Updated : Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:52:39 +0000
We've just heard from the folks at Jesting About 2, the North East-focused initiative which gives people the opportunity to pitch to BBC commissioners, and they were very excited because they're ready to reveal the results of their search for up-and-coming comedy talent. This is what they told us: Over 600 comedy scripts and sketches were submitted, from which 31 talented individuals have been selected to take part. Candidates were selected by a panel of BBC commissioners and include Game of Thrones and Ideal actor Ben Crompton, Teesside brothers James and Jack Boughen, and Lesley Gair, who recently left a career in retail to concentrate on writing and whose partner John Scott has also been selected. The full list can be seen below. The successful applicants will attend workshops and receive support from BBC commissioners, executive producers and on-screen talent to develop their ideas into pilots over the next three months. Last year’s Jesting About resulted in successes such as an animation commissioned for BBC Comedy Online, and a sitcom script optioned by Pett Productions, the indie run by Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer and Lisa Clark. View the full blog post to access video content. In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions Ross Noble reveals one of his favourite heckles - from Jesting About 1. BBC Creative Head of Comedy, Simon London, said "we've been overwhelmed by the response we've had to our ideas and briefs" and Peter Salmon, Director of BBC North, added "we've discovered some new and authentic comedy voices, and can’t wait to see their ideas turned into reality". Agnes Wilkie, Creative Director at Northern Film & Media is confident that the combined investment and commitment "will produce a fantastic return of new, North East focused commissions across the three strands”. And so, without further ado, here are the names of the successful candidates! TV Comedy - creating a pilot sitcom for BBC One Jamie Diffley (Whitley Bay)
Lee Henman (Cleveland)
Alex Reid Milligan (Northumberland)
Robert Rodriquez (Chesterfield, Derbyshire)
Jessica Silcock (Barnsley)
Naomi Smith (Macclesfield, Cheshire)
Ian Skelton (County Durham) Radio - creating a half hour sketch show for BBC Newcastle and BBC Tees Jack Boughen (Teesside)
James Boughen (Teesside)
Alex Collier (Sunderland)
Victoria Cook (Whitley Bay)
John Cooper (County Durham)
Ben Crompton (Newcastle)
Lesley Gair (Newcastle)
Janet Plater (Newcastle)
Andy Fury (Northumberland)
David Williams (Northumberland)
Steve Bugeja (Manchester)
Mike Whalley (Stockport) TV Entertainment - creating a pilot for a weekly live comedy and entertainment series for BBC Three Will Cooper (Newcastle)
Owen Cooper (Newcastle)
Hal Branson (Newcastle)
Charlie Richmond (Newcastle)
John Scott (Newcastle)
Alex Collier (Sunderland)
Rob Gilroy (Gateshead)
Alex Oates (Whitley Bay)
Guy Emery (Whitley Bay)
Gavin Webster (Tyne and Wear)
Mark Meiklejohn (Edinburgh)
Robert Girvan (Edinburgh)
Peter Donachie (Edinburgh) Congratulations to everyone involved, now the hard work begins!
Publ.Date : Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000
Today we've re-branded our web exclusive comedy as part of BBC Three. Misery Bear is the first to make the jump but pretty soon we’ll have many more web series appearing as part of BBC Three's Feed My Funny. The web series will still appear on this website too but as you’ll see from Zai Bennett’s post on the Three Blog what's happening on bbc.co.uk/comedy is part of a wider story about BBC Three, Comedy and the web. Enjoy the Teddynator! Zai Bennett, Controller of BBC Three says... Today we announced a raft of new comedy commissions for BBC Three and as well as a number of TV series, there's a major new investment to develop original comedy with six full pilots for a new online initiative, the Comedy Kitchen. And BBC Three now becomes the home for all online comedy for the BBC, which explains the new Feed My Funny section on our website and the addition of Misery Bear to our comedy family. There will be loads more original comedy appearing online, just follow us on Twitter or Like us on Facebook and we will tell you all about it. The new TV comedies announced today include; Bad Education written by and starring Jack Whitehall, The Revolution Will be Televised a vehicle for Don't Panic's Heydon Prowse and Jolyon Rubinstein and a new sitcom from Game On's Bernadette Davis called Some Girls. We've also recommissioned Him & Her for a third series, and there's a new multi-series deal now in place for Russell Howard's Good News. And there's a brand new show starting in January that we are really excited about called Pramface. So excited infact, the second series has already been commissioned. New series Pramface starts in January. When the Comedy Kitchen in iPlayer opens next year, we will have a series of single full length comedy pilots, for you. They include The Imran Yusef Show, a mixture of stand up and sketch from the fast and furious Imran Yusef, People Just Do Nothing a pirate radio mockumentary and Impratical Jokers, a new hidden camera format. Plus the world's foremost silent comedian The Boy With Tape On His Face will be building on his success from this year's Comedy@TheFringe with a solo project for us, we'll have a brand new sketch show from the Dawson Brothers and Alison Jackson's Breaking News will use incredible lookalikes to bring a variety of celebrities down to size. Our commitment to comedy on all platforms is self evident. BBC Three is the channel that breaks new comedy in the UK. We are delighted that Bad Education, Some Girls and The Revolution Will Be Televised are joining our already exciting stable of TV comedy. And our additional investment online ensures that there is now a nursery slope for new writers and performers on the channel.
