who just found out he's married to a giraffe, I want to see you be that character. If your three minute audition is you standing stock still in the same pose and position, you're not utilizing everything you could be to make it great. Move around a bit, shift your stance, make big hand motions if that's what your character would do. This keeps it visually interesting.

4. ACCENTS DO NOT EQUAL CHARACTERS. Look, everyone I know can do an accent, whether it be Russian, German, Southern, etc. This doesn't mean everyone I know would make a great sketch actor. If your character hinges solely on the fact that you're doing an accent other than your own and that's all, it's time to take some more character classes.

5. STAY AWAY FROM RACIST OR HOMOPHOBIC STEREOTYPES. If you are a white man, and you intend to play some form of black stereotype, I can tell you right now, you aren't going to make a team. Ditto for gay stereotypes. If your idea of a character is affecting an effeminate lisp, making your wrist go limp, and talking about what you and your bitches are going to do at the club this weekend, you should not audition. No one thinks it's funny, and it will result in you getting a reputation, so that if and when you do wise up, no one will want you on their team by that point anyway.

6. JERSEY GUIDO, MINNESOTA MOM, SORORITY/VALLEY GIRL MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, AND KRISTEN STEWART SHOULD BE BANNED IN AUDITIONS. Seriously, I have seen each of these so many times that it's not only not funny anymore, it actually just annoys me. Once again, these are voices/characters almost every human being can do. We don't want to see them again. All it proves is that you're a limited performer who sticks to tired old tropes.

7. FIND A WAY TO MAKE IT DIFFERENT. We want to see what you, as a performer, will bring to a team. What unique role will you be able to fill? I have seen people make teams who weren't necessarily the strongest sketch actors simply because they were so different from everyone else. This doesn't mean you have to gain 800 pounds and dye your hair pink to stand out. It means that whatever you're doing, try and look at it from a unique angle. Bring something to it that no one has thought of before, and trust me, it will pay off.

8. WATCH AS MANY AUDITIONS AS YOU CAN. Someone just recently asked me "What should go on a sketch audition reel." I asked him how many he'd watched, and the answer was clearly zero. The internet is a bottomless resource. Google "SNL auditions" or "Maude auditions" or "character reel" and then watch, watch, watch. Do NOT watch them to copy, but to see what you personally find funny and interesting. Take notes. Watch good ones and bad ones and figure out what makes the good ones good and the bad ones bad. You can't watch too many auditions. It's not possible.

9. IF YOU HAVE A SPECIAL SKILL, SHOW IT OFF. If you're an amazing singer, make sure one of your characters sings. If you're an amazing juggler, make sure one of them juggles. If you studied mime for years, there had better be a mime character in that reel. This is a no brainer. It will make you stand out.

10. VARY YOUR CHARACTERS. The number one negative comment I see given to performers is that their three minutes of characters were "too one note." I don't want to see you play three mush mouthed singer songwriters. I likewise don't want to see three sassy loudmouths or three Russian mobsters. If I had a nickel for every time I have seen a girl do Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Taylor Swift impressions in her reel, I'd be rich. The characters should all be very different, in every aspect. Start making a list of characters you often do in improv shows, or when joking around with friends. Then eliminate those that are too similar.

FINAL ADVICE FOR EVERYONE

Don't be bummed out if you don't make a team the first time you try. The first year I submitted for a Maude team at UCB, I didn't make it. I set up a meeting with the AD to get notes on the writing packet that I had submitted, and then asked what he recommended I do for the next year to get better. Then, I took classes, wrote as many sketches as I could, put them up at Not Too Shabby and some indie sketch nights, and wrote a Spank show. The next year, I submitted again and got placed on a team as a writer. There are a lot of talented people in this community, and simply not enough room for all of them on teams. A lot of people don't make it. The smart ones work their asses off and get as much experience as they can. The others sit about, wait for the next round of submissions to roll around and submit again, having not gotten any stronger. Not making a team isn't the end of the world. There are tons of opportunities to get your stuff seen. There are a slew of indie venues that incorporate sketch. Again, ask around and you'll find them.

I'm sure there are a lot of great coaches out there who could tell you what other stuff I've left off this list. Ask them their advice. I'm sure they'll be happy to share it. That's all I got for now, so good luck!

