The Comedian's Way workshop for Writers, Performers & Other Humans is the place to develop your authentic voice and deepest material for one-person shows, personal essays, books, scripts, blogs, or just to have a better attitude about life.

Each class starts with a Q & A and an inspirational rap from Beth about some aspect of the creative process. Here for your entertainment and edification is video of a recent talk about the 7 Questions Every Writer Should Ask Themself Before Sitting Down To Write.

Read more about the workshop on Beth's site and the Un-Cabaret website.

Class meets most Sundays from 1-4pm at M-Bar, 1253 N. Vine St. LA 90038. For more info, call 323-717-4731 or e-mail us.

Any single class $60  
Any 4 classes $200

Audit (observe) any class for just $10
Audit 4 classes for $25

Seth MacFarlane is the creator of Family Guy, American Dad and now the Cleveland Show spin-off, does the voices for many characters and is pretty much the definition of a multi-media mogul.

In this exclusive clip from The Other Network Writers Room (sorry for the crappy camera work - it was intended for audio and is essential listening for anyone who wants to be a comedy writer), Seth tells how he got to make the pilot for Family Guy and what he looks for when he reads a spec script.

Enter the Other Network Comedy Contest and get your work seen by top showrunners, agents and execs. The deadline is December 15, so get writing!

In almost any Hollywood pitch meeting, some executive will inevitably ask you something like 'But what are the stakes'? Or 'Can we raise the stakes'?

Maybe that's why so many plots turn to someone having to save the world - or the whole universe! Those stakes are high enough, right?

In this illuminating clip from The Other Network Writers Room, 30 Rock Co-Exec Producer and Writer John Riggi talks about times when the stakes are too high and plot overshadows character. Many successful current comedies like 30 Rock and The Office, focus on microscopic plots, and great characters, and 30 Rock earned 22 Emmy nominations this year.

With comedy, I think the important thing to remember is that the stakes that are important to the character aren't necessarily global. And in fact, a character's out of proportion caring about their often-miniscule goal, is part of what makes it funny.