Well, usually, when you're doing a sitcom, you get a script and every word or for the most part, is written. So, you know, if it's a 30-minute sitcom, then it's a 35-page script or something like that.
Every comic is taught that you're supposed to have a great seven-minute set and then get a sitcom. And I don't want to get the sitcom.
I use improvisation as a writing tool to help produce material that goes into a script, but a well-crafted script shouldn't sound scripted, and oftentimes people confuse something that looks like improvisation for what is actually a very well-written script that is well-acted.
The minute I know it's real to the minute we start shooting, I will work on the script, breaking it down and working on the character, doing as much research as I possibly can to the point where I feel like I eat, sleep and breathe it without looking at a page. Then I go in and try to forget all of it and just be there.
If I feel like it's a well-written script and if it speaks to me, it's something I want to do. I usually rely on my instincts when it comes to a script.
The difference between doing a live show and a sitcom is that a sitcom can live on. If you do it well, it can leave a legacy, whereas most of our live work never gets repeated because it's final, it's done, you start again.
There will be four ancillary shows on the MyMusic channel, and we'll be updating an entire blog with up-to-the-minute music news. You can visit it like BuzzFeed or Pitchfork and get album reviews. It's all as part of the sitcom experience, written by the characters.
You know, my problem with most screenwriting is it is a blueprint. It's like they're afraid to write the damn thing. And I'm a writer. That's what I do. I want it to be written. I want it to work on the page first and foremost. So when I'm writing the script, I'm not thinking about the viewer watching the movie. I'm thinking about the reader reading the script.
Most of the guys like sticking to the script and doing just what's written. If they're exploring, they're exploring ways of doing the script.
I'm just an actor. It's the way the script is written, and it's easy. I don't have think about it. When you receive the script, you know pretty well how to play it, apart from little technicalities like the accent.
When I get my script in hand, I make it a point to completely know my script well. It is something that comes automatically to me. That is my basic homework.
Even if the script's well written there's something about the life of an improvisation that resonates better than a written word, sometimes.
I would like to direct a sitcom like 'Sumit Sambhal Lega.' It was interesting. It had a great script also.
I would consider a half hour sitcom if the script was good.
It's a shame, but every time I get something scientific in the script, I read up to find out what I'm talking about - but then I'm on to the next script and it's forgotten.
We see only the script and not the paper on which the script is written. The paper is there, whether the script is on it or not. To those who look upon the script as real, you have to say that it is unreal - an illusion - since it rests upon the paper. The wise person looks upon both paper and script as one.
Sometimes I'll read a script and think, "That's not how humans behave," or "I don't understand how to do that and make it seem like I'm not some kind of strange alien or on a sitcom." I don't get it, and when I feel that way, I have to listen to my instinct.