TOSketchFestBlog
We are excited to kick off the summer series of the Learning & Fun Professional Development program on Thursday, June 17 at 6pmET with the Creating Viral Comedy Videos on Rizzle panel.
Rizzle is a short series app where every creator hosts multiple channels. With 5 million global channels, it is the next evolution in short videos for the TikTok generation. Hosted by Shohana Sharmin, join Rizzle team members Thom Woodley, Head of Creative and Content Development, and Adam Gold, Talent & Development Manager, as they outline the app’s features, creator community, monetization opportunities, and everything else you need to know to start creating viral comedy videos on Rizzle! Thom and Adam will be joined by Rizzle comedy creators Kellie Williams, Mike Simms, and Steph Shober to discuss creating comedy gold within the 60-second vertical episode format.
This free panel will be hosted on Zoom, with captions. Sign up using the form below!
Program Length: Approximately 60 minutes with moderated Q&A.
Image Description: A photo grid with photos of the Rizzle panelists: Thom Woodley, Adam Gold, Kellie Williams, Mike Simms, Steph Shober, and the Rizzle logo.
Speakers:
Rizzle Staff
Thom Woodley is the Head of Creative and Content Development at Rizzle. He is a creative director and strategist, filmmaker, awarded advertiser, and web video mentor. He is known for creating the first independent scripted web series (The Burg, 2006), writing the Most Interesting Man in the World commercials for Dos Equis, initiating the Web Video program at the New York Conservatory for the Dramatic Arts, and serving as Executive Creative Director of CollegeHumor.
Adam Gold is the Talent & Development Manager at Rizzle. He is a Brooklyn-based comedy producer whose work has been featured in The Hollywood Reporter, VICE, and The New York Post. After working for the New York Comedy Festival, he landed at CollegeHumor as an executive assistant before climbing the ranks to production coordinator, booking talent, and producing CollegeHumor Live. For the last year, he has produced several Livestream comedy shows including “Who Wants $2.69 with Martin Urbano?” on Chris Gethard’s digital network, “Planet Scum.”
Rizzle Creators
Kellie Williams is a New York-based actor and recent graduate of Sarah Lawrence College. Her favorite credits include Zuzu in Dance Nation and Mary in Sweet Maladies. She has channeled her passion for performance into creating, writing, and acting in her two Rizzle series, Vampire Influencer and Your Fat Black Sidekick. You can find her on Twitter and Rizzle @Kellie_Wil!
Mike Simms is a New York-based comedian and actor. Mike mixes his love of classic screwball sitcoms and biting/witty comedians into his current surrealist projects and performances. Be it through the abstract comedy of his web series ‘Mike Is Doing Stuff’, the heart on his sleeve music of alter ego ‘Mic Versys’ or the everyday silliness of life aspect to his stand up, Mike tries to give people reasons to smile, feel, and hopefull be okay.
Steph Shober is an actor, comedian, and filmmaker based in Brooklyn, NY by-way-of Lancaster,PA. On-screen and stage, she specializes as a character actor with a strong comedy background. Watch her latest performances plus voiceover work @StephShober on The Rizzle App. She has been featured in several branded content videos produced by Scary Mommy, and industrials for
companies such as Ernst & Young and iStar. She studied comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Training Center, where she was accepted into the advanced study improv program. She was also an actor on a BoogieManja Sketch Comedy Team.
Host
Shohana Sharmin is a Bangladeshi-Canadian emerging comedian, writer and theatre artist. Born and raised in Bangladesh, Shohana is a proud Muslim queer woman of colour. She is a recipient of the 2020 Queer Emerging Artist Award at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Shohana is the creator and a cast member of the critically acclaimed award-winning dark sketch comedy revue “Dead Parents Society.” She is an alumna of Buddies in Bad Times theatre’s 2019 Emerging Creators Unit, Nightwood Theatre’s 2019 Young Innovators program, and b current Theatre’s 2019 bcHub Emerging Artists cohort. Shohana presented her first solo show “Come Here Often?” as part of 2019 Queer Pride at Buddies in Bad Times theatre. Her written works have been published in several publications. She is a former Featured Player at the Bad Dog Comedy Theatre, and an alumna of the Second City’s Improv and Longform Conservatories. She has performed in comedy and theatre festivals across North America. In non-pandemic times, she can regularly be seen performing across Toronto with her award-winning troupe Not Oasis (2017 The Toronto Fringe Patrons Pick, NOW Critic’s Pick).
