Gazette Danny Ricker March 10

February 2010 OC Gazette Magazine a day in the life Birds of Passage

SKETCH COMEDIAN

From Capistrano Valley High School, to UCLA, to the stages of LA’s comedy clubs, Danny Ricker is making a name for himself in the comedy scene. He currently performs at ComedySportzLA and iO West, and maintains a day job as a writer’s assistant for “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in Los Angeles. This is A Day In The Life of Danny Ricker.

I am a regular writer and performer of sketch comedy. Here’s a little insight into my process for putting together a sketch.

ON A RECENT FRIDAY, Adam Fisher (my writing partner) and I were asked by a friend of ours if we’d like to perform in a Haiti benefit she was putting together for the following Wednesday. We agreed and said we’d write a new sketch specifically for the benefit. A few days later, Adam had a basic idea that we both liked—so I wrote up a draft of the sketch. At this stage, the piece is normally at about 70% completion. It has the structure, the basic beats we’ve discussed, and whatever jokes I can come up with while I’m drafting it up.

THE NIGHT BEFORE THE SHOW, we sat down in my apartment for our traditional read-through process. At this point we’re seeing how the lines sound out loud and how the rhythm of the dialogue feels—the hope is that everything sounds natural and not too “sketch-y.” The most important part of this stage though, is that we’re improvising with each other and trying to come up with better jokes and beats for the script—we do this by trying out new lines and basically trying to make each other laugh. If a new joke particularly delights us both, we assume it will probably play to the audience as well and it goes in the script.

ONCE NO MORE JOKES ARE JUMPING OUT AT US, we’ll discuss some beats or lines in depth to make sure the logic of the sketch and our characters’ emotional reactions throughout make sense. There’s a lot of “I think I would get mad here” or “that doesn’t sound like a line my character would say.” Once we’re both satisfied with the changes, I take my scribbled-upon script and type up a final version of the sketch.

ON THE NIGHT OF THE HAITI BENEFIT we ran our lines backstage a few times just to make sure we had the wording down and the timing right. The great part about writing your own material is that it’s much easier to memorize too. So by the time we’d done these couple of run-throughs, we were off-book and good to go. We normally try not to rehearse too much before we perform because we can lose the spontaneity of the piece if we get too focused on getting the lines right. Having the piece feel “loose” is important for the audience and fun for us.

BEFORE I GO ON STAGE, I always listen to the audience reacting to the show that’s already going on. I liken this to sizing up your opponent before a fist fight. Not that I feel like I’m battling the audience when I perform—but I like to know what kind of situation I’m about to step into. Some audiences are really receptive and having a good time, some audiences quietly enjoy the show without giving you much feedback, and some audiences would rather be anywhere else on the planet than watching you tell jokes. I’ve performed for them all and they all require something different from you. I like to be prepared before I leave the comfortable invisibility of the backstage area.

THIS CROWD SEEMED TO BE INTO THE SHOW so I wasn’t too worried about it. We got announced on and started the sketch. Our first joke went by without much response and I started to wonder how the second one would land. Slightly better, but not great it turned out—luckily we happened into an unexpected little gift when Adam flubbed a line and completely reversed the premise of the bit we were doing. It was clear a mistake had been made, and we had this great opportunity to backpedal and fix it while self-deprecatingly winking to the audience. This got a big laugh and from then on I think the crowd was on board with the piece. The laughs came where we thought they would and we got to relax and have fun.

WHEN WE WERE DONE WITH THE SKETCH, we headed to the dressing room backstage. Adam and I always have a very brief check-in with each other when we get off stage. This is normally along the lines of “that played well” or “I guess we can cut that sketch from the roster.” If it’s a sketch we plan on doing again, we’ll talk quickly about where the dead spaces were while the performance is still fresh in our minds. Then we’ll go out and mingle with people who came to see the show.

AND THAT’S BASICALLY IT. A lot of prep work on my end for a few minutes of potential joy on your end—but I thoroughly enjoy the whole process, so calling it “work” is a bit of an overstatement.

ROOTS

I was born in Long Beach and have never had much urge to live more than 100 miles away from the spot I hit the Earth. I lived in Garden Grove for most of my childhood and moved to Mission Viejo when I was in junior high. I came to LA in ‘03 to attend UCLA and get a psychology degree I will never use. While I like living in LA a lot, the thing I miss most about Orange County is the ample parking… and my family. But seriously, you have to pay to park at the grocery store here. That is a true injustice.

PROCESS OF ELIMINATION

Comedy wasn’t my plan when I was younger; it was just a hobby I loved and took very seriously. I started performing in the high school program of a great improv company called ComedySportzLA when I was 15. Joining the program was very formative for me because A) it was the first time I’d really ever had fun doing something and B) it was the first time I realized I had any kind of discernible skill (my childhood had proven I was not cut out for violin, piano, basketball, track and field, life guarding, cub scouts, boy scouts, academic decathlon, or singing of any kind). I got a lot of stage time and training from ComedySportz during high school, and when I graduated I started performing for their college team and eventually their main company (where I still perform today).

