In November 2017 (for the record) I attended The Comedy Workshop with Leanne Davis, at the formidable Youtube Space London. These studios are located directly under Google, in the same shiny new building. High security measures upon entering. For pre-registered, background-checked attendees with 10k+ subscribers only. Gave it kind of a VIP feeling. Cheerful crowd of Youtube professionals and high performers. Made me feel 10% VIP and 90% unbaked cookie dough.

One of the assignments was to create some funny sketches, and then perform them for the other participants. I preferred just to watch and cheer, because for my life I wouldn’t be able to come up with an impromptu sketch.

Three weeks later, in the safety of my home, inspiration finally came upon me. This is what I wrote (again, for the record):

Scene 1. Fisherman I

A fisherman at a small lake, sitting on a mini-chair, fishing. He’s waiting patiently, when suddenly the line catches. He howls in his catch: a small fish. Carefully, not to hurt the fish, he removes the hook. While throwing the fish back into the lake he says: “I let you off the hook this time”.

Scene 2. At a market

Someone strolling by a small fruits & veggies market stand. She looks at a bowl of apples. She likes what she sees. Next her gaze falls onto some oranges. However, the oranges do not look fresh, one even has a mouldy patch on it. She complains to the shop owner: „Why do these [pointing at the apples] look so fresh when those [pointing at the oranges] look so old?”. The shop owner replies: “Sorry madam, you can’t compare apples to oranges”.

Scene 3. In an apartment

A home-owner type of guy comes home with a big bag flung over his shoulder. He walks through the living room and passes by his wife. They kiss Hello. She asks him about the bag over his shoulder, “What’s in there?” she asks, „Nothing really”, he answers, „just a couple of sports clothes”, he lies. He seems to be relieved when she lets him go and he continues his way into the bedroom. He closes the door. He sits down onto the bed.  He opens up the bag and there it is: a very cute, little kitten. Meow. The guy says: „I let you out of the bag now”.

Scene 4. Fisherman II

A fisherman at a small lake, sitting on a mini-chair, fishing (just like in the previous fisherman scene). He’s waiting patiently, when suddenly the line catches. He howls in his catch: a small fish. Disappointedly he looks at the fish in his hands, then the camera zooms out and we can see two more people: a bystander, and another fisherman, a few feet away, who just pulled out a much bigger fish. The bystander points his finger at the other fisherman and comments: „He has a much bigger fish to fry”.

Scene 5. Ice skating on a lake

Close-up of a woman’s face. She’s shouting: „I told you once and I told you twice. If that happens again there will be trouble! Just think about what your father would say. It’s really time to pull yourself together! Take this as a warning! …” While the shouting continues the camera zooms out further. Now we can see her shouting at her little boy, who’s in skating shoes in front of her on a frozen lake. Camera zooms out some more and a sign becomes visible, saying „Danger – Thin Ice”.