Arcade Comedy Theater gets sketchy with writing showcase

Three years ago, Arcade Comedy Theater debuted Sketch Comedy Lab . The program, which ran throughout that year, encouraged writers ranging from amateur to veteran to submit sketches for feedback and possible inclusion in a final showcase. The past year saw 49 submissions, according to Sketch Comedy Lab co-producer Mindy Cooper. “It’s definitely grown with the variety of sketches. I think the first version of it was a collection of sketches that were submitted from the class, and then I think the classes have grown,” director Parag S. Gohel tells Pittsburgh City Paper . “So there’s been more variety, more diversity in what the content is and the types of jokes and the types of content and punchlines the audience gets to experience.” The third volume of Sketch Comedy Lab’s showcase, the Sketch Lab Report , will feature a series of subversive, inventive, and surprising sketches, beginning Fri., Sept. 11 with five shows across two weekends. The final product includes 11 sketches across 14 scenes. Arcade invited City Paper to a dress rehearsal the evening of Sept. 9, and we can report it’s a lot of fun and certainly has plenty of variety. Great comedy typically involves multiple layers to a concept, and these sketches understand that. One sketch sees a detective losing his job to “RoboDetective,” which serves to both parody RoboCop and comment on current events. All of the sketches follow suit, offering creatively written scenes that subvert expectations. The opening sketch, “Stage Directions,” written by Anna McAnallen, goes full meta. In “The Bare Minimum,” written by Hannah Doty, a woman on a dating show shares that she actually becomes turned on by men who selfishly ignore her every desire. Writer Max Rubinstein’s “Class Project” follows a classroom of students who go to drastic measures to conduct scientific research. Sharief McDougle’s “Sealed with a Kiss” might be my favorite. Despite the emphasis on writing, t