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Mortal Kombat: Sub Zero's Girlfriend Finishes Him

I wrote this video, y'all! It's Sub Zero's birthday, and his loving girlfriend has a big surprise in store for him. Subscribe for more Mutiny! Like them on Facebook: https://www.facebo...

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#YesAllWomen : We're allowed to be complex

So ever since the #YesAllWomen movement started in the wake of the horrific events that took place on May 23rd, my FB and Twitter feeds have been flooded by stories of abuse and harassment by women, and supportive words from most male friends. I have also been questioned a lot by some male friends who want to know things like, "How are you supposed to know a woman doesn't want to be hit on?" and "Would it make a difference if the person flirting with you was someone you're attracted to?" The short answer is: it's complicated.

Of course, no one is saying (or at least I hope no one is saying) never flirt with a woman ever again. That would lead to some sort of weird, dystopian society in which robots collect semen samples from men and implant them into women who give birth to a new generation of no sex-having lonely hearts. I like to call that society "Blue Ball-opolis." It doesn't sound appealing at all. What people ARE saying is go ahead and flirt, or go up to a woman at a bar and hit on her, but if she shows no interest and does not reciprocate, back the poop off. I have made this point in the past in several blog posts, but people NEED to be better about reading signals. Don't mistake a woman not wanting to be outright rude with a woman wanting to bang. I shouldn't have to be a mega bitch to you to get the point across that I don't want to be bothered. I realize some men are socially awkward and not great at reading cues. If that's you, maybe it's better you avoid these types of situations. I'm not trying to be an asshole or punish people for being shy and inexperienced, but if you can't tell the difference between polite disinterest and panty burning lust, maybe just stick with internet dating and friends setting you up rather than approaching women in social situations for the purpose of getting laid.

I had a friend recently ask me if so and so (male casual acquaintance whom I find creepy) and so and so (male friend with whom I have a flirty rapport) both said the same thing to me, would it have the same effect? If I'm okay with one of them flirting with me, why not the other? To that, I responded, of course I do not treat everyone equally when it comes to stuff like that. I am allowed to be okay with some things, and not okay with others. Nothing is black and white. People are complex individuals with complex emotions. Just because one friend can make a joke about my boobs does not mean everyone in the world is allowed to do so. This concept should not be hard to grasp, but yet, I have been hearing a lot of guys comment that, "It all depends on whether the guy is attractive if it's harassment or flirting." This concept is so ridiculous, for one, because everyone is attracted to different things, and no one is found universally attractive by everyone (except Michael Fassbender, obviously), and two, even if that WERE the case, who are you to tell me whether I should be okay with something?

I hate to resort to this, since I feel it's already been put out there as an example, but I'm going to frame it in a way that hopefully most men can understand. Men, say you're at a bar. You're straight, and you may want someone to flirt with you or hit on you, because it's fun, or you want the attention, or you want to get laid, or you are looking for a relationship. A gay man comes up to you and is clearly interested. You don't want to seem rude or make a scene, so you either engage in polite conversation, or you flat out state you're not interested, albeit politely. Now, how annoyed would you be if the guy continued to make comments about the size of your package after you felt you made it clear you were uncomfortable? Now imagine if 50% of the world's population was gay men. This wasn't an isolated incident, but rather happened every single time you went out. You complain to your female friends, and they say "If you didn't want to get hit on by gay men, why did you go out?" They tell you, "Maybe you should be meaner next time it happens so they'll know you're not interested." Then next time you go out to a bar, a woman you think is intriguing/sexy/cute comes up and flirts with you and you reciprocate. Your friends then say "Oh okay I get it. It's okay for her to do it but not all those gay men? Do you want people to hit on you, or not?" The scenario works, too, if it's say, a woman you are not attracted to, and find weird for whatever reason. Even if your friends think she's attractive, you may not want to be hit on by this woman. Every situation, every individual, every interaction is different, and no sweeping statement can possibly cover all the complex emotions and feelings we have as individuals and as a society.

