Fish Out Of Water: A Sketch Writing Podcast
46 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 6 years ago - ★★★★★ - 18 ratings"Fish Out Of Water" is a comedy writing podcast hosted by Jeremiah Burton and Ryan Tweedy. Each week they have a new guest join them and talk about various types of comedy writing, from Television to the internet to live theatre. Its a podcast where comedians get to nerd out about writing comedy and talk about what makes them laugh.
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Episodes
Untitled Episode
March 19, 2018 11:21 - 1 hourIn this episode, Catherine Donnelly, joined us to talk about getting web series into festivals and what goes into writing and producing internet content. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
44. Nerding out with Jake Michels
February 27, 2018 16:16 - 1 hourIn this episode Jere and Tweedy are joined by Jake Michels (June's Cleaver, Geek and Sundry) to talk about the frustrations of being a writer or performer. I'm sure this conversation will link up to many types of writing and comedy. Of course they also read some sketches and do some pitching. Tweedy opens up like these two are his therapists. If you want to hear a man cry in his coffee about sketch comedy - then THIS is the episode for you. Check us out on Twitter: @foowpod See acast.com/p...
43. R.I.P. iO West
February 20, 2018 15:28 - 59 minutesiO west is dead. Jeremiah and Ryan were both performers there for years and we will miss it dearly. We decided to scream into the black void that is the internet on this week's episode. We both loved the opportunities that iO gave us, we loved the community and we loved our teams. We gained many, many things from the theatre and we owe it a lot. We get into all positives and negatives on the podcast and if gossiping like high school kids is your thing then this is the episode for you. #RIPIOW...
42. Beat Boxing with Eddie Rowley
February 13, 2018 15:00 - 1 hourOur dear, dear friend, Eddie Rowley, jumps on Fish Out Of Water with us this week to talk about Shakespeare, being an actual actor and what he thinks is funny. Eddie is a California Native that has been writing and performing for over a decade. In wit is only matched by his musical genius and he brings a new energy to the show. Plus he beat boxes so he's way cooler than us. Get more info on Dad Jeans HERE Get more info on June's Cleaver HERE Check FOOW on Funny or Die HERE Like us on Faceboo...
41. Henry Kaiser and the FOOW Pod renaissance
January 30, 2018 12:20 - 1 hourBoy Howdy is it good to be back! Jeremiah and Ryan took a 4 month hiatus to make some videos, work some jobs and kick some ass and we're all out of video ideas. So here we are, ready to do season 2 of the Fish Out Of Water podcast! We got really lucky to have our first guest of the new season be Henry Kaiser. This is actually the lost episode from season 1 but we wanted to start here because it was such a good episode. Moving forward we are switching up the format to feel like more of wr...
40. Nathan Caywood talks about persistence and never giving up
August 14, 2017 11:32 - 1 hourNate is a performer on The New Deal at the Upright Citizens Brigade and has been a writer/performer all over Los Angeles. He started performing comedy in college and has never stopped. You may recognize from TV shows and movies and all sorts of cool things. You can follow Nate on Twitter HERE You can follow Fish Out Of Water on Twitter HERE Send us your scripts to critique at [email protected] See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Vis...
39. Eric Owusu talks about getting a literary agent and writing for "Raven's Home"
August 07, 2017 10:30 - 1 hourEric Owusu (Wuwu) joins Ryan and Jeremiah to talk about how he got his literary agent. He also has written sketch shows and pilots and pitched them all over Los Angeles. After joining a sketch team in college and going to Washington D.C., he was accepted into the CBS diversity showcase and moved to Hollywood. Now he writes for Raven's Home on The Disney Channel and also for Dad Jean's at iO West. We also want to thank Hayley Ellman for sending in a sketch to read this week. Find Eric on Twitt...
