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[Nerve-chan]

I'm trying to write a script, but I don't want it to be one of those "GOD!-kill me-now" type of skits. What should I look out for so my first skit doesn't make the people in the audience commit sucide?

[Koumori]

-Going too long. Don't do a second verse of your song, don't do another set of kata, don't dance to an entire song. Once we've seen your costume and see what you're doing, we get it.

-Crossover skits (you want to dress like Yuna, your cousin wants to dress like Hikaru, and your boyfriend wants to dress like Kenshin) are REALLY hard to pull off successfully.

-Going wildly out of character, unless done briefly and for comic effect, usually just makes it look like you don't know the character.

-In-jokes. Don't assume everyone in the audience is intimately familiar with all 9000 episodes of Dragonball. In fact, assume that nobody in the audience knows your source material, and make your skit something that can be appreciated even if you don't know what you're looking at. (The amazing Angel Sanctuary skit at A-Kon last year did this with a spoken introduction, as did a Key the Metal Idol cosplayer at a general sci-fi con I attended a few years ago; I still remember her though I haven't seen a single episode.)

-No, really. WE GET IT.

[Sarcasm-hime]

For Gord's sake, do not:

- sing. Please, please. don't sing. You need rehearsals and sound checks and stuff like that for it to sound decent, even if you do have a mic. If you don't have a mic, nobody will hear you. Either way, it's death.

- do a martial arts fight scene. Unless you and your opponent are actual martial artists and have rehearsed a million times over, you'll just look like two dorks who think they're Keanu Reeves. I have witnessed this, and it's not pretty.

- dancing only works if, again, you have choreographed it and practiced a million times. Do not just get up on stage and dance, as you'll just look pathetic.

- if you don't have access to a mic on stage, pre-record your dialogue and lip-synch to it. If you try to speak without amplification, only the first 3 rows will hear you at all.

- finally, if you can't come up with a really good skit idea, DON'T DO ONE! Don't just throw together something at the last minute and expect it to work, as 9 times out of 10 it will suck. If you're at a loss, you can always just do a cool walk-on with appropriate music. Walk on in character, perhaps have the MC do a voice-over intro, or a pre-recorded intro, strike a few poses and leave. That is much better than hanging around onstage and boring the audience.

[DeadLegato]

I personally hate large "cross-over" cosplay skits with about what seems like a hundred unrelated cosplayers... because they're usually not funny, and they end up getting awards no matter how bad the costumes/skits are, simply due to the sheer quantity they produce.

And I'll agree with saracasm-hime. If you can't think of a skit or if you're going it alone, it's best to just walk out and get it over with. After all, if the judges get bored... they'll start seeing all the little problems with the costume they might have otherwise missed.

[The Lord XL]

Don't try to use up all your time. If the time limit is 3 mins don't try to extend your skit to the aloted time, it will make you look like you trying to "Drag-on" the sceen, and that is kinda "BallZ" (inside joke from otakon) it also makes you look like you forgot you lines.

Have fun with it! don't try to have the funniest skit, some judges I know look for people who are having fun more opposed to how well done their skit is.

[LandersBard]

Don't do celtic dance if you havn't had the training. (I dunno if anyone has ever put that in a skit at a -con-, but I've seen people do it for -other- things, and it makes me want to die...especially when they call it "riverdance" *bangs head on desk*)

^_^

[Koumori]

Also:

-There is NO RULE that says skits have to be funny. I see so many skits that are horrible because they're trying so hard to be funny, and just coming off as "funny." The most memorable skits I've seen have been serious ones.

-If you can't come up with a skit idea, don't stand on stage for 2 minutes talking about how you couldn't come up with a skit idea. This is not very interesting to watch. Which brings me to:

-There is NOTHING wrong with walk-ons. If you're straining yourself to come up with an idea, or something "funny"... just do a walk-on and show off your costume.

-If you are doing a walk-on, take enough time to pose a few times in the middle of the stage; don't just bolt on and bolt off so fast that no one gets a chance to see your costume.

[Hikaru Tsuki]

Never do a reality show parody. X_X They've been done to death and are not very original at all. I cringe anytime I see one. ><

[Ali]

As much as I love theatre and speaking lines and things, most of the time, you won't be heard. Pre-record anything you can and rehearse to that.

Physical comedy will always go over better than jokes. It might be lower brow, but it's easiest to laugh at.

Have fun. The audience can always tell who's up there to have a good time and who's there just to win.

Walkons are some of my favorite aspects of the masquerade. A good skit is insanely difficult to pull together, and only a small handful usually succeed. Walkons are great. If you're prone to stage fright or just can't throw something together, this is always an option.

Watch a masquerade before participating... It's nice to know what's being done and what you react to. Some really good ideas just don't translate to the masq.

[Kaze]

-Don't do inside jokes that have to be explained...please
-Don't spend all day singing one song. It doesn't hurt to chop it down to like a chorus and two versus or something like that.

A lot of pointless dialog and storyline. Skits without any direction... not funny or serious, just there. Horrible acting.... inside jokes.... 98% of crossovers....pointless yaoi thrown in for desperation but not even canon to the series....which I'm partially guilty of (but it wasn't put in for lack of content otherwise ^.^;.. and singing.

[chrisscrewball]

Originally Posted by Sarcasm-hime

For Gord's sake, do not:
dancing only works if, again, you have choreographed it and practiced a million times. Do not just get up on stage and dance, as you'll just look pathetic.

Incredibly good point. I've done two dance skits at different cons, and won an award each time. I choroegraphed the dances forever, and practiced for hours. I couldn only imagine how bad I would have looked without an insane amount of practicing. Hopefully the one at Katsucon will go well......

[moo]

This is con-specific, although if other cons are afflicted with this, please rethink your skit! ACen's masquerade had an excess of Pocky-related skits that were not funny nor even mildly amusing, in my opinion. There were groans from folks in the audience, and after the 10th Pocky skit, I walked out.

Come on, be creative, put on a skit about Fran! < /sarcasm> XD

[AniMajor]

Don't go over the time limit.
Don't make such a massive group that it takes more than 30 seconds to get on stage and situated. Expecially if your skit is short.
If you think something might not go over well with the con staff, it probably won't. Don't do something stupid or harmful.
And don't do a skit that could be detrimental to your costume.

[positivespace]

I'm not too big on blatant fan-service... ie: "stripping" skits, girls kissing girls dressed as characters that don't do that in the series, obvious panty flashes, etc. Of course, you'll probably hear the male population of the board cry foul at these, but remember that conventions are family events and if you're doing something that you wouldn't want your parents knowing you did on stage it's probably a good idea NOT to do it. There are better ways to entertain an audience.

Of course most, if not all of those ideas, are thrown out the window for blatant everything when you're at Yaoi-Con... but that's a whole 'nother ballgame. ;D