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Edinburgh Fringe 2018 If you're due to put on a show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August then it's time to subscribe to our dedicated mailing list as we'll soon be putting out opportunities on there. You can sign up through our control panel, where there is also a Q&A you can fill in. BCG Fringe control panel |
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The Sitcom Mission The Sitcom Mission, the comedy writing competition supported by British Comedy Guide, has a super track record of getting the winning scripts optioned. The deadline to enter this year's competition is 30th June, but if you want feedback before it closes, you need to enter by Saturday night. Details |
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Acast launches competition to find a new hit podcast Podcast hosting platform Acast has teamed up with production company Wisebuddah to launch a competition to find a new podcast star. Details |
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BBC to make more online sketches BBC Studios has been commissioned to make another six months' worth of Comedy Quickies sketches for BBC Three's social media platforms. Read |
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TV Writers Festival The TV Writers' Festival will take place on 6th June in London, and for the first time (!) it'll have comedy-related sessions. To apply, writers must have "a TV drama or comedy sitcom credit". If that's you and you want to go, email BBCTVFestival@bbc.co.uk. Details |
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BBC Writersroom writer blogs Keiron Nicholson, Colin McLaren and Maryam Hamidi were selected by BBC Writersroom to create some comedy pilots for the radio. They blog about their shows here. Read |
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Trying (and failing) to raise your online profile Comedy writer Alex Lynch talks about the frustrations of trying to create content on social media that might go viral. Read |
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BBC Sound Effects Have you discovered the BBC's new sound effects website yet? 16,000 of its audio clips - from apple eating to zebras - can now be downloaded. As long as you're not using them for commercial purposes, they're free! Visit |
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Ian Brown & James Hendrie interview We chat to top sitcom writers Ian Brown and James Hendrie about their comedy careers, and their return to the fictional Yorkshire coastal town of Flamford for a second series of their Radio 4 show The Break. Read |
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You CAN make this stuff up: How Improvisers Rehearse Brendan Way from improv group The Parentheticals explains the importance of rehearsals when it comes to performing improvised comedy. Read |
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Ben Murray - Wannabe interview An interview with Ben Murray, the co-writer and director of BBC Three sitcom Wannabe. He talks to us about how the sitcom was made. Read |
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How To Talk Comedy Writer Andy Riley has updated his list of comedy writer terminology. For example, do you know what a detonator word is and where it should be placed in a sentence? View |
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How to start your own comedy night The List magazine talked to various people who have founded their own comedy night, to find out how they did it and what their promotional tips are. Read |
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Paul Coleman interview Paul Coleman, who co-created Car Share and worked with Peter Kay on the scripts, discusses how he develops ideas when writing. Watch Paul also featured in the hour-long BAFTA Guru session on Writing Comedy & Drama TV, appearing alongside Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan. You can see it on YouTube |
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Craft Of Comedy The Craft Of Comedy conference is due to take place in North Wales on 15th and 16th June. Headline speakers include Neil Innes, Al Murray, Mark Watson, Rachel Parris, ITV's Saskia Schuster, UKTV's Iain Coyle, Channel 4's Laura Riseam and Radio 4's Sioned Wiliam. Details |
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John Finnemore We can probably all agree that John Finnemore is one of this country's greatest ever sketch writers. In this interview he gives his top sketch writing tips - see if you can spot his main message. Read |
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Sketch Please Sketch Please is a monthly sketch podcast, looking for your sketch scripts and performers for their next show. Details |
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Shane Allen interview BBC commissioner Shane Allen has given an interesting interview in which he talks about the worries of multichannel competition, the problems with social media feedback, the fight against Drama for budgets, and the power of iPlayer. Read |
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Writing a Good Comedy Character A blog from the BBC script readers about how dysfunctionality is important in comedy characters, but you need to mind the 'reality gap'. Read |
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Writing funny when you're not feeling funny James Bugg blogs about trying to be a comedy writer whilst also having to deal with mental health issues. Read |
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WingSpan As detailed on our message board, young person mentoring organisation BIRD are looking to launch a scheme to help comedy writers get their work performed and to give actors a chance to get some credits on their CV. Details |
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Sitcom Geeks James Cary and Dave Cohen's podcast continues. The latest two episodes feature an interesting chat with Paul Merton, and John Finnemore was their guest before that. Listen |
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The Comedian's Comedian Podcast Stuart Goldsmith continues to interview stand-up comedians. Sophie Willan, Ben Target and Tez Ilyas are amongst the episodes published since our last Make It newsletter: Listen |
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BBC Writersroom Opportunities list It's always worth having a look at the BBC Writersroom opportunities page at least once a month. A lot of the listings are drama-focused, but there's always one or two things there that'll take comedy too! Visit |
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British Comedy Guide forums We have six forums on our message board for those who create comedy. There's more discussions, opportunities and ideas to be found here: Opportunities Writers' Discussion Performance Discussion Looking for Collaborators Showcase Critique |
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