Sketch Comedy Format: The Commercial

26 August 2009 | By Ben in Comedy

I took an intensive sketch comedy class and will be sharing some common formats used to write comedy sketches. A format is just a rough guide to follow when creating a certain type of sketch. It can be used to plugin an existing idea “I want to write about space aliens who work at TJ Max,” or to help generate a new sketch one with a specific focus “Let’s think of a cool commercial concept.”

The first format is the commercial, which has two variants: Announcer Style and SNL Style.

Announcer Style:

- 3 Characters: Announcer and two customers

CUSTOMER 1

I have a problem

CUSTOMER 2

I also have a problem, but how can we solve it?

ANNOUNCER

Do you have this problem?

CUSTOMER 1

Yeah, but how can we solve it

ANNOUNCER

With [product name]. [Description]. [Tag line].

CUSTOMER 2

Ahh!

Ben’s Example:

CUSTOMER 1

My garden smells too natural and foresty

CUSTOMER 2

Yeah, I’m sick of all these fresh smelling flowers

ANNOUNCER

Does your home and garden smell too good?

CUSTOMER 2

Yeah!

ANNOUNCER

Try this: Hobo musk

CUSTOMER 2 sprays can of hobo musk, breathes in, coughs violently

CUSTOMER 2

Ahhh!

ANNOUNCER

Hobo musk: Don’t just visit New York, live it!

SNL Style:

- Product doesn’t exist, create a need for the product
- Explain how the product works and what it does, with graphics if possible
- Show testimonials
- Tag at the end

SNL Example:

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2 Comments on “Sketch Comedy Format: The Commercial”

  1. 27 August 2009 | Sketch Comedy Format: Receptionist - Shopkeeper | Ben Rosenfeld - Comedian Said:

    [...] is the Receptionist – Shop Keeper. The dialogue isn’t as structured here as it is in the commercial sketch, but there are some guildlines that [...]

     

  2. 26 October 2009 | Sketch Comedy Format: Superhero | Ben Rosenfeld - Comedian Said:

    [...] 1 Similar to a commercial, two people are having a problem and they ask, “can anyone help us?” The Superhero comes in and [...]

     

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