I’d never written anything before I got to college, but on a whim I auditioned to be a writer on a sketch comedy TV show at UCLA called “The Mike and Ben Show” and got hired my freshman year. It was very exciting for me -- joining an inspired and creative group of peers doing a weekly uncensored TV show. I eventually became the producer of the show, which was a job that felt “right” to me. From that point on my goal has been to figure out how to turn that into a career.

FAMILY VALUES

My mom is one of the few purely altruistic people I’ve ever known. She will go completely out of her way to help or do something thoughtful for the people she loves. I try to live by that. My dad is a workhorse and is very passionate about his hobbies. He’s taught me that hard work will pay off and that immense joy can be found in working at something you truly care about. My parents have both taught me the true meaning of unconditional love and support.

LIFE MOTTO

I thought Conan O’Brien summed it up really nicely on his final Tonight Show: Work hard and be kind.

[Don’t miss Danny’s next show. Click the image to go to the website for more details.]

INSPIRATION

Steve Martin is a big inspiration for me. He’s a genuine guy from humble beginnings (my hometown of Garden Grove, no less) who paid his dues, struggled, and made it. His book “Born Standing Up” should be required reading for anyone who ever wants to tell a joke.

SOMEONE ELSE’S SHOES

If I could be anyone, I’d be Bob Odenkirk (of “Mr. Show.”) A legitimately hilarious writer/performer who is very loved and respected by the comedy community.

THE BEST OF TIMES

My favorite project was when my writing partner and I made a video sketch every week for 79 straight weeks under the banner “Wunna Weeks” (a weird spelling we immediately regretted.). It was really beneficial for us because it forced us to produce a lot of content and did a lot to shape our comedic voice.

THE COMEDY DUO

My writing partner Adam and have known each other for a while from ComedySportz. He moved into my apartment building and we started hanging out more and becoming good friends. One night we were up until about 3AM drinking tequila and talking about comedy when we got on this idea that to be a writer you have to write, and to do that we’d start making video sketches every week. The next day we went in together on a video camera and made a website. We’ve been working together every since.

WRITER’S BLOCK

When I get writer’s block I just start writing ideas in a note pad – as many as I can without stopping. When I do this most of the things I write are terrible and make absolutely no sense, but I find if I do this long enough it forces my brain to work in ways it normally doesn’t. Eventually I’ll get something I like or at the very least something interesting I can try to expand on.

THE STAGE

My favorite kind of venue is a sold out 100-seat theater. If you get bigger than that you lose some intimacy with the audience – and if it’s not sold out it can feel like a depressing open mic. But sitting in a packed 100-seat theater feels like you’re about to see something cool and exciting that no one else knows about. That’s the greatest vibe for a show.

RITUALS

My pre-show ritual varies depending on what kind of show I’m doing. If I’m doing an improv show I just try to relax and joke around with whoever I’m about to do the show with. I think the most important thing a performer can do is be playful on stage, and a big part of that is being comfortable with your show-mates and legitimately having fun.

If I’m doing sketch comedy, my pre-show ritual is to run lines and work on timing in my head. If I’m putting up a full sketch show I’m also normally running around getting props and costumes where they need to be. I used to stress a lot before shows. I’d worry for a week leading up to the show, be sick to my stomach during the show, and then afterwards not have any recollection of how it all went. I’m getting better about this now that I’m more comfortable with myself as a performer and as a person.

I can never sleep after shows, so my post-show ritual is normally a glass of whiskey and talking my fiancé’s ear off as she falls asleep.

FIRST GIG

Professionally watching TV for “Jimmy Kimmel Live” was my first job out of college. It’s much more stressful than it sounds but it was a great gig. You basically sit in a small room for about 12 hours a day and consume all TV and internet media, looking for funny clips to be shown in the monologue. I gained weight and my muscles atrophied, but it was a fun job.

AFFIRMATION

The times I really feel proud are when people I don’t know tell me they thought something I did was funny. Friends and family are obligated to say “good job,” and if a stranger hates your set they’ll just leave and not make eye contact. So if someone you don’t know comes up to you and says they liked your performance it means you’re probably doing something right.

I LOVE MY JOB

The best part of my job is getting to work on a good show with funny people all day long. There are so many bad shows and bad work environments out there, but I get to be a part of a product I believe in and work with a really caring and supportive group of people.

WHAT’S IN STORE

I’m not sure what’s next, to be honest. All I know is that I want to be a professional comedy writer. For now I’m just going to keep working and plotting. Always plotting.

WATCH DANNY WORK

The two most common places to find me live are at ComedySportzLA and iO West (both great theaters). I post show dates at dannyricker.com, wunnaweeks.com, and on my facebook page.

ADVICE FOR THE KIDS

I’m a big believer in the idea that as an artist, whatever your art may be, you only really like about 10% to 20% of what you make. But since it’s a percentage, the more ideas you put in, the more good product you get out. If you write ten things, you’ll only like 1 or 2 of them – if you write 100 things you’ll like 10 or 20 and that’s a significant amount of good material. And write every day. You’re not a writer unless you write.