The 9 Commandments of Philo
1. Thou shalt do thy tech-check!
The first step to Philo is the tech-check. This is to test the camera-share, mic-share, and screen-share quality and to make sure that it will work for my needs to run an internet show. Most of Philo’s guest artists have contributed digital art to the project, of which I have a template available for you during this tech-check. If we are doing traditional art, then a each panel can be completed at 5″X5″. All art must be turned in within 3 days of the episode airing to give me enough time to put together pages and promos for the next episode. As part of the tech-check, or prior to it you should have also filled out this form with information that makes thing easier on my end to run the show and put the pages, books, and panels together after the episode airs.
2. Thou shalt draw fast!
This is convention-level sketch or 24-hour comic level panels. Put some detail into them, but not so much it’s going to kill you, and only add backgrounds if it’s important to the story or they are very simple. Perfect is the enemy of done, but I do allow some wiggle room for clean-up. Show-nights are Tuesdays and you have until Saturday of the same week to get me panels you’re happy with, but don’t spend forever working on them. Spontaneity and what’s drawn on air is the draw of the show, and I would prefer it be closer to what was broadcast anyway.
During broadcast, I average around 10 minutes per panel. If you are still working on a panel, or I am still working on a panel, it is okay to leap frog over each other to allow the other artist to catch up. This is why we have the 2nd commandment. Also, please make sure your artwork is centered and visible on the broadcast screen. I can’t do that on my end. This is something you have to manage and be aware of.
3. Thou shalt number thy panels first!
It is so easy to just start drawing what’s been decided to be drawn. No! NUMBER THY PANEL FIRST, even before we figure out what you are drawing in that panel, number it. As soon as we know what number your panel is, number it. Number that panel. When I am putting pages together later on, I need that number. If you are using separate files, number the files, if you are using separate layers or folders, number the layers or folders. I don’t care. Just number it. Thank you.
4. Thou shalt write in thy captions second!
After we know what panel you are drawing on the show, we’ll figure out what you are drawing in your panel. Once that caption has been figured out, write it down. You can type it in if you are drawing digitally. I can provide you the font I use which is Captain’s Talk or you can use an easy to read font with no wild characters. You can also handwrite in your caption on its own layer. This is perfectly okay.
But after the panel number, and before the start of the drawing, there should be a caption written in. The nature of the show is juggling drawing, talking to each other, talking with chat, telling stories, and looking up reference for panels offscreen. It’s very easy to “get lost,” doing Philo. It’s happened to me more than once. If you write in your caption first, then you can reference it silently and go “oh yeah! That’s right!” Trust me on this.
5. Thou shalt label and date thy files!
Please, when you send your Philo panels back to me, include in the file name the date of the episode and your name. Please make sure that all panels are labeled correctly, referring to the 2nd Commandment, whether they are separate files, or separate layers on a single file. The file itself, though needs a date and your name. Thanks.
6. Thou shalt have fun!
This is meant to be a fun thing to do on Tuesday nights and not a super-stress inducing thing. Before the show I open the room anywhere between 15-30 minutes before airtime to do a quicky tech check and get the wigglies out. This is done with a casual countdown. I close the screens, and bring them up with introductions before doing a quick recap of the previous weeks episode. We then pick up the story and trade panels for 1.5 hours when I close out screens with an outro for each, say goodnight to the audience and end the broadcast. After each show I keep the room open for 15-20 minutes to discuss the show and how it went and how the guest felt during broadcast.
If at any time, something on the show is making you feel uncomfortable you can always email or message me privately. If it’s during broadcast (like something suggested in chat) there is a private chat available in Restream we can use to discuss the issue quietly, without making it obvious during broadcast that is what we are doing. My loyalty is to my guests over my chat. I will back them up every time. But you have to talk to me and open the communication if an issue arises.
7. Mine Robin is a hard-working woman!
Robin Fisher works 2 jobs that are both very physical and she’s on EST, so this show starts at 9pm her time. Sometimes she bows out early or she has fallen asleep on air. it is not you, the guest, it is her tiredness. We love her very much.
8. Philo is thine comedy ent’rtainment for thou adults!
Philo is a live-drawn improv jam comic. It is live-theatre, live-drawing, a very lively chat. The artists will draw panels based on suggestions from chat. By having that interactivity it encourages people to both watch the show and tune-in each week to see if their suggestions drive the story forward. I don’t discourage chat’s suggestions, but I do steer them like a cattle drive: you discourage them from where you don’t want them to go. That being said, I can not control the internet and sometimes we get random people or lewd suggestions that chat goes crazy for and I have to steer a cattle drive from jumping off a cliff…
For this reason, I am stating that Philo is a 21+ comedy show. Comedy clubs will give themselves similar labels because of the live interaction between comedians and the crowds. It’s a liability issue.
9. The Politics of Commoners!
The world sucks right now, politically. And it makes Robin and I want to scream. But talking politics takes over the show and takes away from the art. We’re not a political show. We can touch on it, but I don’t want to dwell there as it’s easy to spin deep down that rabbit hole. Here on Philo, we love Canada, hate the Orange man, want healthcare, housing, and food for all, and want peace in the middle east with a 2 state solution. Our discussions and chat tend to lean that way, but, again, we don’t want this to be a show about politics; it’s supposed to be about comics.