38. Jesse Klein talks about how to never not have a pitch ready.
July 31, 2017 10:43 - 1 hourWe are lucky to have Jesse Klein, writer for the Pack house team Haymaker, with us today. Jesse talks with us about idea generation and always being prepared with several pitches and sketch packets for every occasion. Another thing that Jesse shows us is a way in generate an infinite number of sketch premises and honestly it's pretty great. On the show we came up with over half of a dozen sketch premises in less than 5 minutes. The episode is worth the listen for that part alone. Jesse has wr...
37. Zora Bikangaga talks about respecting the audience while still writing for yourself
July 24, 2017 21:09 - 1 hourZora Bikangaga may possibly be our most interesting guest to date. This man has been on "This American life" because he pretended to be an Ugandan international student for an entire semester. After committing to the bit for so long he followed his new found love of acting and writing down to Los Angeles. I say down because he's from Northern California. Mr. B was a middle school teacher and a social issues theatre performer and talks about using some those real situations to create...
36. Connie Shin talks about making sketches easier to write by formulating beats 1st
July 17, 2017 10:00 - 1 hourConnie Shin joined us on FOOW this week to talk about writing for her Maude team Karate Karate, her process of formulating beats before she writes her sketches and the task of trying to identifying legitimate news stories vs ads. Connie Shin currently writes for the team Karate Karate at UCB's Maude night and sometimes Sketch Cram. She also performs improv with group "KanYay! West" and sketch with "Basic Bitches". Follow Connie on Twitter HERE See the trailer for "I do...Until I don't" HERE T...
35. Billy Merritt talks about finding the deeper meaning in your sketches
July 10, 2017 16:01 - 1 hourBilly Merritt graced FOOW this week to talk about scientology, not writing for the Denny's Twitter feed and finding the deeper meaning in your sketches. We discussed writing material that appeals to all ages (and the fact that all kids across the world laugh at fart jokes) and using your "where" to help find the deeper meaning in your sketches if you're stuck while writing. Billy has been a performer, teacher and director with the UCB Theatre since it first opened in New York. He is a foundin...
34. Brian James O'Connell, co-writer of "Blood Sucking Bastards”, joins us to help decipher if a sketch is meant for stage or screen.
July 03, 2017 10:56 - 1 hourBrian James O'Connell (better known as BOC) stopped by to talk to us about digital comedy and screenwriting. He broke down the process that his comedy team "Dr. God" goes through as they create films and digital sketch. They started as an improv team and then decided to take it to the next level. BOC is also a co-founder of the Pack Theatre and the head of their digital program. He wants to make sure that everyone understands that if you can write and you look for the resources to create - yo...
33. Joe Hartzler teaches us about comedic suspense
June 26, 2017 10:40 - 1 hourJoe Hartzler, the master of comedic suspense, joins us to talk about taking the audience on a laugh voyage, not just a laugh bus ride. Mr. Hartzler wants comedians to start using every part of the bit, not just the funny part. He helped us explore the nature of our comedy by showing us the many paint brushes that we have artists - not just the obvious ones. Joe has been a performer at UCB since 2007 and taught improv there for several years. He was a member of one of the first maude teams - U...
32. Joan Ford talks about making your villains more likable and relateable
June 19, 2017 07:00 - 1 hourJoan Ford is super smart and thoughtful. That's what I liked the most about this conversation. We talked about the trap that many writers fall in to - especially when writing about something that bothers them or makes them angry. Joan spoke to the idea of writing characters that you don't like in real life and broke down a challenge she gave herself which was to find the humanity in them and make them relatable and more accessible.Ultimately, she was trying to find a way to make assholes fun...
31. David Baldy, Writer for Wilfred and Co-Exec. Producer for Deadbeat, talks about how to get started as a Staff Writer
June 12, 2017 12:13 - 1 hourDavid Baldy, who has had many writers jobs and various production jobs in Hollywood, was kind enough to stop in and talk to us for damn near 2 hours. This episode is loaded with tips on how to get that staff writer job you've always wanted. Mr. Baldy, took calculated risks but also made sure he was prepared for the job he wanted. He started as a writers assistant and worked through the ranks until he reached the level of Co-Executive Producer. He shared with us how he got started and also how...
