StephenM
Wednesday 14th March 2012 1:12am
London
862 posts
I like Hennell's idea of doing an open writing session after the series is finished. That's if I can be bothered reading the news after the series is ended (last series it took me two months to face the weekend paper again).
On the taste in comedy debate think we could fill this thread with a myriad of different opinions. Obviously got to bear in mind NJ's brief which states 'tastefully make fun of the news from the last seven days'. Although one could argue what is tasteful - some may find sexual innuendo (which has been in the show) as tasteless as some of the stories discussed.
From a personal point of view I'd say the butt of the joke is the key thing rather than the news story.
I remember a Mock the Week episode after the Beijing Olympics in which Frankie Boyle was talking about Rebecca Addlington. I can't remember exactly what he said but the general joke was about her being ugly. A safe subject but for me a tasteless joke because it was just having a go at a young girl for not having supermodel looks (and ignoring the fact she was the best in the world at her discipline).
Conversely after 7/7 I remember Dara O'Brien doing a routine about how Londoners reacted to the bombing (in short immediately thinking of a new route to get them to work). A difficult story but an interesting and funny angle, and I would say a tasteful one.
So perhaps some stories aren't immediately off-limits. Although I'll admit you'd be hard-pushed to find the tasteful 'butt' of the joke in a 'young person murdered' story.