Music

How to write a comedy sketch with Gein’s Family Giftshop

Manchester-based sketch group Gein’s Family Giftshop (James Meehan, Kath Hughes, Ed Easton and Kiri Pritchard-McLea) are one of the most exciting emerging sketch groups in the UK. At London Sketchfest in May this year they won Best New Sketch Act as well as the Audience Choice Award after only giving a taste of what they could do.

Their debut hour at the Fringe this year is full of original, creative and extremely funny sketches that demonstrated how talented they are as writers and performers but also what a special dynamic they have as group, each offering something different and unique.

The sketches might seem quite simple, many of which focus on the “lower area”, but they are tightly structured and, perhaps most importantly, very funny with a real fluidity that shows how smart and accessible this group are. Watch their live shows, watch their videos online. Discover why you should love this sketch group too.

Here is an exclusive insight into how they write their sketches, by Gein’s Family Giftshop:

11.00 am – Kiri messages the What’s App group asking if Ed wants to come over and write.
11.31am – Ed messages back saying he’ll be there at 12pm
11.45 am – Kath and Kiri get out of bed and pad around in their dressing gowns.
2.34 pm – Ed Arrives
2.35 pm – Ed suggests that he and Kiri should have lunch before they start writing. Kath comes downstairs and decides to have lunch too.
2.40 pm – 3.00 pm – Asda
3.00 pm – 4.00 pm – Kath, Ed and Kiri eat a whole ring of Chorizo, a bar of Halloumi and 4 avocados.
4.25 pm – Jim arrives home from work and immediately takes a bath.
4.25 pm – 5.45 pm – Ed and Kiri do “research” on the internet, this means they will google Chinese folklore and rare skin diseases.
5.45 pm – Kath, Ed and Kiri decide to watch a film.
6.00 pm – Kath has watched all the films so they decide not to watch a film.
6.01 pm – Ed writes the word “fart” in his notepad.
6.32 pm – Jim gets out the bath.
6.33 pm – 7 pm – Kiri, Kath and Ed do their respective wee’s and poo’s.
7.01 pm – Kiri, Ed, Jim and Kath write a brilliant sketch.
7.02 pm – Jim asks if they have eaten. Kiri, Kath and Ed lie and a Britannia pizza is ordered, 1 large meat feast with the cheesy bites crust, one portion of peri-peri chicken strips, one portion of normal chicken strips, four tubs of garlic mayo, 4 cans of Rio.
7.30 pm – Group decided that 7.01pm’s sketch is awful and Ed thinks he saw it being done better somewhere else but can’t remember when.
7.34 – Kiri says “what about…um, no, doesn’t matter” and then goes quiet.
7.42 pm – Pizza arrives.
8.00 pm – They all watch the documentary “Child of Rage” again.
8.30 pm – 9.00 pm – Kath and Ed do impressions of the girl from Child of Rage. Jim plays championship manager on his phone.
9.00 pm – Jim goes to bed
9.01 pm – 11.30 pm – misc.
11.31 pm – Ed gets ready to go home.
11.40 pm – 11.59 pm – Ed hovers by the door.
11.45pm – Kiri says “what about…um, no, doesn’t matter” and then goes quiet.
12.00 am – The witching hour, Ed is released and gets in his car.
12.10 am – Ed detours through the red light district behind Piccadilly station.
12.23am – Ed WhatsApp’s the group to tell them how many sex workers he saw.
12.24 – Kiri calls him a liar and suggests they meet tomorrow to write.

Repeat to fade.

For more of Gein’s Family Giftshop head over to their website or like them on Facebook.

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