Four Film School Fools

The Internet and funny videos will never divorce. It’s a match made in heaven — or its online version, anyway. And with the sustained popularity of YouTube, groups like the Union Sketch Show are continually looking for new ways to raise the bar for comedy videos across the Net.

Besides, they wanted a break from the sometimes mundane and boring aspects of film school.

“We just want to make what we want to make!” Thomas Sorenson of the Union Sketch Show says of the inspiration for the sketch group’s formation.

Sorenson is one of four that make up the Union Sketch Show. KC Michelson, Colin Perkins and Jake Mizener round out the cast.

“We’re the writers and basically the production team. We shoot it, we write it, we direct it,” Michelson explains. “We have other actors and crew help, but we’re like the four main players.”

The Union Sketch Show has been working together since 2010. The members met while attending film school at UW-Milwaukee. They wanted an outlet for their comedic sensibilities and a way to work with others on projects foreign to their classwork.

“We’re all film students,” Sorenson says. “We all work together and then we wrangle up other film students to help us act or work on the crew, and that’s always a lot of fun.”

At a recent weekend shoot, the group was accompanied by close to 20 extras and crew members helping out. Typically the extras like the work, and love the break from the relative monotony of film school classes.

“The shoots are a blast,” Michelson says. “Every photo we have from on set are people smiling. We work hard, but we have fun on the set and don’t take ourselves too seriously because we’re filming a goofy sketch. It’s hard for them to take their ‘bosses’ seriously when they’re walking around in pirate costumes.”

“It’s a nice break from the artsy bullshit,” Jake Mizener adds.

YouTube videos and their creators may sometimes get a bad rap. In truth, the website is cluttered with low-quality non-sense. This is where the Union Sketch Show differentiates itself, because its members are proficient in production work as well as acting.

“[Production value] gives us an edge over many other sketch groups,” Colin Perkins says. “It’s not like we’re just shooting the sketches on an iPhone. We actually set up and run it – especially when we have a larger crew – like a professional set.”

But the writing of the sketch is the group’s main focus.

Their writer’s room suggests an interrogation room with its dim lights and empty walls. “They wanted to film the scene with the joker in the police station for The Dark Knight here,” Michelson jokes. It helps keep the team focused on the work at hand, concocting their short, comedic clips.

“More times then not, someone brings a spark to a meeting,” Mizener says of the writing process. But the process continues on set, where the group typically tinkers with the script; they have even done re-writes during shoots. The group’s unwritten rule: nothing is set in stone.

After a break from the weekly grind, the Union Sketch Show is coming back with a second season of sketches. That means more work, but reflects the growing expectations for their show. “It’s popular enough to the point where people have approached each of us in person at some point asking us when the show’s coming back,” Perkins says.

Michelson says the group hopes to up the ante. “We’re definitely more refined this season,” Michelson adds.

Season 2 of the Union Sketch Show begins Monday, May 5, with new videos being added every Monday.

Looking to the future, the group is currently in talks to bring their comedy from the screen to the stage, with some of those talks involving other sketch groups from throughout Milwaukee.

“We’re talking to people, and we would love to add some sort of live aspect to what our group does,” Michelson says.

Meantime, the Union Sketch Show continues on a weekly basis, not on television (yet) but online at YouTube.com/UnionSketchShow, beginning May 5th. You can also keep up with the group, naturally, on their Facebook page. It’s a match made in heaven.

 

Union Sketch Show – Breaking and Entering