Saturday Night Live Backstage News from Writer Bryan Tucker

Saturday Night Live returned to the airwaves this week after three long months. Third-year writer Bryan Tucker gives us his thoughts on the show and what to expect this season...

It was great to see Saturday Night Live back on the air. What was the mood like during the first week back?

The atmosphere on Saturday was fun - lots of media were there. I think there was a lot of buzz because it was the first show after the strike and people were eager to see who was going to play Barack Obama.

The press made it sound like there was almost an open casting call for a Barack Obama impersonator. Was that the case? At what point was the call made to go with Fred Armisen?

They made the decision that Fred would do it after holding auditions for new cast members and nothing working out. They told Fred on Tuesday night, and he had only a couple days to try and make something work. I think if you take the race part out of it, it's pretty amazing how much he looks like Barack with the right makeup on.

You’re a big fan of Steve Martin’s book “Born Standing Up”. Did you get a chance to talk about the book with him?

I got to say "hi" to Steve, but that was about it. I didn't get to really have a conversation with him.

For those familiar with your writing, “What’s that Bitch Talking About” was clearly written by you. Congratulations on getting a sketch on in the first 30 minutes. What can you tell us about the sketch, and was the competition for airtime particularly strong this week?

"What's That Bitch Talking About?" went fine, but I wouldn't put it at the top of my resume. It did well at the big table read on Wednesday, and Tina told me that she really liked it, so I knew it had a good shot of being in the show. There were lots of sketches written by Tina, Seth Meyers and 30 year veteran Jim Downey, so a writer with ordinary status didn't have a great shot of getting stuff on this week. But that sketch had a different vibe, and managed to break through, which was gratifying.

The show got its highest rating in 2 years, which was nice to see. And I hope it continues because NBC has agreed to do a full eight shows through May if we have good ratings and meet our budget, and they're only going to do six if we don't. I get paid per show, so two more shows means a lot more money for me.

At last week’s UNC Comedy Festival, The Daily Show producer Rory Albanese mentioned they were recruiting you to help write jokes for Jon Stewart’s Oscar performance. Did you have time this week to help out, and what can you tell us about your contributions?

Yes, I got hired to write jokes for the Oscars. They only had a week to prepare, so Jon Stewart got all of his Daily Show writers to work on the show, and he also enlisted the help of three or four outside writers who would just send jokes in. I was one of those guys. I sent them a few pages of jokes on Tuesday. I worked hard on them and thought I did a good job, but none of them made it on. I wasn't disappointed, and any joke getting on would've been a nice surprise. It's very tough to get through when you're not there and part the inner circle, and you need to write a joke that's either incredibly original and funny or tackles a subject matter that haven't covered by want to. It's okay. At least I can put "Oscar writer" on my resume.

What can we look forward to in future SNL episodes?

SNL has four episodes in a row, and the next one is with Ellen Page from Juno, who couldn't come in today because she needed a day to recover after the Oscars. Then Amy Adams from "Enchanted", then Jonah Hill from "Superbad." After that it's open, then the last three weeks are Ashton Kutcher, Shia LaBeouf, and Steve Carrell.

We'll try to get more news from Bryan in the upcoming weeks. In the meantime, be sure to subscribe to this blog feed and add Bryan's MySpace page for "Selected Hilarity" to your friends!

Becoming a Comedian - How to Write Comedy

My long-time friend and Selected Hilarity cohort Bryan Tucker flew into Chapel Hill this weekend for the 4th Annual UNC Comedy Festival. Bryan taught a class on “The Ins and Outs of Comedy Writing.”

Bryan's writing credits include The Chris Rock Show (Emmy Nomination), Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, Mad TV, Chappelle’s Show, and Saturday Night Live, where he currently works. Joining Bryan on panel were The Daily Show writers and producers Rob Riggle, John Oliver, and Rory Albanese.

I helped Bryan put together the outline for the class, and I’ll share it for you here along with a few of my notes.

