Besides being improvisation coach at First Stage Children’s Theater and organizer of Organized Chaos, a student improv troupe, Patrick Schmitz has written and directed two plays, written and performed for the improv/sketch group The Gentlemen’s Hour and is founder and creative director of the guerilla sketch comedy event known as Sketch 22.
So it’s with those credentials Patrick is offering a six-week comedy writing class that explores sketch writing through improv. The classes run from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays beginning March 6. They’ll be at Be Spectacled, 7605 Harwood Ave., Wauwatosa. The grand finale will be a workshop show. The cost is $5 per class or $25 for the whole shootin’ match, if you pay upfront.
Says Patrick: “This class will use improvisation as a tool towards writing sketch comedy and each class will explore characters, premises, and comedic formulas in order to create comedy gold.”
To sign up, email Patrick at PSchmitz25@yahoo.com
Before we get to know Patrick better, view this video of broadminded, Milwaukee’s all-female sketch comedy group, talking about the interplay between improv and sketch. (They are, from left, Megan McGee, Stacy Babl and Melissa Kingston.):
Now, more on Patrick. He also is co-producer of the Milwaukee Comedy Festival. He has performed and taught for ComedySportz. He has studied at Second City and iO (formerly ImprovOlympic) in Chicago. He has done stand-up comedy throughout Wisconsin and has taught at Comedy College. And we’re probably leaving something out.