How to Audition for a Sitcom (Multi-Cam and Single-Cam)

The sides land in your inbox at 6 p.m. Four pages of a network comedy, due tomorrow afternoon. You read them once and laugh out loud on page two. Then the worry starts: how big is this supposed to be? Do you wait for a laugh? Can you add the little “oh, come on” that feels so natural?

Those questions have different answers depending on one thing that’s easy to skip past: whether the show is a multi-camera sitcom or a single-camera comedy. The two formats are made differently, cast differently, and want different things from your audition, even when the jokes look alike on the page.

The short version: work out the format first. For multi-cam, learn the words exactly, find the jokes, and play them with heightened energy and quick pickups. For single-cam, play the situation honestly and smaller, and let the comedy come from who the character is. For both, keep the pace up and be ready to change anything in the room.

First, work out which kind of sitcom it is

A multi-camera sitcom is the classic studio comedy: a set like a stage, a live audience, and several cameras rolling at once. As Wikipedia’s entry on the multiple-camera setup explains, this lets a show capture several angles in a single take without stopping the action, which is why it suits an audience. A single-camera comedy is shot like a film, one setup at a time, with action repeated and often out of order.

That difference shapes the acting. Casting director Ramani Leah, CSA, writing on The Casting Director’s Cut, describes multi-cam as bigger, a little more theatrical, fast paced and joke-driven, and single-cam as closer to film, with room for more nuance. A trade guide to TV comedy auditions puts multi-cam on a scale of its own: kids’ multi-cam shows are the biggest, and adult multi-cam comes next, heightened and close to live theater.

You can often tell from the pages themselves. A Final Draft guide to the two formats notes that a multi-cam script runs about 52 to 58 pages against 22 to 32 for single-cam, for a similar running time, mainly because multi-cam dialogue is double-spaced and its action is written in capital letters. Leah calls double spacing a dead giveaway. Single-spaced pages with no act breaks usually mean single-cam.

Then watch the show. Leah suggests a few episodes, or at least the pilot. If it’s a new pilot with nothing to watch, ask your agent or check the breakdown for comparisons, and read the whole script if you can get it. Our guide to breaking down audition sides covers what to pull from the pages either way.

Multi-cam: say every word exactly as written

This is the rule that catches actors who come from improv or naturalistic film work. Casting director Cathy Reinking, whose credits include Frasier, advises in her column on multi-cam auditions that you say the writers’ words exactly as written. The writer-producers chose each one for its rhythm, and even an added “um” can throw a joke off.

The reason is rhythm. Multi-cam jokes are built word by word, and the laugh depends on the sound of the line as much as its sense. Actor Anna LaMadrid, in her piece on the tech of comedy auditions, makes the same point: change or ad-lib a word and you break the joke’s rhythm. Watch for the small fillers that creep in when you’re nervous, like “I mean” or “okay so.”

Look at how tightly a classic stage comedy is built. Wilde wrote for a live audience too, and every word is placed:

LORD DARLINGTON: Ah, what a fascinating Puritan you are, Lady Windermere!

LADY WINDERMERE: The adjective was unnecessary, Lord Darlington.

LORD DARLINGTON: I couldn’t help it. I can resist everything except temptation.

LADY WINDERMERE: You have the modern affectation of weakness.

Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere’s Fan, First Act (1892).

The laugh lives on the last word, temptation. Say “I can resist everything, except, you know, temptation” and it dies. Say “I can resist anything except temptation” and it limps. The sentence is a setup with the surprise held back until the very end, and that’s how a great many multi-cam jokes work. You can read the whole play in our full text of Lady Windermere’s Fan if you want more to practice on.

So get word-perfect, earlier than you think you need to. One test: cover your lines and say them, then check every word, not just the sense. A useful drill is to reduce the punchline to first letters and see if the exact words come back:

I c r e e t.

If you tend to drift, our guide on how to stop paraphrasing lines has more drills, and the free first-letter memorizer will turn your sides into cues like the one above.

Find the jokes, then play the person

Once the words are solid, go through the sides and mark the jokes. In multi-cam they’re usually easier to find than in single-cam, LaMadrid notes, and she suggests scoring every one on the page. Underline the word the laugh lands on. Then look for the joke’s partner: very often your line is the setup for someone else’s punchline, and your job is to make it land clearly so theirs can pay off. Our guide to comedic timing goes deeper on setups and laugh words.

Now forget that it’s funny. The character doesn’t know they’re in a sitcom. Lord Darlington isn’t telling a joke; he’s flirting, and the line is his way of getting closer. Find what your character wants in each exchange and play that want with full commitment. The energy is heightened, but the need underneath has to be real, or the performance tips into mugging.

Reinking also points out why multi-cam rooms test this: the show is performed for a live audience, so the writer-producers want to see that you’re confident and quick on your feet. A clean, committed read with sharp pickups shows them that better than any extra business you could add.