Publ.Date : Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:45:00 +0000
Mark Watson as... Mark Watson So naturally we cornered Mark by the lifts and asked him to write a blog about it! Mark writes: At last I’ve got five minutes to reflect on Wednesday night’s antics. When some people say ‘take five minutes to think’ they actually mean take a nice hour with a cup of tea. But unhappily thanks to my remarkable current schedule, it really is five minutes. Still, that’s just about long enough to conclude that it went reasonably well. There were a couple of unforeseen setbacks, like the bit where a microphone made the world’s worst noise for a while; and a not-quite-foreseen moment when the public voted for the ending to the show which we had not predicted. But that of course is precisely the fun of doing it live. As you’ll be able to verify if you were there, I squawked and flailed in my usual manner and kept yelping 'THIS IS LIVE!!!!!' as my brain continually registered that thought. I was slightly less madcap than in the pilot though, which I think went equally well overall. Tim Key and Tom Basden... hard at work (ish) The usual (but heartfelt) thanks go to everyone who made the trip to Broadcasting House. It would be a grim experience to do it live with anything less than a very enthusiastic audience. Plus those laughs fill the time. Although once again, it was a case of speeding up rather than trying to pad things out. (Actually, within the space of ten minutes we went from being worryingly behind schedule to worryingly ahead of it, but I’ll spare you the details because my heart is starting to accelerate all over again just remembering it.) I guess if we had gone short I could always have filled the silence with, say, some jokes. That is what my job’s meant to be. But it doesn’t always feel like that when the nation’s Radio 4 listeners are poised by their radios and you hear those bleeps and it all begins. Still, it’s for precisely that sort of ‘aaargh!' moment that you take on a live show. If you didn’t listen – I can only assume it's because you were kidnapped etc – you can still catch the first episode on iPlayer. I won’t give away any spoilers but WATCH OUT FOR THE GLADIATOR. Tune in for more Mark Watson's Live Address to the Nation on Wednesdays at 11pm on Radio 4.
Publ.Date : Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:05:00 +0000
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content. For over 25 years, Edinburgh Fringe audiences have gathered, like Romans to the Coliseum, to watch comedians fight against hecklers at the Gilded Balloon venue and it’s Late 'n' Live event. These people are renowned as the comedy world’s most unpredictable audience; never sedated by a famous name: they expect laughs or they give better than they get. Now for the first time, with narration by Late 'n' Live veteran performer Lynn Ferguson, and interviews with other comedians who performed there, exclusive archive footage of Late 'n' Live can be revealed to those who never made it to the post-midnight show. Or indeed weren’t sober enough to remember it. Amongst those taking part in the programme are Russell Brand, Johnny Vegas, Jason Byrne, Zoe Lyons, Shappi Khorsandi, Caroline Rhea, Ross Noble and Rich Hall. And now we welcome on to the blog, the woman behind both Late 'n' Live and the Gilded Balloon venue, Karen Koren, to tell us more. Karen Koren remembers... Many a wild night was had. Johnny Vegas would have me running around getting him concoctions from the bar. He would inevitably throw up on stage and induce many an audience member to do the same. All I can say is it was no fun for my staff who had to try and clean up after him, as it made them sick as well. Luckily the tv viewing public will not be exposed to that sort of thing in the next few shows, however, there is plenty that is funny or bizarre and a bit scary. Next Monday’s show is about the first timers: Jason Byrne with his sticks, he always had loads of props his first time. Rich Fulcher was brilliant as Eleanor – the Tour Whore! Then there is Shappi Khorsandi’s first and only time. Tim Minchin too, who says Late’n’Live was not for him but there were plenty who it did work for. Why are there so many comics afraid of performing at Late’n’Live – is it because it really will make them a better comic? Or is it too much of a ritual for some comics to get through? It would seem so! Late 'n' Live Guide to Comedy, BBC One (Scotland) Monday 11.05 pm Or watch on iPlayer
Publ.Date : Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:18:00 +0000
BBC Comedy Commissioning and BBC Writersroom have joined forces for a second nationwide talent search to find new comedy gold. If you have a big studio sitcom brewing in your mind and can tell original stories, invent characters and catchphrases that can make a live audience laugh, then send in your script. This is an opportunity not to be missed - you may get the chance of your work performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and at our Sitcom Showcase at the Studio in MediaCity, Salford. You could also be in line for a comedy masterclass on how to write studio sitcoms, plus an intensive week away developing your idea hand-in-hand with BBC comedy producers and established comedy writing talent. The amazing Dawn French will be on the panel of judges. Cheryl Taylor (Controller, Comedy Commissioning), who judged last year's BBC writersroom comedy talent search says: "I was thrilled last year by the number of very funny and original scripts that we were asked to judge. It was a pleasure to read all of the short listed projects as was having the opportunity to meet some of their very talented authors." The deadling for entries is Wednesday, 21 March 2012. For information on how to enter, visit the Writersroom website.
Publ.Date : Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:52:39 +0000
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