A Brief Musical Interlude with Marc Scibilia

Americana music has a new Bob Dylan, of sorts. Marc Scibilia started out as a teen music prodigy emulating piano man Billy Joel, but around age 18, he discovered the music of Bob Dylan, and ever since, he’s more Dylan than Joel.

Scibilia hails from Buffalo, New York, but calls East Nashville home, where he lives in a farmhouse with his bandmates, working on music around-the-clock when they’re not touring the country.

Balancing the fine line between folk, blues and rock, Scibilia is surrounded by Country music makers, and his music has been subconsciously influenced by it. One of his latest songs, “Shining Like America,” has been getting airplay on Sirius XM’s new Country station, “The Highway.” In addition, the FOX-TV show, “Bones,” used Scibilia’s song “How Bad We Need Each Other” in a recent episode.

As a singer-songwriter, Scibilia is appreciated for being a humble and genuine musician, the kind who plays several instruments well, greets listeners after a show, and comes across as down-to-earth. Fans of John Mayer, John Mellencamp, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan will want to add Marc Scibilia to their playlists.

His latest 4-song EP is called “The Shape I’m In.” Check out the video here, where Scibilia tells you about his life and music:

http://youtu.be/vii8HnOWLsw

Kate the WASP

What do you do to stand out in comedy? Well, if you’re on Saturday Night Live, you become a character like Bill Hader playing “Stefon,” where you have a unique, distinct point-of-view and comedic delivery that makes people laugh—and remember you. And if you’re not fortunate enough to have a job on SNL, but you live in New York City, you have to do something to stand out from the crowd. Enter comedian Kate Hendricks, aka Kate the Wasp.

Kate the Wasp (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) is a comedic character who goes around the streets, festivals, and public events of New York City talking with people who most Wasps wouldn’t associate with. Her shtick is that she’s a pearl necklace wearing conservative raised in a wealthy family, yet curious to find out what it’s like to, for instance, be a drag queen or live in Harlem.

Kate the Wasp is a character who performs “comedy with a sense of entitlement.” It’s funny to see such a supposedly high class woman—the kind who wears heels-- hanging out and kickin’ it with middle and lower class “peeps.”

She’s a loveable fish out of water, as a cameraman follows her around at events like a gay pride parade or Occupy Wall Street, where she’ll talk with participants, and talk to you, the viewer, as if she’s narrating a trip to another world. She plays her character so well that half the time you forget it’s an act. If you like the comedy of Stephen Colbert, you’ll appreciate his female counterpart.

Currently, Kate the Wasp has a popular YouTube channel where you can see her New York City adventures. Here are some of them:

http://youtu.be/AXn9TFRs-9w

http://youtu.be/bHeL-0kdPTo

http://youtu.be/w-FHvrQ_zxw

Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/katethewasp

The Simpsons

Long ago, in the 1980s, there was a new TV network called Fox. And on Fox were some awful comedies like Women in Prison, and some out-of-the-ordinary variety shows, including one from British comedienne Tracey Ullman.

On The Tracey Ullman Show, which ran from 1987-1990, the Simpson family first appeared on television. The Simpsons were crudely drawn for animated shorts on Ullman’s comedy-variety show. Eventually, the drawings got cleaned up as the popularity of The Simpsons grew. In 1990, Fox-TV put the half-hour Simpsons TV series on-the-air, and it was a huge hit.

In 1990, you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing Bart Simpson t-shirts with catchphrases like “Don’t have a cow man” on them.

Today, almost three decades later, Fox is still running new episodes of The Simpsons, and it has been renewed for next season, meaning we’ll be enjoying Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and plenty of zany characters for many more episodes.

It’s not every day that a TV show lasts as long as The Simpsons has. It’s a testament to great comedic writers keeping it fresh and current year after year.

Did you know The Simpsons have their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? Universal Studios created a virtual coaster ride based on the animated family. And even the U.S. postal service honored the show with five postal stamps personally designed by series creator Matt Groening.

Having won 28 Emmy Awards, The Simpsons is the longest-running scripted show in TV history. Surprisingly, it shows no signs of slowing down.

Adventures in the ePublishing Trade

As you can see by the ads hawking books to the right of my blog posts, I have entered the eBook business. My first title, THE JOKE'S ON YOU: HOW TO WRITE COMEDY, is producing about $500 a month in mailbox money. Three new books are in the works on comedy history and the first will be done before the end of this year.

Here are some things I've learned along the way:

1. Copyright your work. The online copyright service is only $35 and there are numerous advantages to registering your book (stipulated damages if copyright is violated, proof of authorship, etc.). It's simple to do (though the copyright's office website is about 20 years out of date) and cheap.

2. Kindle. Kindle uses 'mobi' formatting and is the best route to go for your ebook. The split is 70/30 in favor of the author with the book minimum pricing of $2.99. Amazon pays timely, makes it easy to update your books, and allows you to track sales and modify pricing as needed.

The formatting was a bit difficult for me, so I used a formatting service who took the Word file and added hyperlinks for chapters and did a proper book layout for $165.

Kindle updates the book for previous purchasers so they can keep track with the latest edition.

3. CreateSpace. Within the last couple of months I decided to update THE JOKES ON YOU with photographs and additional material in the appendix. A graphic designer friend (Cat Stewart) assisted me in getting clearance rights for photographs. Some of these were difficult to obtain and we used substitute photos. The book then had to be laid out as a 6x9 paperback.

I was so pleased with the results, we went back and updated the Kindle edition as well.

I priced my paperback at $11.95 and the hard cost to print the book is approximately $3.50. Surprisingly adding the paperback DOUBLED my sales. Apparently there are many folks who don't like eBooks and want the paperback version. Writers are leaving a lot of money on the table by not adding a paperback option for their prospective audience.

