British Comedy Guide
British Comedy Guide

Topical comedy

Jokes about what's going on in the world are the lifeblood of shows like Breaking The News. Writing topical gags is a skill worth honing.

BDNS

Become a 'BDNS' writer

  • Monday 30th September 2024

Radio shows Breaking The News, DMs Are Open, Noising Up and The Skewer all accept comedy material. So far just a handful of people have managed to write on all four programmes - can you become the next?

Man holding a speech bubble near a phone with Twitter logo on

Have I Got New For You: Course I can take a joke! (If it's at your expense)

  • Wednesday 25th September 2024

Dave Cohen explores the influence of Twitter on comedians and comedy writers.

Have I Got News For You. Image shows left to right: Paul Merton, Ian Hislop. Credit: Matt Crockett

Have I Got New For You: What now for topical comedy?

  • Friday 20th September 2024

Dave Cohen explains that, no matter who's in power, topical comedy remains a route to success.

The Skewer. Credit: Unusual Productions

Members ask... The Skewer's Jon Holmes

  • Monday 9th October 2023

Plenty of Pro members have secured their first professional writing credit on Jon Holmes' The Skewer. Here, we put your most asked questions to the man himself.

Big Comedy Conference 2023. Image shows left to right: Dave Cohen, David Flynn, Jon Holmes, Rajiv Karia

Big Comedy Conference video: Open Door Shows

  • Friday 23rd June 2023

The video recording of the Big Comedy Conference session in which Breaking The News series producer David Flynn, The Skewer creator Jon Holmes and DMs Are Open producer Rajiv Karia discuss how to submit material to their formats.

Breaking The News. Image shows left to right: Jim Smith, Jay Lafferty, Des Clarke, Martel Maxwell, Neil Delamere

The return of the topical comedy show

  • Thursday 12th January 2023

Dave Cohen explains why you should seriously consider developing your news-based joke writing skills.

Breaking The News. Lauren Mackay

Breaking The News writing tips

  • Friday 29th October 2021

Breaking The News producer Lauren Mackay offers some tips on how to be successful writing for the topical comedy show.

Breaking The News. Image shows from L to R: Chris Quilietti, Des Clarke, Lauren Mackay, David Flynn

Breaking The News: Behind-the-scenes on the topical comedy show

  • Friday 29th October 2021

We talk to the producers behind Breaking The News, the hit BBC Scotland topical radio and TV format that you can write for. Discover how they put the show together, and how to get involved.

Kevin Day

Stand-up and HIGNFY writer Kevin Day, on turning comedy into your day job

  • Thursday 4th March 2021

Kevin Day on HIGNFY's gag rate, the modern ways to make an impact, and how just talking the talk can make a big difference.

Newsjack Unplugged. Copyright: BBC

Writing impressions sketches for Newsjack

  • Monday 22nd February 2021

One consistent element of Newsjack is the 'impressions sketches'. We take a look at how to hone this type of sketch to specifically tick the boxes that Newsjack producers are looking for.