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Alan Cross

Alan Cross
Alan Cross is a former head writer for VH1's Pop-Up Video, where he was nominated for three Emmy Awards. He was a freelance contributor for Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" for four years. Other credits include MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch and 3-South, VH1's Name That Video, the WB's Ultimate Muscle, and Comedy Central's The Man Show. Currently, Alan is writing and producing a syndicated radio program for Paul Shaffer from The Late Show with David Letterman; he was also a senior writer for Carson Daly. He co-wrote/produced "Video Shmideo", a winner at the 2007 New York TV Festival. In 2004 he published his first book (with writing partner Paul Fourie), What Would W Do? His political humor has also appeared in Slate.com, Cracked Magazine, and Nylon for Men. Alan has appeared in national voiceover campaigns for McDonalds, Mercedes, Priceline.com and others; as an actor you saw him during the 2006 Superbowl in an ad for Sprint, a spot that Adweek called "one of the ten funniest."

Alan Cross's Courses
Writing Comedy for TV – (Class starts February 23)

Testimonials

Alan went above and beyond in this course, helping us whip our comedy into shape for a real, live show. As a result, our sketches got a lot of laughs when the actors performed them in front of an audience. -- Tom Carter

"Alan definitely knows the field of comedy writing, especially the little ins and outs that are virtually impossible to discover on your own. The class was definitely worth my time and money!" -- Laurel Brown

"Alan is a witty and welcoming instructor who truly wants his students to get their fingers good and messy in the many different pies available to those looking to write comedy for TV." -- Paul Hagen

"Alan is great because he explains what you need to do to improve your writing and why you need to do it." -- Adam Ullian

"Alan was refreshingly easygoing, encouraging, supportive, helpful, and honest. Imagine my surprise and pleasure at seeing some of those exact headlines used in last Saturday's SNL Weekend Update! Receiving timely info like that and seeing it come to life rocked!" -- Jennifer Anderson

"Alan covered the basics of joke writing and gave everyone confidence. He explained how to use this ability to break into a business that seems very intimidating. I found the class very rewarding and inspiring." -- Eric Kabakoff

"Alan is a gifted comedy writer and an equally gifted instructor. His enthusiasm for his craft is contagious! Alan's instruction and encouragement have provided the impetus for what I'm hoping will be an effective career transition." -- Matt Nelko

"Alan's brilliant sense of humor, first-hand knowledge of the industry, and unwavering support of beginners makes his class essential for those interested in writing comedy." -- Serena Schonbrun Connelly

"Alan provided excellent guidance and information that would take forever to uncover for yourself." -- John Emery

"It's one thing to impart knowledge, it's quite another to inspire passion in others. Alan is a genuinely gifted teacher and I hope he continues giving to successive groups of writers, because what he gives is a lot." -- Russell Smith

"A writing class is only worth what you put into completing the writing assignments. The assignments Alan offered and the way he uses the assignments to build on each other were quite valuable, and his advice is priceless." -- David Nieker, mediabistro.com instructor