30. Charlie Mihelich talks about writing from a place of privilege
June 05, 2017 10:23 - 1 hourCharlie is a writer for the team "The Truce" and a host of the popular indie improv show "Purgatory" at the Clubhouse. He also hosts Catharsis: Dramatic Improv at UCB Sunset. We delve into a deep conversation in this episode and It pops up fairly organically. Charlie brings up an interesting point that it's easier for Straight White Males to find everything funny because of our place of privilege in society. It makes for an interesting discussion. We'd love to hear what everyone thinks. So ch...
29. Anna Cecilia Talks About What She Learned As The Head Writer For the CBS Diversity Showcase
May 29, 2017 10:49 - 1 hourAnna is a phenomenal writer and one of the funniest people we've had on our podcast BUT that pales in comparison to how hard of a worker she is by all accounts. So, obviously we were very appreciative that she made time in her busy schedule to come on and talk with us. And talk she did, we spoke about the best practices for getting to be a part of the CBS diversity showcase. She explained how she puts a packet together, what should and should not go into it, how long it should be and also som...
28. Bob Wiltfong, "The Daily Show" writer and Correspondent, tells how he got his job .
May 22, 2017 10:07 - 1 hourBob Wiltfong has had many successes in life. He was a writer and correspondent for "The daily Show With Jon Stewart", he was in the pilot episode of "The Chapelle Show" and had a very lucrative run with a one man show at the fringe festival. He talks about how he accomplished all of that and he also gives pointers so that we can actively pursue the same goals if we so choose. Follow Bob on Twitter: twitter.com/bobwiltfong Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/foowpod Send us sketches to read: fo...
27. Hal Rudnick and creating original characters (like Eric Jennifer).
May 15, 2017 11:12 - 1 hourOur old friend, Hal Rudnick, joins us this week and talks about his process in creating characters and writing sketches. You may know Hal from "The Midnight Show", "Screen Junkies", and "Tournament of Nerds" plus he's been all over your TV and internet. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL, Hal is in the next season of "America's Got Talent" doing an original character he calls Eric Jennifer. Mr Rudnick is a character expert. He would have a PHD from Harvard in character creation - if that was a thing. Hal te...
26. Will Hines Talks About The Importance Of Being Yourself In Comedy
May 08, 2017 11:35 - 1 hourWill Hine is an improv legend,. He's also an author, a sketch writer, a maude director, a teacher, a podcaster and an honest, genuine guy. Not to mention he's insightful and thoughtful when finding the comedy nuggets in the mundane details. This is a great episode in finding the truth in comedy, the grounded reality that we can all relate to and laugh at together. You may want to grab a notebook and jot down some of Will's brilliance - or don't - I'm not here to tell you what to do. We also b...
25. Andy Harris On Creating Ungodly Amounts of Topical Bits For Radio Shows
May 01, 2017 11:30 - 1 hourAndy Harris is a freelance Comedy Writer for Radio Shows all over this glorious country. He has over a decade of experience and has worked with many, many clients. His job consists of writing and producing up to 20 bits a day, so naturally we talked to him about his idea generation process. Andy guides us through how he comes up with so many, nearly 100, topical sketches a week. His process is very different than what we usually do on this show and he even presents us with a finished product ...
24. Mark Rennie Talks About Finding Your Voice
April 24, 2017 11:17 - 1 hourMark Rennie is the director of UCB Maude team "Karate Karate" and he is also one of the creators of the popular web series "Gay of Thrones" on Funny or Die. Mark was kind enough to come in and meet with us and talk about finding our personal voices. It was a good discussion about how we should be writing what makes us laugh and writing what we want to see on a stage. He has many great ideas about comedy and my personal favorite was "who cares what assholes think?" Who cares, indeed Mark. Who ...
