British Comedy Guide

Writing for Newsjack (aka 7 on 7) Page 23

Oh, I didn't realise that. I only said that coz I heard an episode of that Andy Hamilton devil radio thing on 7 once.

Was that an old 4 show?

Quote: Mikey Jackson @ May 29 2009, 2:10 PM BST

Was that an old 4 show?

It's still going now, in fact.

This from Radio 7 newsletter this week (dated 29/05/09)

We're very excited about our new topical comedy series NEWSJACK starting next Thursday. The pilot recording -starring comedian Miles Jupp - is being freshly made the night before transmission in the Radio Theatre downstairs here at London's
Broadcasting House.

The aim is to discover a new generation of comedy writers. So the show will be "open door" meaning that absolutely anyone can submit material - so long as it's based on topical events…and it's funny enough of course! And there will be a modest fee for any material included.

Keep an eye out on Radio 7's homepage next week, where we'll be telling you how you'll be able to submit material for consideration.

When I asked the production team how it's coming along, they replied: " "The show's coming together well - although we want the furore about MP's expenses to be over soon - so that we can make jokes about something else!"

So, news next week then!

Dan

Quote: swerytd @ May 29 2009, 3:45 PM BST

When I asked the production team how it's coming along, they replied: " "The show's coming together well - although we want the furore about MP's expenses to be over soon - so that we can make jokes about something else!"[/i]

Good luck on that. The expenses scandal seems to be rumbling on and on and on, with the papers drip-feeding more revelations every day.

Quote: swerytd @ May 29 2009, 3:45 PM BST

The pilot recording -starring comedian Miles Jupp - is being freshly made the night before transmission

If this goes out on Thursday what am I seeing on Sunday?
:S

That's what I was wondering

Maybe they mean the actual series when it starts in late June will be freshly recorded the night before.

Yep, that's what they mean.

We went to see the pilot recording last night (not sure if it's been mentioned elsewhere).

Lovely to see Fred again and to meet Angie, Badge and Yacob. :)

There were a couple of misses but it was good fun overall and the performers were all excellent, especially the guy who's name I can't remember! I think it's on Thursday night and then starts properly in a couple of weeks.

Definitely worth a shot!

Yacob dashed out before the end so I didn't get to say that I was impressed they used his sketch and that it was one of the best on the day. Witty and intelligent.

Jx

What sort of show was it? RFTP mark 2? How topical?

Quote: chipolata @ June 1 2009, 10:20 AM BST

What sort of show was it? RFTP mark 2? How topical?

I think it is meant to be a replacement for "Tilt" rather than "RFTP".

So what kind of stuff did they do, Jane?

Topical? Cultural? Both?

Where's Fred when you need him? I'm always impressed with how much radio comedy he's listened to. He could tell you how it compares to previous shows. This was the start of me making more effort to!

It was a mixture of topical and cultural eg MP Expenses (what a shocker), Big Brother etc. I think they may be adding more topical bits before the show is broadcast on Thursday night. Normally it will be recorded the night before. The producer didn't seem too sure why the pilot was recorded yesterday.

There were a few editorial corrections and vox pops thrown in too.

I suspect it will be more topical as the series kicks in properly.

But obviously the highlight for most listeners will be our contribution of shouting Newsjack in a variety of hilarious ways.

:)

Also great to see Jane P, Yacob, AngieBaby, Fred Sunshine, and anyone else I have missed out.

Quote: Jane P @ June 1 2009, 7:44 AM BST

There were a couple of misses but it was good fun overall and the performers were all excellent, especially the guy who's name I can't remember!

Lewis McLeod, I guess?

Agreed, it's a great cast and looks like a great opportunity. As Jane said they were more "zeitgeisty" than hot topical news but there's a chance this might change over the course of the six weeks depending on what they get in.

Voxpops and made-up "corrections" to last week's show sound like good ways of getting in one/two liners. Some of the sketches seemed quite long (not necessarily to their benefit) but I guess that means longer sketches aren't seen as a no-no (whereas RFTP was a bit more fast-paced).

I think we will all know more after listening to the edit on Thursday!

Quote: Jane P @ June 1 2009, 7:37 PM BST

But obviously the highlight for most listeners will be our contribution of shouting Newsjack in a variety of hilarious ways.

Don't forget the singing as well!

Well, I have 43 radio sketches that I've written over the past few months which will be suitable for Newsjack.
Most of these have a very long shelf life, i.e. the economy, political, modern culture, etc, as opposed to news stories that wouldn't stay news that long. Many of these have been used in NewsRevue and Treason.

They've been picked, polished and ready for sending. Of course, I'll send them in smaller batches over the course of the series, rather than all at once, alongside any hot topic/breaking news skeches I write in the meantime.

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