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Things to Consider When Submitting to Write For a Late Night Show

This piece was originally published on SaraSchaefer.com. It's republished here with permission.

This past fall, I had the amazing privilege of hiring a writing staff for my upcoming TV show, Nikki & Sara Live. I was flattered and honored when hundreds of people applied. It was a super fun experience, but it was also an incredibly illuminating one. Reading so many packets made a couple of things very very clear: there are some really easy, basic things you can do to improve your chances of getting a job writing for TV. Before I give you those tips, however, I want to give a little context.

I think that hiring writers is a built-in fantasy for any comedian. Because naturally, if you’re the one doing the hiring, it means you got THE job, so yeah, it’s a mind-blower. Over the years in my day-dreaming about such things, I would often think about an interview with Conan O’Brien, in which he described what it felt like to hire all his friends to write for Late Night. It sounded glorious. On top of that, in the comedy business, there is sometimes a myth that the only way to get hired to write for a late night show is to know someone on the inside. It’s why some have surmised that there are very few women writers in late night. (Man-host hires man-friends to be writers. Consequently, man-writers hire man-friends to also be writers, and so forth.) I say it’s a myth, because I don’t think it’s a rule or even true in most cases, but I do think there’s a pinch of truth to it. READ MORE

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Top Ten Sexiest Up-and-Coming Funny Young Underrated Comics with Genitalia That You Should Be Following on Twitter Whose Fresh Faces We Love to Watch

Steve Martin

Hollywood take note: Steve Martin’s fresh take on everything from jerks to ancient Egypt is a goldmine just waiting to be discovered. See him for cheap while you still can, folks. This guy’s going places. READ MORE

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