23. Mike Canale On Making A Sketch Team
April 17, 2017 11:02 - 1 hourMaking Canale, the Managing Director, as well as one of the main voices in putting together sketch teams at iO West talked to Ryan about what goes into deciding who has got the goods during the audition process. We talk about what you should put into a writing packet and how to approach both a scene and solo character audition. We also talk about enjoying what you do. Mike brings up how important having fun is to the process. This was a great episode, even if Jeremiah was in Portland. See ...
22. Bill Kessler on Writing For Game Shows
April 10, 2017 10:01 - 1 hourBill Kessler wrote for Hollywood Squares in its hay day! He tells us how he got that job and also the things he could have done differently once he was in it. We also got to pick his brain for the almost 20 years of sketch writing experience he has. Bill also wrote and starred in a successful web series called "Gary CK needs work". We talk to him a little bit about the process and how to generate ideas for web series of our own. Watch "Gary CK Needs Work" : https://www.facebook.com/pg/garyc...
21. Kate Huffman Talks About Creating A One Person Show
April 03, 2017 10:25 - 1 hourKate Huffman, ladies and gentlemen! She is a Writer/Performer for the team Drug Money at iO West and also a Writer/Performer for the team Sidekick who you can see at The Second City. Kate also recently premiered a one woman show called "I'm Too Fat For This Show" which will be having a run at the Los Angeles Fringe Festival June 2nd, 10th, 18th, 19th, and 25th (link below for more info). Kate was kind enough to talk to us about the process of writing a one women show and all the challenges th...
20. Joey Clift Talks About The Importance Of Follow Through
March 27, 2017 10:39 - 1 hourJoey Clift is a Los Angeles based comedian who mailed his beard to a presidential candidate, who outsmarted the Garfield twitter team, who has a team of comedians that throws hamburgers at audience members. Joey also hosts a podcast called "25 Minutes of Silence" and co hosts "You Should Love Wrestling". Where does he get all the ideas? Boredom. Joey sits down with hosts Jeremiah and Ryan and talks about the idea of the bit being as important as the bit and how actually following through wit...
19. James Mastraieni Talks About Vulnerability In Comedy
March 20, 2017 11:36 - 1 hourJames Mastraieni is one of the most funny and arguably highest comedians in Los Angeles. You may know him from his successful live show and podcast "I'm Too Effing High" as well as long running improv show "Outside Dog Gets One Star". He's written all over the city with his writing partner Drew Difonzo Marks and also for the comedy powerhouse, Comedy Central. He coaches and teaches and performs and he's also a super cool guy. So check him out whenever you have the chance. Subscribe to his pod...
18. Kerry O'Neill Talks About Subverting Expectation
March 13, 2017 10:50 - 1 hourThis week we talk to the comedy black belt champion, Kerry O'Neill, from the UCB Maude Team Karate Karate. Kerry brings a sense of realness and honesty to this episode. She's from NYC and moved to Los Angeles twice, which in itself is a real feat. We talk about everything from working at a wing restaurant, to Harolds, to the importance of never underselling your pitches, which may be the best lesson one can take away from this podcast. We pitched off of 3 short but true monologues about ourse...
17. Kale Hills Talks About Being Predictable
March 06, 2017 10:26 - 1 hourFish Out Of Water"To make the right bits you gotta have the right bait" Kale Hills is the best! He's not only the nicest guy in Hollywood but he's also one of the funniest, sharpest people that has entered the Fish Out Of Water studio. Kale is a member of the Upright Citizens Brigade harold team "Nomi Malone", new Maude team "The Audacity" and he also performs characters for UCB's first character showcase team "Characters Welcome". You can find Nomi Malone show dates here: https://franklin....
