What’s the difference between an inside joke with friends and a comedic performance on stage? For, the the University tWits, an IU sketch comedy group, it’s not much. From the initial spark of an idea to the actual show, collaboration is a key part of the group's performances.
IU senior Bonnibel Gawron has written many sketches throughout her time in the University tWits. Like many other comedians, her ideas for sketches come from her conversations with friends. Gawron said that the jokes or funny conversations that people have with their friends can often be expanded into full-length sketches, no matter how random the joke may seem at the time.
After finding that initial sketch idea, it’s time to start writing. The writing process can differ from comedian to comedian. In Gawron’s case, once the idea is there, then the writing is quick to follow. Gawron said the easiest way to overcome writer’s block is by having oneself, or a friend, ask questions about the skit. Asking yourself what the characters could be thinking or what they would do in a particular scenario is a good way to overcome writers block, according to Gawron.
“By asking those questions, you are not only delivering that information to the audience and telling them what's happening,” Gawron said. “You are also using that as a tool for yourself to figure out what's happening next.”
Once the sketch is done, members of the University tWits will all pitch their finished skits during the first day of their official show rehearsals at the table read. Typically, planning for a show will start two weeks before the actual performance. Rehearsals before that are spent primarily playing improv games and workshopping various sketch ideas.
The table read consists of members doing a run through of all the sketches pitched and then anonymously rating them on a scale from one to seven. This data is plugged into an excel program by Adam Longstreth, an IU senior and member of the University tWits. It’s this program, called “the Leviathan” by the group, that quickly averages out those scores and puts them on a list from most to least points.
According to Longstreth, around 20 of the sketches pitched will make it into the show. While this number varies from show to show depending on length of the sketch, Longstreth has found that a 55-page script works best for the time allotted for each show. The group bases the number of skits per show on how many fit within that page count.
Then it’s on to the rewrites. The sketch comedy group gets around two days of in order to tweak characters and parts of the script together as a group. Longstreth said this also meant finding any recurring bits that they could place throughout the sketches in order to make the performance all the more cohesive. From those two days of rewrites to the moment the skit is performed on stage, a lot can still change.
“We add new bits and new little tweaks to the lines and stuff throughout the show,” Longstreth said. “So, they're always kind of fluid, always changing, but they're pretty much 95% done by the end of rewrites week.”
In the groups last performance on Feb. 28, Longstreth was making changes all the way up to the actual show when he changed the voice of one of his characters during the performance of the sketch.
The sketch comedy group will normally have three to four performances a semester. On the week of these performances, the group will rehearse every day leading up to the show. A lot of this time is spent memorizing both lines and staging for a sketch, a task which Longstreth thinks can be one of the most challenging parts of performing sketch comedy. Longstreth said that if a sketch requires a lot of blocking or if a character has a lot of repeating or similar lines, it becomes easier for one thing to go wrong and throw the entire sketch out of order.
Another challenge in a sketch is any long monologues a character might have. Cassie Reader, an IU senior and member of the University tWits, has seen her fair share of long and difficult monologues which she said were more common during her early years in the group.
“People were just throwing in huge monologues, and they were very funny monologues, but one person would be talking forever,” Reader said. “That's really difficult because we only have one week to get ready for the show and so having to memorize not only all of your other sketches, but now you also have like four monologues right in the middle of the show.”
Though the comedy groups' performances don’t necessarily stick to a regular schedule, there is typically a themed performance during the start of the spring semester. Reader said these themed performances take longer to create and rehearse. Planning starting as soon as two months before the show, as they involve a lot of recurring characters, storylines and tropes in the sketches.
While the comedic writing and performing is what makes the show a reality on the stage, Reader said it was the community within the comedy group that is essential to making a performance great. She said the trust built between performers on and off stage is the most important fix for any mistakes that may be made in a performance.
“There is no great performance, and there is no good comedy until you build community and trust,” Reader said. “Because once you're on that stage and you forget a line, which everybody does, you need to be able to lean on the person next to you. Without a rapport built and a friendship made, it not only brings you down but also brings the group down as well.”