4. ISBNs. A separate ISBN is required for both the print and eBook edition of the same book. So that's two per title. I suggest buying them in bulk to save money - at least ten. CreateSpace offers ISBNs to customers but they aren't 'portable' - meaning if ten years from now you want to take your ISBN with you somewhere else, you can't. It'll pop up as an 'out of print' title. It's a somewhat controversial issue, but I decided to spend the $250 for ten to maintain full control over my book.

Buy them here:

https://www.myidentifiers.com


5. You might already have a book written. I went back and found a book I'd co-written in college on a chess variant (Bughouse Chess) and published that. I found a number of sketches, short stories, and other humorous items to compile into yet another book (The Comedyphiles). I don't expect either of these titles to be huge sellers, but every bit helps and having a number of titles published helps establish you as an 'author.'

Right now I'm working with cartoonist Jonathan Brown (verrrrry talented guy) to add another twenty pages of cartoons and chapter/cover illustrations to THE COMEDYPHILES before going to a paperback edition.

6. Editors. One of the few advantages of the traditional press is the use of editors to give you feedback, corrections, and guidance in improving your book. I'm fortunate to have some talented writer friends who gave me feedback along the way and did hire an experienced editor to go through the book for errors. Far too many typos and grammatical errors pop up in self-published books. Spend the money and make your work look professional.


7. Marketing. BookBub is an excellent resource for novelists who have a series of books featuring the same lead character. I likely will be trying Kirkus Reviews soon for more exposure. My marketing efforts included this blog, my facebook page, Twitter, and simply the Amazon search features. Comedy writing is a niche topic and I now pop up #1 on that search, so that helps.

My goal is to have a dozen titles posted and to have them on related topics (comedy, film history, television comedy, an interview book with screenwriters and TV writers). Getting to the 'bills paid this month' level income from eBook and paperback sales each month would be a home run. I don't expect to ever do some of the crazy numbers some fiction writers have had in terms of sales, but $2,000-3,000 a month is a realistic goal.

Post if you have any questions, comments, or additional information and best of luck!

The Comedy of Breaking Bad

The epic television show dark comedy "Breaking Bad" has finally come to its conclusion and our favorite anti-hero/villain, Walter White, well...spoiler alert!

What, did you expect a guy with terminal cancer to ride off into the sunset?

If you're one of those people that hasn't seen the show yet, then this post isn't for you. Go catch up and then come back, as there's probably going to be spoilers ahead.

One of the reasons why a show like "Breaking Bad" works, and why a show like "Low Winter Sun" doesn't, is because of the humor injected into the drama.  Creator Vince Gilligan is noted for his dark humor which he brought to the X-files.  That sharp wit, paired with his dark humor led his meteoric rise from show writer to co-executive producer in just a few years.  Gilligan has been quoted as saying, "comedy and drama as "two muscles in the same arm."

Although "Breaking Bad has always been a dark comedy more than a drama, it has been able to shift gears because it is a dark comedy with dramatic elements.  Writing dark comedy is one of the most difficult genres to write effectively.  If you go too dark, you run the risk of losing your audience.  "Breaking Bad" succeeds because even though it is a dark comedy, its dramatic elements are so incredibly well done, the audience is tricked into "drama mode" without being none the wiser.

Very few shows could have two junkies talking about their idea for a "Star Trek" episode and then switch to high drama without skipping a beat.  Speaking of that "Star Trek" idea, someone went and animated it:



Vince Gilligan also chose to have actual comedians play in dramatic roles. Bob Odenkirk was already a good actor prior to his stint on "Breaking Bad," and has forever earned his comedic stripes for "Mr. Show," but Odenkirk turned what was supposed to be a one off role into a reoccurring role and one of the central characters to the show. He's even getting his own spinoff "Better Call Saul."

But long before Odenkirk was a criminal attorney he was involved in a half million dollar drug deal.

Gilligan also cast stand up comedian Lavell Crawford in the role of Huell.
Lavell Crawford interview
 

As well as veteran stand up comedian Bill Burr. Bill Burr interview

Unless you purchased the dvd sets (or rented the physical sets) or were a super fan, you might have missed the Breaking Bad minisodes.  The minisodes aired on the web and were included with the boxed sets of "Breaking Bad."  The minisodes were a lot more light-hearted than the overall series. 

One episode featured Hank dressed in a "Boss Hogg" outfit about to marry Marie, having a man to man discussion with Walt about how he slipped up and accidentally cheated on Marie after his bachelor party.  Unfortunately for Hank, the bar was the "Ivory Swallow" with a girl named "Joan Crawford."  (For those of you who don't know, Joan Crawford's name was a stage name selected by the public for the up and coming actress Lucille Fay LeSueur via a contest.) You can watch all of the minisodes here on AMC   http://www.amctv.com/shows/breaking-bad/tag/videotype/minisode

There have also been endless memes and comic also created for Breaking Bad:

"70's comic book Twinkie ad" 
CLICK TO ENLARGE

There is even a "Breaking Bad" cartoon generator that anyone can use to make their own cartoons:
http://breakingbadcomicmaker.com/

 And, of course, "Breaking Bad" has spawned a lot of spoofs, or mash ups.  Some of them have been very well done:

  

CollegeHumor's Favorite Funny Videos

Although everyone is sad that "Breaking Bad" is now over, and there's really nothing on t.v. that's equivalent to it.  I am glad that Jesse did get away, and wasn't forever "Meth Damon's" Meth Slave.

We'll miss you, "Breaking Bad" and your Baby Blue dark comedy.