I e-mailed them to be put on the running order mailing list and they informed me that i would receive them each Thursday. However, people on this site have also told me that they usually receive their running order a few days after Thursday because Newsrevue are obviously very busy. I am still waiting for a e-mail telling me the running order.
all writers get a full running order each week, usually on a Thursday, whether your in it or not.
good luck, and remember the first week out of each run is the best time for your long sketches.
current running order is out on a saturday I would suggest if you haven't heard by sunday drop them a line.
Well it's Thursday...
Will I get anything used? Was my reading of my emails overly optimistic? Were they just being nice?
Success in writing is done in stages.
You write a sketch
You write a sketch that makes you smile
You write a sketch that gets a chuckle
You write a sketch which you think is funny
You write a sketch which you submit to the BBC Writers Room - it's rejected
You set your sites a bit lower...
You submit a sketch to Newsrevue
You submit lots sketch to Newsrevue
You submit lots sketch to Newsrevue - one is accepted
etc etc
To get to the top you have to complete all the stages and with experience it will hopefully get easier. With a bit of luck I will achieve the bottom entry of that list today. 
Quote: Griff @ January 31, 2008, 11:21 AMI'm sure the Canal Cafe Theatre will be delighted to read that you consider writing for them to be "setting your sights lower"...!!!
BTW I didn't think BBC Writersroom accepted sketches anyway (so don't consider their rejection to be a comment on your work, except that you haven't followed their writers guidelines) - they only look at full-length scripts ?
I should qualify my statement. First of all I sent a sitcom script to Writer's Room not a sketch - sorry.
The Newsrevue/BBC thing shouldn't be taken the wrong way. When you start it's easy to think you are a genius and that your script will be accepted with first hit. It's not unnatural to start with the BBC as that's where most of the great comedies are made/broadcast. It's always likely you get rejected at the start.
Newsrevue is a great way in it seems but I hadn't heard about it until I came here. The BBC is an international corporation and Newsrevue is a long-running topical comedy theatre production that performs to 60 people. I'm not belittling Newsrevue by saying 'setting my sights lower' but purely being more realistic.
It boosts your confidence to think you are in with a chance of seeing your own material performed in front of an audience and it's made a big difference to me as a writer.
All I had before was a half-finished pilot and dreams. Now I have options and opportunities and it's got me writing again.
Quote: Griff @ January 31, 2008, 11:21 AMBTW I didn't think BBC Writersroom accepted sketches anyway - they only look at full-length scripts ?
And they only 'look' at them as the postman empties the sack straight into their shredder. 
Any opportunity is an opportunity. Increasing your chances of being heard by that one important person.
the bbc a couple of times a year has a competition for talents where you get to send in 2-3 sketches and hope to be noticed.
the result is roughly equivalent to throwing a nice fat baby into a tank of hungry pirahannas, or a gram of coke into the priory, bloody feeding frenzy
ultimately it's not a talent issue, or skill, you need to build upto a certain level of acceptable skill, and then just persist, and persist
look at the critique page, take any 4 or 5 of those writers and you could probably put on a bbc decent sketch show, sitcom, invasion of the falklands what ever.
the thing is to get that base of level of skill, take every opportunity open to you, get your stuff on the web, stage, edinburgh and just keep going
pardon the enraged bitterness!
get feedback from other writers to make sure your at the right level (seek out miserable bastards who don' smile, but take what they say with a pinch of salt)
and remember father ted was rejected 10 times, probably the worlds greatest sketch is sitting on some one's hard disc now unloved and unwanted.
I'm gonna try it the other way round: I've had stuff on Radio 4, hit a dead end, so now I'll give NR and the Treason Show thing a bash. Why the hell not, eh?
Comedy-writing is a craft and writing for Newsrevue and Treason Show is very useful in helping to learn that craft. When you see your precious lines dying in front of an audience or even occasionally working, you learn far more than you can from a friend or even an internet forum critique. And it's a learning curve, getting the first sketch on is the hardest. Once they know you can write, they look at your stuff differently. It is the bottom of the scale financially, but if you see the successful comedy writers who've come through that process, it's encouraging.
