ToddB that's a stnadup or 118 gag I'm guessing. They're many other kinds, you could read one of my lamentable sitcom scripts if you really wanted to torture yourself.
But no sitcoms have gags they're just structured diferently. It's why the early riser gag is so neat.
But more to the point if you want to write a sitcom you're trying to amuse an awful lot of "regular people" you really have to learn the rules before you break them.
Yes - its just a matter of figuring out how to do what seems comparatively easy on stage for film. The audience at our regular venue are quite intimate with the characters as they have come to 'know' them over many performances. The characters, in this situation, talk with the audience a lot - giving condescending compliments and advice, bickering between themselves and sharing anecdotes about their world.
I am now processing how to get this same information into the script, and have a plot, not too much exposition and have funny bits often enough. the luxury with the stage show is that we can stand there sharing funny anecdotes for a lot of the time and the audience laughs - there is not the pressure of needing a plot that is fast paced and varying the setting et cetera to keep audience interest.
Last time we performed, a friend filmed us as we wandered among the crowd chatting to them and arguing. At various points, we both turned to the camera to make candid remarks about each other while the other continued to mingle. Some of this came off as being quite funny - which led me to think that a somewhat documentary style might help these somewhat unsympathetic characters to build a rapport with the audience.
What do you think/ Or does it read more like a studio sitcom?
I would suggest you get a script from a sitcom you liked and go through identifying the gags and where they come from.
Often they are taking characters and finding diferent ways to over and over again remind us who they are and why they fail.
Good advice - I've got quite a few lying around of shows that I like. Often the shows that don't gel for me are the ones where gags, including those about the failings of the characters, slow down the actual plot and occur at times when a gag can not be justified with the characters motivations. Juggling this and still being funny is the challenge!
Thanks for the feedback - I'm off to dig out some old favourites from the bookshelf. 
check out jago's cove. giz some feedback will ya!
A really good sitcom gag actually looks nothing like a gag.
For me there's nothing worse than 2 characters stopping and telling a lolly stick gag for no good reason.
But Frasier and Niles chatting about the perfect cappuccino, or wincing at dad's favourite restaurant. It's a gag, but a beautiful subtle one.
Because all the humour comes from being reminded of who they are and then seeing it forced out through a difficult situation.
Quote: sootyj @ May 26 2011, 12:49 PM BSTA really good sitcom gag actually looks nothing like a gag.
For me there's nothing worse than 2 characters stopping and telling a lolly stick gag for no good reason.
But Frasier and Niles chatting about the perfect cappuccino, or wincing at dad's favourite restaurant. It's a gag, but a beautiful subtle one.
Because all the humour comes from being reminded of who they are and then seeing it forced out through a difficult situation.
Agreed. This is what I intend to achieve. "Frasier" is a favourite US sitcom of mine. Someone elso who read my stuff on here a while back thought it was obvious that I had watched that. Perhaps because of the arch, snobbish characters. A compliment, anyhow!
I think it was me, I compared your work to ab fab also, only to find out you were a big fan.
I'd work on cutting the number of scenes. There are a lot of bitty ones before we get to any meat. Get to the story faster. And make it funnier. Funny isn't about jokes, it's about dialogue that lives in your mind long after it's said. You need more dialogue like that.
Quote: chipolata @ May 27 2011, 10:12 AM BST'Funny isn't about jokes, it's about dialogue that lives in your mind long after it's said.'
You need more dialogue like that.
Big yourself up why don't you? 
Quote: Marc P @ May 27 2011, 10:14 AM BSTBig yourself up why don't you?
The trouble with my real life dialogue is that it lives in my mind long after it wasn't said!
Quote: Marc P @ May 27 2011, 10:20 AM BSTThe trouble with my real life dialogue is that it lives in my mind long after it wasn't said!
Take a leaf out of Edith's book.
I think I am about the opposite! 
Je regret tout plenty.
Quote: sootyj @ May 26 2011, 7:00 AM BSTI would suggest you get a script from a sitcom you liked and go through identifying the gags and where they come from.
Often they are taking characters and finding diferent ways to over and over again remind us who they are and why they fail.
What I have noticed here is that a lot of comedy comes from subtle, physical reactions to what is said. I have read some scripts of shows that I like, where they do not indicate this in the script, and the script reads as much less funny than the end result on camera. Others I have read do this more - and the comedy is crearer. Sometimes it is not necessarily the line alone that makes it funny, it is the insincerity or sarcasm with which it is intended to be said. Similarly, some of the humour comes from looks that other characters give each other after a character has said something. This is something that we do when performing it live, obviously, but have not as yet transfrred to the page successfully.
As a playwright, I don't venture into doing this too much, as it is often frowned upon to dictate to actors too much in the script, but when writing for film, and for a reader who has never seen it, it probably is needed.
Also, I notice in the sitcom threads that you don't like some of my favourites - which could make this tricky...