One day a talented student arrived a little late for our writing & performance workshop. She apologized and said she was late because she had a 'hand job' that morning. What?!

It turned out she worked as a hand model and while she had been doing funny material about other things in the class, this was the first we'd heard about her day job. And everyone was fascinated.

Emily Aiken is a brilliant strategic consultant known as 'the Brand Dominatrix' who came up with a great phrase: Low-Hanging Content.

That perfectly describes a whole category of potential material that a lot of writers and comedians overlook because it just seems too obvious and too familiar (to them). Too easy.

Over the years we've worked with a lot of very talented people who kept searching farther and wider for material when they had a wealth of great stuff within easy reach. For the writer referred to above it was hand modelling, for another

Beth Lapides offers advice on dealing with other characters in your stories, especially your most important character: you. This rap recorded at the Un-Cab Lab Writing & Performance Workshop.

Audit the workshop this Saturday, April 25 (1-4pm) - or any time - only $10 per class. The workshop meets at M-Bar, 1253 N. Vine LA 90038. Call 323-993-3305 or e-mail info at uncabaret dot com for more info.