There used to be a show on Radio 4 called Weekending, which did a similar thing at the BBC, with an open writers' meeting every week, and it's a great shame that the BBC has gone backwards in that regard, although it does offer periodic opportunities - several writers got radio experience with Recorded for Training Purposes, but a regular open access show is still needed. Parsons and Naylor stopped taking sketches, Bearded Ladies stopped. The Writers Room still refers to these shows as open, because it doesn't have any that now take unsolicited stuff. They really should because there are clearly some good writers around, scrabbling for a chance to show what they can do.
I find it very odd when someone decides to "give it ago" and write their own sitcom and then send it into somewhere like the BBC when they have finished. Fair enough and good luck to you.
I've been writing for almost 2 years now, and still haven't "sent anything off" sitcom wise. This is mainly because I am lazy, but also I don't think I deserve that spot yet. I want to earn the right to have my sitcom broadcast to the nation. I want to explore different areas of comedy and gain lots of experience.
When my script lands on Mr. BBC's doormat, I want my name to be associated with quality writing, I want it to jump out of the page and punch them in the face and when my show gets commissioned, I'd like to be able to confidently ensure the producers I will be able to sustain the quality of writing throughout the series and draw from my experiences and ideas I've had throughout the time I took to learn this craft.
Write sitcoms, send them off - that's part of the experience. But just remember to learn to walk, before you try to run (a whole series 
)
Of course I came out of my rant and saw Joel's thread showing Watsons's Wind-up is back. I must admit I'd assumed that had gone too. Still most writers' default mode seems to be whinge, so I will officially remain bitter and twisted.
whinge, i don't just whinge I am a whinja!
Quote: John Kelly @ January 31, 2008, 2:03 PMComedy-writing is a craft and writing for Newsrevue and Treason Show is very useful in helping to learn that craft.
For everything posted in this thread, I reckon that's about it in a nutshell. It's a real learning curve (horrid expression I know but it's the best I can come up with) writing something decent in less than two pages. We all think we've written a perfect sketch or parody when in fact the sketches are over-written and there are just too many syllables in the song.
Writing is a skill and an art that requires dedication and an openness to accept criticism and rejection without taking it too personally and that's what so good about News Revue and The Treason Show.
Although you may feel that there is little communication and they're slack with money and/or running orders, the fact is there is far more communication from these venues than in many other places. For all the faults (of which there many) the positives far outweigh the negatives and once you learn how to write a perfect sketch in less than two pages then you're more than half way there.
Finally, and as I've said before, if you really want something to get into the show then go and see it for yourself. After all, if you were writing for, say, Parsons and Naylor, you wouldn't just submit something without actually listening to the show beforehand - would you?
Quote: John Kelly @ January 31, 2008, 2:03 PMseveral writers got radio experience with Recorded for Training Purposes, but a regular open access show is still needed.
Indeed, and they organised a 'meet and greet' at the end of series one where we got to meet a few other producers, who sympathised with the plight of new writers. I remember speaking with a couple, I'm afraid I can't remember which, and one turned to to other and said: 'Hmmm, no... there aren't really any opportunities for new writers any more - are there?' 'Er, no. No, not really,' the other said, shrugging, before quickly changing the subject. Schlesinger, or whatever his name is, showed his face though. Which was nice.
RFTP was bloody brilliant though, I mean, clearly the show had its ups and downs - but the experience was brilliant, I mean.
Are they bringing RFTP back?
Dunno. The producer quit the BBC at the end of the run, last I ever heard was that it 'might be back'. Mr Cary was busy cobbling together Hut 33 and said to me it would be at least a year, if not more, because of his commitments (and that was back in September). The good news, I guess, is that it was suggested they'd have a raft of new writers in if it returned. Not so great for me mind, since I was told to do one. Arse.