Single-cam: play the situation, not the punchline

Single-camera comedy asks for almost the opposite. In her column on single-camera comedy auditions, Reinking, who also cast Arrested Development, explains that these shows shoot on tight schedules with little rehearsal, and that the comedy comes from the style and the situation rather than from jokes. She adds that single-cam scenes often lack the usual beginning, middle, and end.

So don’t hunt for punchlines that aren’t there. Look instead for the gap between how the character sees things and how things are. The person who thinks they’re being subtle and isn’t. The one who keeps a straight face in a ridiculous situation. Play them as if it’s a drama about a mildly bad day, and let the camera find the funny in your reactions.

Size comes down, because the camera is close. What reads as heightened on a multi-cam stage looks like indicating in a single-cam close-up. Keep the energy and the pace, but put it in your thinking and listening rather than your face. Your reactions carry more weight here: often the laugh is on the person hearing the line, not the one saying it. Our guide to reacting in a scene is useful prep.

Whatever the format, do the first take as written. If they ask you to play, or the director invites an alternate, that’s your moment to show what you can add.

Keep the pace up, especially on tape

Comedy dies in the gaps. LaMadrid names pacing as one of the most common reasons comedy self-tapes fail: being too precious with the language, breaking sentences in odd places, and getting slowed down by the reader. Her fix is worth stealing. Rehearse the lines in a few different rhythms, the way writers try out different words, and find the one that works for you and the scene.

Pick up your cues tightly. Your first word should come right on the end of the other person’s line, unless the character has a reason to pause. There’s no studio audience in a casting office or on a self-tape, so don’t leave holes for laughs that won’t come. On a set, holding is a craft of its own, and our guide to holding for a laugh covers it, but in the audition, play straight through.

The hard part is practicing that speed without a partner who knows the scene. In Offbook, realistic voices read every other character and wait for your line, and you can set how fast they speak, so you can push the pace up a notch once the words are solid. Run the sides until the pickups are automatic. The guide on picking up cues has more ways to tighten them.

Use the frame

Comedy is visual. LaMadrid’s advice is to use your whole instrument inside a static frame, and to use movement and framing to punctuate a joke, including moving on a punchline. Standing dead center and just saying the words, she argues, wastes what the camera can do. A turn, a sit, or a look away are our own examples of the kind of small move that can work.

Match it to the format. A multi-cam read can carry a little more physical life, because the show is played on a stage. A single-cam read usually stays tighter, so a glance or a held beat does the work. Either way, keep business simple and tied to the character, never a gag of its own.

Choose a reader who will keep up, and brief them to read flatly but quickly. A slow reader drags your pace down with them. Our guide to being a good self-tape reader is a handy thing to send them before you tape.

Be ready for the room to change everything

On a multi-cam set, LaMadrid notes, lines are often rewritten based on how the audience reacts, and actors have to absorb the change between takes. Auditions can feel the same way. You may get a redirect, a new line, or a request to “try it bigger” or “try it with no jokes at all.” The people watching want to know you can take a note fast and still be word-perfect on the new version.

So stay loose. Prepare one clear, specific read, but don’t lock it in so hard you can’t move. Listen to the whole note before you answer, ask one question if you need to, and go again right away. Our guide on taking direction covers how to do that without overthinking. If you get a callback with producers in the room, the callback guide covers what usually changes.

Your night-before plan

1. Check the pages: double-spaced with action in caps means multi-cam; single-spaced usually means single-cam.
2. Watch the pilot or a few episodes, and note how big the actors play and how fast they pick up cues.
3. Read the whole script if you have it, and decide what your character wants in each scene.
4. Mark every joke and underline the laugh word, including the setups you feed to other characters.
5. For multi-cam, get word-perfect and check every word against the page, fillers included.
6. For single-cam, find the situation and the character’s blind spot, and plan your reactions.
7. Rehearse in a few rhythms, find the one that works for you and the scene, and drill your cue pickups.
8. Tape it with a quick reader, use the frame, and watch one take back for dead air.

If you’re new to TV comedy and reading for a smaller part, our guide to auditioning for a co-star role covers what to do with three lines and one scene.

Questions actors ask

Should I improvise in a sitcom audition?

For a multi-cam, no. Reinking’s advice is to say the writers’ words exactly as written. For single-cam, do your first take as written too, then offer something looser only if they invite it.

How can I tell if a show is multi-cam or single-cam?

Look at the script format. Multi-cam pages are double-spaced with action in capital letters; single-cam pages are single-spaced, like a film script. Watching an episode settles it: a live audience laughing and a stage-like set mean multi-cam.

Should I pause for laughs in an audition?

No. There’s no audience in the room or on your tape, so a pause for a laugh just sounds like dead air. Keep the pickups tight and let the casting team imagine the laughs.

How big should I play a multi-cam audition?

Bigger than a drama, and with more energy than you’d use for film, but with a real want underneath. Watch the show and match its size. Kids’ multi-cams usually run biggest of all.

How many takes should I send for a comedy self-tape?

Usually one strong take, unless the instructions ask for more or for an alternate. Our guide on how many takes to send covers the common requests.