The Big Comedy Conference - from BCG Page 3

Sounds really good Mark. Good luck with it.

You coming?

I'd like to. Circumstances are against me though.

For those interested, here's a summary of the latest batch of speakers we've announced for The Big Comedy Conference.

Just a reminder that the early bird pricing ends on Monday night, so if you want to get in cheap book before then.

Paul B Davies: Paul's script credits include the likes of Smith And Jones, Spitting Image and Rory Bremner. His sitcom Reception has just been on BBC Radio 4.

Vivienne Clore: One of the country's top agents, Vivienne's client list includes the likes of Bridget Christie, Rufus Hound and Benidorm writer Derren Litten. She'll help us wade into the 'do I need an agent?' question everyone wants to know the answer to.

Bill Dare: Bill's worked on loads of TV and radio shows as a producer. Dead Ringers and The Now Show are two of the hit shows he launched.

Micheál Jacob: Micheal has been working in TV comedy for over 20 years, first for Alomo (Goodnight Sweetheart etc) then at the BBC (where he acted as Executive Producer on the likes of My Family). He also ran the BBC College Of Comedy so knows his stuff!

Andrea Mann: Andrea is the Comedy Editor of The Huffington Post UK. As her job is sifting through videos and comedy articles every day working out what to feature, she probably knows better than anyone what ingredients you need to create a viral internet hit.

Heydon Prowse & Jolyon Rubinstein: We're thrilled the stars of The Revolution Will Be Televised will be joining us to front a masterclass on topical comedy. The second series of their show is coming to BBC Three next month, and I can tell you it's got some amazing scenes in it (it's under embargo so I can't say too much, but one of their audacious stunts involves the Prime Minister)

David Schneider: You'll know David from his appearances in shows like I'm Alan Partridge and his popular Twitter feed. He's a funny writer and actor.

Dan Tetsell: Actor and writer Dan Tetsell has a super-long CV. Too many shows to mention here (we still particularly love him for voicing Marion in Mongrels though). He was also the Script Editor on Newsjack for a while, so has seen more sketches than any human should be subjected to.

David Tyler: We've managed to convince David to come along to our conference, even though he's pretty busy that weekend producing the massive charity gig that Sunday featuring the likes of Rowan Atkinson, The League Of Gents, Mitchell & Webb, Enfield & Whitehouse etc. David's TV and radio CV is amazing, so he'll have lots of useful advice to share.

Geoff Whiting: If you're a stand-up comedian you'll want to get to know Geoff. He runs Mirth Control, the agency that books acts for over 100 venues across the country. Having seen literally 1000s of open spots, Geoff has some invaluable advice on how to avoid the pitfalls on the path to becoming a full-time stand-up.

A reminder that full information can be found on the below link, including the button you need to press to get a ticket :-)

https://www.comedy.co.uk/make_it/conference/about/

Wow! Well done guys, this looks amazing. I really want to come along although finances may well block me.

Just booked my ticket! Really looking forward to it. :D

Me and a friend booked. Looks great : )

Thanks for the feedback. It is indeed going to be great, we've got lots more speakers still to announce (e.g. we've revealed Arthur Smith today).

For those that are finding their finance is a bit tight, you might like to enter this competition to win a ticket (those of you that have already booked can still enter too, win a ticket for a friend to join you perhaps). Good luck: https://www.comedy.co.uk/forums/thread/28954/

Mark, are there plans to record any of these events?

It would be a shame if all this great comedic advice was restricted to a small minority. Let's get it filmed and put on youTube. (Loosely translated, I don't think I will be able to attend so I want a bit of the action!) Good luck with it.

Quote: michael b @ October 26 2013, 9:13 PM BST

Mark, are there plans to record any of these events?

Yes, we are hoping to video at least some of the sessions Michael. Whether we'll release them though I'm not sure yet (my fear is if we do, perhaps some people won't bother to come along - and we do need to sell tickets still; plus, if the speakers know their comments are going to be in public they may not be so candid?).

Be good if videos of sessions are at least available to people attending... I just know there'll be some very difficult choices with clashes.

Quote: Judgement Dave @ 29th October 2013, 9:01 PM GMT

Be good if videos of sessions are at least available to people attending... I just know there'll be some very difficult choices with clashes.

Good point Dave!

very VERY excited that Claire Zolkwer is going to be there!!

should we assume that we didn't get the 1:1 script session if we haven't heard?

Quote: Bonzo @ 19th November 2013, 9:45 PM GMT

very VERY excited that Claire Zolkwer is going to be there!!

Still a couple more names to announce, including (hopefully, fingers crossed) a famous writer who created one of British sitcom's most famous characters.

should we assume that we didn't get the 1:1 script session if we haven't heard?

We've not done that bit yet (mainly because we're trying to add more capacity, i.e. get more experts to help with the one-to-ones so we can offer more)... we'll let you know soon either way.

Full details by the weekend too.

Thanks Mark!