How to Become a Comedy Writer

• Find a Venue for Yourself - Find a place where your writing can be read or performed. Examples: a writing workshop, a theater, a comedy club, the internet, etc.
• Perform or Work with Other Performers - Test your work in front of an audience and find a group that suits your style.
• Move to LA, New York or, maybe, Chicago - LA has the most opportunity in TV and film. New York and Chicago have more places to develop and form a community.
• Find Your Niche - Whether it's a regular comedy club, improv theater, magazine or internet site, find a place where you fit in and have a network of people like you.
• Write Samples - Write sample scripts, bits and jokes for your favorite shows. Get a sample packet together for later use.
• Get an entry-level job (PA, intern, researcher) on a TV show - This is not always a direct path to getting hired as a writer, but is a great way to understand how things work.
• Above All: Be patient - Don't compare your success directly to the success of your peers.

Writing Samples You Will Need

• For sitcoms - A half hour spec script of a current, popular show. Usually 28-32 pages.
• For comedy/variety - A packet of ideas, sketches and jokes written specifically for that show. Usually 4-10 pages.

Panel Members Paths to Becoming a Comedian

Of the panel members, here is the path that each took to a career in TV comedy writing:

• Bryan Tucker - started as stand-up comedian, toured the U.S. with sketch/improv group Selected Hilarity, then moved to NYC to pursue stand up comedy and writing. His performing connections led to his first writing job at The Chris Rock Show.
• Rob Riggle - Took classes for seven years at Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) in New York City while serving in the U.S. marines. While at UCB, had many teachers that formed crucial connections at SNL, including Amy Poehler.
• John Oliver - Wrote comedy during college, honed stand-up skills, and made crucial connections at the Edinburgh Festival - including former Daily Show intern Demetri Martin.
• Rory Albanese - Started as production assistant at Daily Show and slowly worked his way up to Producer, thanks in part to a strong connection with Lewis Black. Continues to write and perform stand up comedy.

Things to Avoid When Trying to Land a Career in Comedy

Panel members minced no words about their disdain for pushy newcomers who try too hard to be funny. Their turn offs include:

• handing writers unsolicited scripts after first meeting them,
• becoming an intern or PA and immediately trying to pitch ideas your first week on the job, and
• standing outside of Comedy Central offices trying to “impress” the writers/producers as they come into work.

Key Takeaways

Networking. Networking. Networking. There’s no escaping this one in any line of work. You can have all the talent in the World, but you need to be connected to the right people.

One of the best ways to network, hone your writing skills, and eventually become a comedy writer is by becoming a performer, either through stand-up or improvisational comedy. So even if you never have the aspiration of being a performer, it's time to overcome your objections and start getting up on stage as early and often as possible.

Extreme Website Makeover: Rob Van Dam

No one is more eligible for an extreme website makeover than the King of Extreme, my long-time friend from the wrestling business and former WWE champion Rob Van Dam. Rob is taking a much-needed break from wrestling to concentrate on acting, and to promote his newest venture, RVDTV - an internet-only reality program that follows Rob and his friends from wrestling, films, music, and MMA. Here is Rob's current homepage, a work-in-progress design:

The design is graphically stunning. It suits Rob's image perfectly and is visually appealing. The video previews load quickly, and the celebrity photo gallery on the homepage is an excellent touch. So far so good. But what about usability? Are there changes that may improve Rob's conversion rate (defined as visitors becoming members)?

Site Goal: I'm going to define the goal of the site as twofold:

1. Convert visitors to RVDTV subscribers, and
2. Entice visitors to keep coming back to learn more about Rob's future projects.

Before You Continue...
Whether you're a professional web designer, or just a professional web surfer, please post your thoughts on Rob's website design in the comments section. And just so you're not too influenced by my opinions, you may wish to visit Rob's site and jot down some notes before you read my thoughts. Disclaimer: I am not the site designer and have no financial stake in this project. I'm just helping out a friend.

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Ready? Let's start with the home page...

Width
My first impression is that the homepage is a massive 1280 width. I’ve got dual monitors at work, both set at 1024 x 768. A tremendous amount of the design gets cut off, particularly the "Join Now" button in the lower right-hand corner. Even Rob's great photo in the header get's nearly completely cut off. In an only somewhat-scientific review of several client sites, I find that nearly 60% of users have resolution set to 1024 x 768 or less. While I’m not adamant that the width needs to be reduced, I do think it’s imperative that the right-hand 250 pixels or so be reserved for very low priority items. Simply put, anything important shouldn’t be on the far right.