Do you see how ridiculous the above scenario is? I hope your response to your friends would be something along the lines of "I am the one who decides what behavior is and is not appropriate when it comes to interacting with me, not you." Each circumstance is unique, and while that may confuse some of you who want a clean, neat answer tied up with a little bow of, "You treat every woman exactly like this and it is okay, and don't treat any woman like this and you'll be okay," the world doesn't work like that. I'm sure your friends can joke around about stuff that you would be pissed off if you heard from a stranger. 

Here comes another shocker for those of you still reading. Women are capable of making dirty jokes, and having a dirty sense of humor, and still not being okay with being sexually harassed. Just because I write sketches about aliens giving fish people blowjobs (I haven't written that one yet, but rest assured, it is now in my pitch notebook) and just because I make super blue jokes with my guy friends does not mean it is okay for you to ask me personal questions about my sex life and think I'm cool with it. Yes, I may make a lot more dirty jokes than some women. Yes, I may "giggle uncontrollably when people use fake dicks as swords." None of this means I am cool with being harassed. Again, I am allowed to be a complex individual who does all these things, and yet also be extremely private about my personal life. I am allowed to dodge questions about what kinds of sex positions are my favorite, or whether or not I'm seriously dating anyone, because hey, answering that crap makes me uncomfortable. Doing bits about a girl whose face is a vagina does not make me uncomfortable.

Finally, I want to make it clear that yes, a lot of women like being complimented. Yes, a lot of women like being flirted with. Again, I realize this sounds like a complicated concept to grasp, but enjoying these things does not make catcalling, whistling, pursuing a woman after she's made it clear she's not interested, and any number of other behaviors okay. That crap isn't flattering. At its best, it's annoying. At its worst, it's terrifying and anxiety inducing. This shouldn't have to be said, but you are not entitled to anything. Just because your guy friend has a hot, great girlfriend does not mean you deserve one. Just because you've never raped a girl does not make you entitled to the "best" or the "prettiest" girl. Just because a girl may be dating a rich asshole and you feel you're a super nice guy does not mean you're entitled to a supermodel. Imagine if even a small percentage of the women you encountered felt they were entitled to go out with you. A woman you have no interest in comes up, hits on you, and gets annoyed when you aren't into it. She asks if you're gay, if you have a girlfriend, if you think you can do better than her. Maybe she doesn't ask it, but secretly, she wonders it. Then she goes home and says to all of her friends "Why does everyone get a hot guy except me? I deserve a hot guy."

People are complex. If you're genuinely curious about the stuff your female friends have been posting, by all means, ask them, but don't make the mistake of giving them advice about how they should or should not feel when someone flirts with them. Don't make the mistake of suggesting stuff they can do to combat behavior. It may be coming from a good place, but trust me when I say that women have been hearing it all their lives. Instead, save that advice for the next time you see a guy cornering a woman on the metro, or at a bar, or the next time your poker buddies make a joke about raping a chick. Continue to be supportive, continue to read the stories people are posting, and continue the open dialogue this movement has started, because it's not gonna last forever.

[vossprov]

A while ago I worked on a post for Splitsider that sought to reconcile the differences in game philosophy between UCB and iO. As someone who had been trained at both theaters, I never agreed with the characterization that “UCB is all about game; iO is about the relationship.”

After gathering...

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Pretty much one of the best things I've ever read on the iO vs. UCB debate.

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2014 Annual Scripted Comedy Festival!

Standups, comedians, sketch performers, writers, listen up! From Sunday, February 16th through Saturday, February 22nd, the LA Scripted Comedy Festival will be taking place at iO West. They will have a variety of different shows going on at all three stages. If you'd like to be involved, there are a number of categories, all with prizes.  For the standup competition, first prize is $250. Same with the storytelling competition (you just have to tell a great story onstage!). For the video short competition, first prize is $100. Whoever wins the video pilot award and written pilot award gets a table read of both in front of big wigs complete with a cast of celebs. Sketch people, if you win sketch cagematch or 24 hour sketch, you get a four week show run on the mainstage at io and get a comedy central stage showcase! Deadline to submit is January 24th. 

Here is the link to more info:

http://ioimprov.com/west/scriptedfestival/

And the link for the application itself:

http://ioimprov.com/west/scriptedfestival/application

Good luck, all!