UCB’s Sketchy Advice: Frank Garcia HejlSketchy Advice: A new segment from UCB Comedy. Established sketch writers from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre offer sketch students advice on being creative, the writing process, and adding to a writer’s room.
This week’s featured writer is Frank Garcia Hejl, a teacher at UCB’s Training Center, writer for the sketch team Onassis, improviser on the Harold team Bucky, and actor in many UCB Comedy videos.
You can follow Onassis HERE, or reserve tickets to Bucky’s improv show, Here and Now, HERE.
-Write something- ANYTHING- Every day. Even if it’s a few joke tweets, blog posts, stream of consciousness….literally anything that takes some thought and a tiny bit of creativity.
-Know that every first draft is supposed to be bad. If every first draft you wrote was perfect, congratulations! You probably wouldn’t be reading this post. You’d be swimming Scrooge McDuck style in millions of dollars and beautiful models because you’d be the ONLY writer in existence this ever happened to and would get hired for every writing job in the entire world! IT’S OK IF A FIRST DRAFT IS TERRIBLE! You at least put the idea to paper (computer screen) and you can work from there. Something is better than nothing. Something is one step closer than nothing. Put that fear and ego aside. You’ll be fine.
-Learn to take notes. Even if you don’t agree with a director, head writer, or group, TAKE THE NOTE! The beauty of drafts is that YOU ALWAYS HAVE THE ORIGINAL. A head writer or director’s word is not gospel, but that being said, take the fucking note. Write to the note and see if it works. Don’t begrudgingly do it, actually apply the notes. The only way you grow as a writer is exploring outside of your comfort zone. As you go along, you see what applies to your style and what doesn’t. The worst thing you can do is shut yourself off. You’ll know when you’re right. But you only know AFTER the fact. Take the note and write. All is not lost if it doesn’t work. That original draft will always exist.
-Just because your head writer/director/group passes on the pitch/idea doesn’t mean it’s dead. If you believe in it enough, but people shot it down…do it yourself. No idea is ever truly bad or dead. It can still live on if you believe in it. Sometimes it’s just not good for the moment, group you’re in, head writer or director. That’s a lot against you, but if you believe in it, make it so. It just might not be as soon as you want.
-Put your work on its feet. Have read-throughs and put it up anywhere that will have you. There is no better editing tool than seeing it on its feet. You can rewrite to death, but once you put it on its feet or hear it out loud, you’ll know if it needs more or less.
-Make small goals for yourself. If you want to write Onion headlines, force yourself to write a handful of Onion headlines a week. If you want to write monologue/Weekend Update jokes, force yourself to write a handful of those a day/week, etc. If you primarily want to be a sketch writer, write a shit ton of sketches and film them/put them on their feet. But ALSO learn how to write monologue jokes and desk pieces. More than likely you will be submitting for late night talk shows and it’s a skill you’ll want to have (even if it’s not your strongest).
-Don’t limit yourself. If you write mostly premise based sketches and you feel you’re good at it, challenge yourself to write more character, parody or topical/political sketches. Remember that you have to start somewhere and it’s not easy. You’ll definitely suck at it for a while. But if you flex that muscle, before you know it you’ll be able to tackle any kind of sketch rather than just one kind.
-LIVE A LIFE. As a writer you can fall into the trap of being stuck in front of a computer for hours and hours. Go outside! Do something as small as taking a new route home or going out of your way to see a movie at a theater you’ve never been to. Watch documentaries or read news stories about topics that you normally wouldn’t. You never know where inspiration can be. It has to happen organically, but it only happens when you expose yourself to elements that live outside of your normal routines.
-House teams are not the be all end all. Just because you don’t make a house team doesn’t mean you’re not talented or good. There are so many factors that go into creating house teams at comedy theaters and some really talented and funny people ALWAYS get overlooked. Make your own way. The stage is yours for the taking!
-POV and philosophy are gasoline for your characters. Behavior is only part of it. If you have a solid POV and philosophy for a character in a sketch, they can literally react to anything and everything truthfully as that character, leaving it open to fresh and surprising game moves.
-Overall, BE PATIENT AND DO THE WORK. Success and results come at different times for different people. But one constant still remains…do the work.Don’t get petty and jealous because what you want isn’t happening for you at the time you want it. Do the work and improve. People will notice. But you have to show them. BE UNDENIABLE.
Frank Garcia Hejl is a graduate of the University of North Texas with a degree in Sociology and English. There, he had an indie/alt radio show called Frequency Down and studied improv and sketch comedy at Four Day Weekend Theater. In January ‘07, he moved to New York to study at UCB. He has studied improv under Kate Spencer, Ari Voukydis, Joe Wengert, Shannon O’Neill, Anthony King, Will Hines, Curtis Gwinn, Neil Casey, Charlie Todd, Kevin Hines, Silvija Ozols and Chris Gethard. Frank has also studied sketch with Curtis Gwinn, Michael Delaney, Peter Gwinn, Liz Cackowski, Donald Glover, Neil Casey and Seth Reiss. Frank is a writer/actor for the Maude team Onassis and is also a member of the Harold team Bucky. His favorite film of all time is a tie between Ghostbusters and Gremlins. Seriously.
Management: Brillstein Entertainment Partners
UCB's Sketchy Advice: Frank Garcia Hejl:
