White Label Comedy is a Creative Agency powered by a hive mind of Comedy Writers and Advertising Copywriters – working together to create comedy content that’s on-brand, on-message, and sells.

We’re the writers room that lives in your back pocket – and if you’re going to invite us to move in, we should probably all get to know each other first. So each week we’ll be introducing you to another member of the White Label Comedy team.

This week – it’s comedy writer Dan Sweryt.

White Label Meets: Dan Sweryt

WLM: What’s your comedy background, outside of White Label?

DS: I’ve written comedy for 14 years now, across all media, including TV, radio, podcasts, stage and the internet.  I’m am member of the regular writing team for BBC Scotland’s Breaking The News on TV and radio.  I also write material for a few stand-ups and am a regular contributor to satirical news sites The News Dump and NewsThump.

WLM: How would you sum up the White Label ‘process’? And what does it offer our clients that they wouldn’t be able to get elsewhere?

DS: The ‘process’ is what I like most about comedy writing: it’s collaborative!  There is a lot of comedy writing where you’re stuck by yourself, hearing nothing back when submitting to various outlets.  The collaboration is brilliant as someone can have a gag immediately, with another 30 writers able to jump on it and hone it ’til it’s perfect.  With so many writers available, clients get high-quality content turned around in days.  A single writer working alone couldn’t match the quality and turnaround times, nor could they afford to match the price, as it’s simply economically unviable for someone working alone!  Believe me, I’ve tried that previously!

WLM: What’s your favourite kind of White Label client / brief?

DS: The ones where we get to generate a load of ideas first, that are subsequently selected from by the client, then we get to work on the script, then hone the gags.  I find the process more enjoyable if we feel like we own the idea from scratch.  That’s not to say we have to do it like that, as working on plenty of different projects simultaneously is rewarding enough.

WLM: What do you get from being a part of White Label?

DS: A collaborative, supportive writing environment; something that’s sadly lacking in the comedy writing world at times!  Bouncing ideas off others to get the best results is invaluable and motivating.

WLM: What’s been your favourite White Label moment so far?

DS: Getting on The One Show was pretty exciting.  Also, realising that someone has to write those 15 second pre-video ads on YouTube, so it might as well be us!

WLM: Outside of our White Label projects, are there any examples of comedy and advertising coming together that make good touch-points when coming up with new ideas?

I always remember the trailer for Austin Powers 2, as it was nice and self-deprecating, finishing with the line: “If you see only one movie this summer, see Star Wars. But if you see two movies this summer, see Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me”

The John Smith’s salmon ad where the guy fights the bear for the fish.  Unexpected and made me laugh out loud multiple times.

The Pepperami ads were good fun – ‘It’s a bit of an animal’ is a very subtle, but great, line!

Also, I quite like the Virgin Trains ad.  Mainly cos my mate Alex is the leading man, so if you want him to feature in your project, give us a shout!

WLM: Anything else you want to share?

DS: Have a look at my website for more details.  If anyone wants to give me any bitcoin for no reason, please feel free.