Sometimes the location or situation can be the starting point for a sketch. At the very least, it can help inspire an idea. A family reunion, a baby shower, or the opening of a modern art gallery can be fertile ground for a sketch.

Sometimes just thinking about the number of people in a sketch can get you started. In what situations would you find just one person? Someone surfing the Internet or talking on the phone. A prisoner in solitary confinement. A woman waiting for her date to show up. Showing someone alone can reveal her true self. Does she talk to herself, or sing in the shower? Is she insecure or overly confident?

How about two people? Are they on a first date? Are they stuck at the top of a Ferris wheel? Are they both men or both women? Are they mother and child? Father and son? A pilot and copilot? Are they identical twins or total strangers?

Why would three people be together? A couple applying for a marriage license? How about a date where the guy's mother tags along to make sure the woman is good enough for her son? A parent-teacher conference with both parents? What if it turned out that the father had been in the teacher's class when he was a kid?

Four people? A space shuttle crew or a carpool. Four bridesmaids waiting to walk down the aisle. Four members of a punk band? How about a sketch with the four presidents on Mt. Rushmore?

Do you get the idea? When you're hunting for that perfect sketch idea, sometimes you need to reverse engineer it by starting with something as basic as the number of people in the sketch.

If you find an interesting setting for a sketch it might just write itself. Think of the things that could happen in the following locations:

• An airport lounge

• A laundromat

• A barbershop

• A confessional in a church

• A minivan full of kids

• A pet shelter

• A corporate boardroom

• A greeting card writer's office

• A comic book convention

• A child's birthday party

• A group of tourists in Italy

• A courtroom

• A polling booth

• A retirement party

• A press conference

Have any ideas? As interesting settings or situations hit you, write them down in your notebook. As you go about your day and visit different places, ask yourself: Is this an interesting place for a sketch? What could happen here?

Another tip to get you started: Think of places where people are forced together and can't just get up and leave — an elevator, the subway, a long line at the post office, the space station, dinner with the in-laws. Audiences love watching actors extricate themselves from awkward situations.