Bigipedia

After a two year gap since the first series went out, series two of the Pozzitive Productions sketch show Bigipedia began this week - and for me it has been worth the wait, as this is one of my favourite radio shows.

For those not familiar with the show, Bigipedia is a parody of Wikipedia featuring all sorts of odd articles, debates and features. The last series ended with Bigipedia enslaving 88% of the human population and creating a gigantic hive mind in the Philippines, but the new upgraded 2.0 version has reportedly gotten rid of these problems.

Before I go on I should point out that other than the great quality of humour in this show, I have other reasons for liking Bigipedia, namely that I have helped co-writer Matt Kirshen with matters relating to Wikipedia and Bigipedia. I tried to get myself credited as a consultant on the show - I didn't, but it was worth a try none the less!

Bigipedia still retains some of its original features, such as its sponsor, the nightmarish wine-like drink Chianto (the only drink which is the antidote to itself), a new range of Bronson's baby products (such as diving bells), and children's section Bigikids which offers some unusual and disturbing advice on how to avoid being attacked by sharks.

Among the articles which featured in this week's episodes include Plinky, a 1960s educational children's show about wildlife that was so confusing nobody had any idea what animal Plinky was and therefore the show had no educational merit. There was also Elvis Presley's segmented pip worm, which was the real reason behind his famous singing voice.

However, for me, the best sketches in Bigipedia are the "Disambiguation" pages. The format for these sketches is very simple, but it pays off. You simply come up with a term, which helps serve as a punchline for a series of jokes later on. For example, the disambiguation page on "Circus complaint" has articles linking to a self-made spandex millionare, and the stamp of cannibal quality.

One cannot help but admire the writing that goes into this show. There is so much content that you cannot let your concentration slip for a moment. A show which grabs your attention so much has to be good.

Can I urge you to listen to Bigipedia on Tuesdays at 11pm on Radio 4? It's been touted as "the Sunday format for the internet generation" and is a hilariously mad portrayal of information overload in the computer age. Last week's episode came complete with pop-up advertisements for "baby epilators" designed to leave your newborn's skin "smooth as, um... a baby".

Season 02 - Ep04 - The Radio One

Welcome to Episode Four ... incredibly we've managed something new for four weeks on the run now.

This week (week! Not fortnight, or "18 month period") Rob and Nick have been talking about their various jobs in the world of radio.

There's a surprise phonecall (well, it was to us) from actor Lewis Macleod who provided many of the voices for Nick's Radio 4 show Bigipedia.

AND as if that wasn't enough, there's some previously unheard footage of Bigipedia. Our longest episode yet, probably.

Review of Bigipedia radio series

BBC Radio 4's recent comedy series Bigipedia has provided me at least with some food for thought as a Wikipedian.

Review: Bigipedia, Episode One, BBC Radio 4

Ever wondered what Wikipedia would be like as a radio show? Well, me neither, but it's certainly a concept you can't help but feel drawn to.

Bigipedia, Radio 4

Who imagined the internet could be so wikidly comical?

World Wide Web of Wackiness

It seems as if the time for mocking computers and the internet has probably passed us by (after all, everyone and their granny has a super-fast broadband connection these days) so I was prepared to be underwhelmed by Bigipedia (Radio 4, Thursday), a show that takes the wisdom and inanity of the internet as its inspiration. Yet it was only a minute or so into the show that a joke about Nazi Gold (a Wikipedia-style "disambiguation" menu listed expositions including a "now discontinued breakfast cereal", an "unacceptably nostalgic radio station" and "the colour of Jimmy Savile's tracksuit") caused me to choke on my coffee, and it remained consistently amusing.

Radio review: Bigipedia

Parodying print media is getting old hat - here it's Wikipedia getting spoofed.

This made my head hurt. Imagine the internet talking to you, imparting information you didn't want to know in voices you didn't realise you could hear. Inspired by Wikipedia, the essential online know-it-all, Bigipedia ("written by you, for you, for free, for money") uses myriad voices to spout (mis)information, (dis)service announcements, links to mad forums, adverts and promos, to confuse, confound and whirl the listener around like a candyfloss machine. In a veritable barrage of words, some of which make sense, some of which don't, this cross between The Sunday Format and the speaking clock is a beautiful piece of deadpan satire that takes the mickey out of online life and life forms. It is very Radio 4, very clever, wordy and ineffably wonderful. But just don't try and follow it sequentially, especially at this time of night. You will do yourself a mischief.