With co-founders Maria Illana Martinez and Davide Formica leading the Comedy Sketch Group in Madrid, it was the culmination of three years of meeting up and performing comedy sketches for fun, bringing together members with a passion for theater from diverse walks of life to write, act, direct, and film, which has led to this moment. Maria explains the original idea was to develop the imagination of the group members, with “original scenes written by a person or a working team, including film/ads parodies, musicals, tales, fables… anything that gets a spectator’s smile and creates a funny moment.”
Their efforts have seen dozens of sketches created and scenes being uploaded to their YouTube Channel. Every sketch is written by Maria, rehearsed multiple times and recorded by Davide. Aside from producing fresh and funny content, Maria explains that a huge benefit of this is just to have fun and meet friends: “We all have to deal with our daily jobs and this is a healthy way for disconnecting and recharging energy for the rest of the week.”
The Comedy Sketch Group went one step further though, when Group Member Javier suggested they take a whole play to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The Fringe, which is the largest arts festival in the world, takes over the Scottish capital each year in August, and attracts some of the biggest names in comedy and theater. But what makes the Fringe unique for an event of its size, is that there is no selection committee, and amateur troupes can bring their own production.
Javier has been a Fringe goer for five years, and is also a musician, so a Fringe play seemed the ideal way to combine the two. He says, “development of the script was a long process during which Maria and me worked very hard. The idea was already there but she had the know-how about how to write a script properly. Weeks of development, writing, discussing, re-writing, re-discussing, rehearsing, testing, and re-writing!”
The outcome was Black Monday, a comedy show featuring live music written by Javier. It tells the story of Tom, a young London broker, whose life radically changes with the 1929 stock market crash, while alien spaceships start landing in London suburbs.
It’s not every day that spaceships land in London, and nor is it every day that a group performs at the Edinburgh Fringe. With such a milestone achieved, we’re very excited to see what the future holds for the Comedy Sketch Group!
Conor Rushby is originally from Yorkshire, England, and since studying in London has led a nomadic lifestyle taking in Vienna, New Zealand, and Johannesburg. He is now settled in Munich.
Between introducing our members to online events and navigating health and safety regulations, our Ambassadors and Consuls have gone above and beyond to connect our members and offer fantastic official events and activities. These are the Global Awards 2020 finalists and winners.
The party never stops at InterNations! 2021 is here at last, and our communities all around the world rang in the New Year in style. From chasing away the January blues on roller blades, to taking to Zoom to bid 2020 a fond farewell, let’s take a look at what our members have been up to this month.
There’s something wonderful about saying goodbye to the past year and welcoming the new year full of hope. As we all kick off another trip around the sun, our communities around the world found the best ways to celebrate in style — from a sunset barbecue in the desert to a yacht cruise!
Over the last months, we have seen some great activities hosted by Consuls all over the world, bringing their group to another community and giving their members a truly international experience. We asked two of them to tell us about the travelling adventures they recently shared with their groups.
June is Pride Month, and many of our communities around the world got together to celebrate. From bike rides to boat cruises, they had plenty of fun! Our many LGBTQ & Friends Groups are active throughout the year, so make sure to check them out!