About The Class

Sketch Comedy has long been one of the american public's most enduring forms of comedy, arriving (like most comedy) out of Vaudville before exploding into it's own with the advent of Radio and, most notably, Television. Insitutions like Saturday Night Live and Monty Python have created some of comedy's most enduring characters, and a recent rebirth via shows like I Think You Should Leave and short form content platforms have expanded the canon. From political sketches to the downright absurd, there's room for all in the format - and a keen understanding of the structure is a useful tool for any writer, forcing itself into brevity and relishing in "The Bit".

Join Bottlerocket's own Chris Copen, along with whatever touring comedians/working writers he can beg and or bribe to appear via zoom, for this brand new eight week course covers the basics of brainstroming, writing, rewriting, staging, and utlimately performing sketch comedy - all students will be expected to write & critique sketches in a weekly writers room format. Performing is not required. The course will culminate in a class show.

THIS CLASS MEETS WEDNESDAYS AT 7PM

Meet The Instructor: Chris Copen

Chris is the owner of Bottlerocket, and is a primary creative force behind a lot of our original in-house programming, as well as all of our comedy booking. Bottlerocket's orgins can be directly traced back to a college sketch show that Chris created and oversaw - Point Blank Live. With a cast and crew of over 100 undergrads, those college shows were nominated for, and won, numerous National Collegiate Broadcast awards, including Best Comedy Program. Growing from those shows, Chris worked with university professors to develop a comprehensive curriculum for what became a fully accredited Sketch Comedy course, designed for introducing beginners and novice writers to the forms and structures of Sketch Comedy. Prior to opening Bottlerocket Chris also worked at a leading Los Angeles based comedy focused Talent Management company, and a major film studio's Development department.