A Very Sad Holidays: When Your Family Drama Becomes a Comedy Sketch

The Life of a Modern Renaissance Man: A Video Journal, entry 34

The holidays are supposed to bring people together. Sometimes they just give everybody the opportunity to disappoint one another on a more organized schedule.

A Very Sad Holidays is a micro short written by Stephen Gardner that I filmed, directed, and edited. The story follows a guy who keeps trying to be reasonable as the holiday season gets progressively more humiliating. His mother is involved with his old high school bully, Thanksgiving and Christmas keep finding new ways to go wrong, and even the imaginary sports commentary seems personally invested in his suffering.

I love that kind of escalation. You start with a recognizable family inconvenience, then push the situation past the point where anyone should reasonably still be calm. The character keeps trying to maintain his dignity. The universe, unfortunately, has booked an entirely different show.

The fun of a short film like this is making every element work toward the same comic premise. Performance, editing, music, timing, and visual choices all help the joke keep growing.

I know the holidays can be genuinely lonely or complicated for people, and comedy can make those feelings easier to approach. Sometimes seeing an exaggerated version of a bad day gives us permission to laugh at our own.

If your family gatherings are less dramatic than this film, congratulations. Please enjoy that blessing quietly.