16. One script, 4 Guests.
February 27, 2017 12:14 - 1 hourConsider this episode a thought experiment if you will. Jeremiah Burton and Ryan Tweedy brought in the same sketch to 4 different guests (Eric Voss, Amos Vernon, Joe Cabello, Jason kaye) and had them each note the same draft of it. Ultimately, we wanted to see what was objective and what was subjective when it comes to giving notes. it ended up being very interesting and enlightening about what was conclusive between all the guests and what wasn't. If you like to nerd out about comedy then t...
15. Jason Kaye
February 20, 2017 13:51 - 42 minutesJason Kaye joins Jeremiah and Tweedy this week and talks about creating characters and writing for himself based on his own skill sets. One of his strongest attributes, being a voice over actor, is his ability to impressions and voices. He talks about using his voice to create a character and then writing his sketches based on that. You can catch Jason performing monthly with "Duke" at iO West, at the "Tournament of Nerds" at the UCB and as the voice of "Gnat" on "Power Puff Girls". Get tic...
14. Joe Cabello
February 13, 2017 16:04 - 1 hourJoe Cabello is comedy writer and improviser from San Jose, California. Like many of our guests, he started in a field other than comedy before deciding to delve into the more artful side of life. Joe has written several books including multiple Star Wars parodies, The Longest Haiku, many humorous essays and he is constantly blogging on his website. He has also been a contributing writer the CBS Diversty Showcase, break.com and The Hopefully Chris Pratt and Shane Hartline Show. You can catch h...
13. George Ouzounian
February 06, 2017 12:18 - 1 hourThis week's episode is a step away from the typical format. George isn't a sketch comedian, he's a New York Times best selling author. a satirist and internet personality, known as Maddox. He is also the host of an extremely popular podcast, "The Best Debate In The Universe" with his co-host Rucka Rucka Ali. George also has a very popular website, "The Best Page In The Universe". George talks to us about his humble beginnings as a Math major at the University of Utah, through the creation of...
12. Patrick McDonald
January 30, 2017 12:56 - 1 hourPatrick McDonald joined Ryan (Jeremiah is still on hiatus in Paris) in the studio this week to talk about everything sketch comedy. Patrick is a writer on the Maude team "The Bus" and is also a writer and an actor for the local traveling theatre ensemble known as "Story Pirates". Aside from being one of Los Angeles' nicest citizens, Patrick is also one of the great improvisers. You may have seen performing around town with the the UCB Harold team "Knucklepuck" and popular indie teams like "T...
11. Joe Canale
January 23, 2017 12:15 - 1 hourJoe Canale is a writer and actor from New York who has both studied and work in Chicago and Los Angeles. Some of his many accomplishments have been performing for the Second City Touring Company, BOOM Chicago, appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live and playing Mindy's boyfriend in the Mindy Project. Joe has also writes for various shows both live and televised, as well as hosts countless podcasts, The Sports Widow and The Big Red Cobcast to name a few. You can see him weekly at iO west and on Faceb...
10. Amos Vernon
January 16, 2017 12:37 - 1 hourOh man was this a lot of fun! Amos Vernon is a very hilarious writer and performer for Boat Comedy from New York and now in Los Angeles, He is also a teacher at Upright Citizens Brigade and has a weekly show called Boat Goes Electric! There aren't enough great things to say about Amos. Aside from being incredibly humble, he is also very specific with his notes and takes the time to mine every single funny idea from the sketches. His ability t slide between comedic ideas is inspirational. He t...
9. Erik Voss
January 09, 2017 12:50 - 56 minutesHere it is! The sketch Instructor that shall not be named! He has been both a director and friend to Jeremiah and Ryan. He is a very talented writer, performer and improvisor that performs all over Los Angeles as well as festivals and theatres across the country. Eric Voss is a part of the sketch team "It Doesn't Have To Be This Way" as well as the Harold Team "Wheelhouse" and the director of Dad Jeans at iO West. He is also a writer and host for the YouTube Channel, "New Rock Stars". You ...