Menu Options
There are too many menu items (ten tabs), and I simply don’t know where to click. The first tab that needs to go is “Home”. Even the most novice user knows to click the banner in the upper left-hand corner to return home. Next, I'd drop “News” because “Blog” covers news. What is on the “News” page now should be combined onto the “Previews” page. I’d drop “RVDTV” altogether for two reasons: 1) The destination doesn’t match my expectations, and 2) the Login link should be at the top (more on that later). I’d also drop the “MySpace” tab and simply include that elsewhere – probably as a right-hand banner element. Finally, I’d drop “Behind RVDTV”. I don’t know what it’s supposed to be, but it’s most likely not important enough to warrant a tab, and instead could be linked off “Previews” or elsewhere. That leaves us with the following menu items:

• Previews
• Profile
• Galleries
• Blog
• Shop
• FAQ*
• Contact**

With fewer tabs, you can make them all bigger.

*FAQ
A "Frequently Asked Questions" tab is the perfect place to write answers to all the questions you are asked. Like "What is RVDTV?", "How can I get an autographed picture?", "Are you training for the UFC", and all of the other questions people are going to ask when you put up the Contact page.

**Contact
You must have a “Contact” tab, and it has to be the far-right tab. Even if you don’t want to be bothered, there is some Director, Producer, or Casting Agent that you’re going to want to hear from. In lieu of posting your email address, add a simple contact form. Besides missing out on potential acting gigs, prospective RVDTV subscribers are going to want to know they can contact someone if there is a problem. Personally, there is no way I’m giving money to any site that doesn’t have clearly labeled contact info. Would you? This is also the page to reference MySpace, YouTube, and other profile sites. But don’t tell people to contact you through your MySpace page. Not everyone is on MySpace, and those that aren’t don’t want to join just to drop you an email.

Login
The login area on the homepage takes up too much valuable real estate. I’d suggest pulling “Login” and “Join” up into the header area, where users are conditioned to look. Typically you’ll find “login” links in the upper right-hand corner. Considering the screen width, I might instead center those two options, but still at the top (see Amazon.com).

Mailing List
This is a must. You have got to have a mailing list. You can’t depend on MySpace or RSS feeds from your blog to keep in contact with your fans. Instead, offer a FREE episode of RVDTV to everyone who joins the mailing list. Make that a BIG offer on the website. Each of those email address you gather are a potential subscriber. As you describe the videos each week, they’re more likely to eventually join. Anyone on your mailing list is also likely to someday buy a DVD, book, or another one of your projects.

Episode List
I’m going to assume that these will eventually link to episode descriptions. Otherwise, they’re taking up a lot of valuable space. In the meantime, I’d just link them to the Previews page.

“Now Playing”
I’m not a fan of use of “Now Playing” on the homepage and throughout the site. That implies a description of the video preview currently playing on the page. Instead I’d use a label along the lines of “This Week”, which compliments your “Next Week” header.

Join Now Button
Move the “Join Now” button on the homepage underneath the video preview. It gets lost over in the right-hand corner. Break convention with the “Join Now” button and make it look different from the rest of the layout. Use bold red text. Make it look less like a banner ad and more like a button. Since you’re accepting PayPal, incorporate the credit card logos. People are trained to look for credit card logos on ecommerce sites. Make it easy for them to know where to click.

Now let's take a look at the "Join" page...

Buy?
I didn’t notice the “BUY” links at first. They need to look more like buttons. And I'm not sure "Buy" is the right term to use. "Subscribe" or "Join" might be a better fit. Again, add credit card logos to the home page and join page. Studies show this really does help increase conversion rates. Again, add the credit card logos from the PayPal website.

Options
Instead of using $1.99, $9.99, etc as headers, I’d give the options more clear-cut titles. Examples:

• Test Drive
• Monthly Access
• Yearly Access – Your Best Value!

Free Episode
If no one is choosing the $1.99 option, I’d drop it completely. Instead, offer a FREE video if they sign up on your mailing list. That way you can email them regularly. Eventually they will join.

Deep breath...

This should be enough advice to keep Rob's designer busy for a while. Plus, I'm sure that you will post comments on issues I didn't even notice. So what do you think? Post your comments below and check back for updates!