Rebel Daydreams

Scenes are about relationships. As humans, we are social creatures, and we are all naturally interested in how people relate to one another. As a scene opens, it’s one of the biggest questions the audience is going to have – who are these people, and how do they relate to each other?

So it’s good to establish relationships early when writing dialogue. For stand up, it’s good to establish your point of view – because you’re establishing your relationship with the audience. Whenever I’m not sure what to do, I think about the relationships I’m exploring in the scene, and that usually gives me a strong direction to go in.

Here’s a blackout comedy sketch I wrote that showcases how quickly you can set up and subvert relationships. If you don’t know what a “blackout” is, it’s a scene that can be done in less than a minute or two before the lights black out.

With the wedding ceremony music and the first line, we immediately know how the three people on stage relate to one another. This expectation is subverted by the Heckler, who apparently has a very different idea about the Bride and Groom’s relationship. The rest of the scene is about how everybody relates to the Bride in their own unique ways.

This scene is rather intricate with its relationships, but you don’t need to get this involved with every scene. Just try to think about how the characters are relating to each other and how they might express their feelings. Then it’s easy to know how your characters will interact with each other.