8. Supplemental
January 03, 2017 10:15 - 34 minutesThis should have probably been our first episode but alas... We explain some of the things we talk about in better detail including the different theatres in Los Angeles such as UCB, iO West, Groundlings, The Pack, The nerdist, The Clubhouse and Second City. People have been listening from all over the country as well as some foreign countries and we figured that we should cover some of the things that are specific to the Los Angeles comedy scene. We'll be back soon with new interviews! HA...
7. Dan Banas
December 19, 2016 12:49 - 1 hourIn episode number 7, Dan Banas joins us and talks about everything he thinks is important in comedy writing including staying grounded, hitting the first page correctly and setting up the premise properly. Dan has been a writing for nearly a decade and has studied at both iO West and UCB. He is a writer/performer on the team "It doesn't Have To Be This Way" and is the director of the sketch team "Ms. Smith". Dan also brings up people he admired in his career, such as Neil Campbell and also to...
6. Stephen Perlstein
December 12, 2016 10:22 - 1 hourStephen is our buddy and fellow improviser from our indie improv team, "Super Heaven". He also runs the website, "Hence L.A.", and the podcast network, "Boardwalk Audio". Stephen is also the co-host of a popular podcast called "You Should Love Wrestling". He has also written for the sketch teams: Local Business Comedy, Hutch and currently writes for the Pack Theatre house team, "100% Stuff". Here's the sketch Stephen brought in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdfMu77sYH4 Local business Come...
5. Carl Tart
December 05, 2016 12:00 - 1 hourCarl Tart (Mad TV, Party Over Here, UCB Maude Team: The Bus, UCB harold Team: Queen George) talks with us about his first writers room experience. Growing up loving In Living Color and Martin Lawrence as well as being scared to be funny as a child. that isn't a problem he has now. he performs on both UCB Maude night and UCB Harold night. Carl started at Second City and gets to work with some of his mentors. Here's the sketch Carl brought in, "Funky Finger productions": https://www.youtube.com...
4. Molly Erdman
November 28, 2016 12:57 - 1 hourIn this week's episode Molly Erdman, co creator of the Break Womb, a comedic web series about motherhood is our guest. She also is the author of the book "Catalog Living" and is the creator of the blog of the same name. Molly has written sketch for all the usual suspects - iO West, The Second City, and Cheap Sox - The Tufts university sketch team. In this episode we talk about writing for video as opposed to writing for sketch. As well as improvising as a tool for writing. Here are some im...
3. Brett Greenberg
November 21, 2016 08:00 - 1 hourIn this episode of Fish Out Of Water, Brett Greenberg joins us to talk about writing for the new version of the television show "Mad TV". We discuss what it's like being in a writer's room for the first time and also some of the aspects of writing for television versus stage. Brett, Jeremiah and Tweedy go way back, they were all writers on the same sketch team at iO west for a brief moment but now Jeremiah and Brett still write for Dad Jeans. Tweedy no longer does. That's pretty sad but he ma...
2. Nick Luciano
November 14, 2016 19:10 - 55 minutesNick Luciano, from the Upright Citizens Brigade maude team, Judith, joins our hosts Ryan Tweedy and Jeremiah Burton to talk about everything from meditation to how different people's brains can be. He also critiques Jeremiah's sketch "Punk'd's lost episode. Nick discusses some of favorite bits like making strangers show him their ceiling fans and a sketch he wrote based on his experiences with Deepak Chopra. Here's the link to the Deepak Meditation sketch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22p...
1. Megan Grano
November 07, 2016 15:09 - 1 hourJeremiah and Tweedy invite Megan Grano into the studio to talk about sketch comedy and her career path through The Second City in Detroit and then in Chicago and finally joining up with iO Chicago and then iO west. We talk about some of her heroes including Stephanie Weir and Susan Messing. Megan also talks about working with Molly Erdman and Laurel Coppock on their youtube channel The BreakWomb which is a sketch comedy channel based on the trials and tribulations of motherhood. Megan directs...
0. The Theme Song
November 01, 2016 21:10 - 2 minutesSee acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices