How would one become a guest writer?

Hi guys,

I was in London over Christmas, and saw a few shows at the Comedy store. It made me think about a stand up script I've been writing for the past 6 months or so. It's nothing serious, just something I add to when I'm bored, inspired or p*ssed off.

Anyway, I ended up having a few beers with one of the performers there, not to name drop but he's on TV quite a bit. I told him some of my stuff, and he advised sending it in to TV panel shows.. or Radio 4's Friday night comedy programs.

The thing is, I can't seem to get through to any panel shows, I just can't seem to contact them at all. Has anyone got any hints as to who to contact?

Thanks for any replies.. this kind of stuff probably gets posted every day..

Quote: nwhitmore @ February 24 2010, 2:23 PM GMT

Hi guys,

I was in London over Christmas, and saw a few shows at the Comedy store. It made me think about a stand up script I've been writing for the past 6 months or so. It's nothing serious, just something I add to when I'm bored, inspired or p*ssed off.

Anyway, I ended up having a few beers with one of the performers there, not to name drop but he's on TV quite a bit. I told him some of my stuff, and he advised sending it in to TV panel shows.. or Radio 4's Friday night comedy programs.

The thing is, I can't seem to get through to any panel shows, I just can't seem to contact them at all. Has anyone got any hints as to who to contact?

Thanks for any replies.. this kind of stuff probably gets posted every day..

View original

Have you tried watching the credits and seeing what company produces the show, then contacting them? You'll struggle though I think - most companies have the official line that they don't read unsolicited scripts. I've worked on a couple of panel shows before but that work came through my agent.

If I were you if you have no luck going down the email avenue, I'd find out the address of the company and send a hard copy of your material direct to the producer. You might get a standard "Sorry, we don't do unsolicited", or you may get nothing. On the other hand you might get a thumbs up. Nothing ventured etc..

There are probably at least a couple of hundred people on this forum who would, almost literally, kill to be guest writers on those sort of TV and radio panel shows (I'm one of them), so it's incredibly unlikely that you'll just be able to send some stuff off and get it read (although don't let that stop you from trying, miracles do happen).

Your best bet would be to keep monitoring this forum and the BBC writersroom website to see when programmes such as "Newsjack" are taking submissions and then sending them as much stuff as possible (and of as high quality as you can).

A lot of the staff writers on things such as "The News Quiz" and "Mock the Week" are stand ups who are out there promoting their writing skills, by performing the jokes, week out and week in.

Sorry if this is all a bit dispiriting but like I say there are hundreds, if not thousands of people who want to do this sort of thing and very, very few opportunities.

Cheers for the replies.

I've already done the whole "email a production company" thing.

I wouldn't even have bothered pursuing this whole comedy thing, but one of the guys I met at the Comedy Store said I should - I guess I should have got his email address!

I've not had any emails back but I can still plug away and see what I turn up. Failing all that, I might go back and do the King Gong in the Comedy Store, I know it's damn brutal but f**k it's fun to watch.

Quote: nwhitmore @ February 26 2010, 12:00 PM GMT

Failing all that, I might go back and do the King Gong in the Comedy Store, I know it's damn brutal but f**k it's fun to watch.

View original

It might be fun to watch but it's not always fun to do!

First time I did it I lasted just over a minute and hated every second of it, half the audience weren't even listening to me, it was like trying to entertain a lynch mob with "Pedophile" tattooed on my forehead. It's still the only gig I ever ran out from almost in tears (and I've done gigs in front of several hundred pissed up squaddies who've just got back from Basra).

Second time I did it, some years later, I lasted the 5 minutes and the relief was palpable, I now no longer wake up in the middle of the night with cold sweats about it, I conquered my demon.

I would not advise it as a first gig, get some stagetime first and then when you've done 50+ gigs go and give it a go.

Even the comedians I spoke to in the Comedy Store didn't recommend the King Gong night.. so perhaps I'll give it a miss.

I think being a guest writer on, say, a Radio 4 topical programme, is often a symptom of career progress rather than the cause of it. By that, I mean that a the writer in residence types I've met on such shows had tended to be invited because they'd already had some joy in Edinburgh, or had something commissioned perhaps. So, they'd shown some comedy chops in some other sphere, been spotted by a producer, and then had the opportunity to develop their writing through Radio 4 shows.