http://theconverse.wordpress.com/2011/05/04/the-landscape-of-british-comedy/
Hi I'm a student from Glasgow and I've written an article on the landscape of British comedy and would love it if you could check it out and give me some feedback. I would be interested in the opinions of genuine comedy fans.
Thank You
An interesting read, but you've missed an opportunity to have a well-deserved go at television commissioners for just churning out more and more loosely scripted, cheap, uninspiring pap rather than invest in developing some real long-term talent, tightly-scripted narrative comedies and a wide mix of both audience-pleasing and edgy content.
Famously, John Sullivan was a scene-shifter at the BBC who had the guts to give a producer a script he'd written and badger them to give him a chance. Would someone in a similar position today be so lucky? Not likely.
I'm with Aaron. And your title is a little misleading. British comedy is more than stand-up. Maybe not a lot more but there are still comedies being commissioned. It's the total lack of risk by the commissioners that is so frustrating. The willingness to go with the established who will pull in ratings but churn out pap. The almost complete pulling up of the drawbridges so that those who may have great ideas can't get them heard. And when occasionally someone does breach the defences they are rewarded with a pilot tucked away in an obscure corner of the schedules.
Perhaps for a follow up you could look at the current rack of new radio comedies that have been aired in the past month/six weeks and have a delve into the backgrounds of the writers? Is it new writing? Or is it the usual suspects?