BCG Pro Newsletter |
Friday 25th September 2020 |
We're excited here at British Comedy Guide as we're close to signing up some great new opportunities for our BCG Pro members, in addition to our existings ones (like the Performance Award and Video Contest). A writing competition with a twist - in conjunction with a top television production company - is amongst them, so do stay tuned!
Laughter Lounge Festival
Our digital comedy festival starts this Monday. There're live comedy shows each night, but at 7pm there's also Q&A/discussion events we think you'll be interested in. There's a chat with Mark Watson; Micky Overman and Bec Hill will be discussing life on the stand-up circuit; Laura Lexx and Bilal Zafar will focus on online comedy; Joel Morris and Neil Webster talk about TV comedy writing; Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Stuart Goldsmith chat podcasting; Pope Lonergan and Archie Maddocks have the topic 'Conscious Comedy'; and Tom Deacon and Angela Barnes focus on radio comedy. You can buy individual tickets or a VIP pass that will give you access to all 14 events, a year's subscription to NextUp, and FREE BEER on top. What's not to like?
Newsjack
So Newsjack is back. The first of the series went out last night. It's always worth listening back so you can get a sense of what the producers are looking for, and the running themes. There's a discussion on our message board to get involved in, and we've got tips on our website. Not to mention our in-depth BCG Pro Tutorial...
Making comedy for a video game
Comedy writer George Vere discusses scripting and starring in Not For Broadcast: The Telethon - his first venture into writing for a video game.
Opportunities Hub 
"Looking for creative, profane, rude, irreverent, cheeky and derisive people" is one of the great new listings in our Opportunities Hub. There's also details on: how to submit to a satirical magazine; a chance to write for a TV sketch show; and - amongst other things - a job as a researcher with the producers of A League Of Their Own.
Sitcom Geeks
The latest episode of Sitcom Geeks is a bit different. It's an interview with self-publishing guru Joanna Penn. There's some very motivational and inspiring stuff and also - shockingly, given how British we all are - the topic of making money comes up. The segment on artificial intelligence is guaranteed to make you think, too.
BCG Pro Gag-a-Week competition
Comedy writers are, of course, known for being some of the most stylish people about town, so this week's topic of "fashion" should be an easy one for you to all gag on... right?
Skills Academy
A reminder that the Skills Academy section of our website features online courses for you to get involved in, and also a list of services for those looking for one-to-one help on their writing projects.
Comedian's Comedian Podcast
Paul Sinha is amongst the recent interviewees on Stuart Goldsmith's podcast. He talks about how his comedy morphed from political agitation to personal storytelling.
DLT Entertainment invests in Mark Watson's Impatient Productions
Production company DLT Entertainment has invested in Impatient Productions, the independent company set up by Mark Watson and producer Lianne Coop.
My Comedy Career: Joel Stern
Actor and writer Joel Stern established himself in the comedy industry via a series of hit viral online comedy sketches. Here he talks about the ups and downs of financing web series, and keeping activities aligned and focused.
Comedy Women In Print Prize 2020 winners
Nina Stibbe, Faye Brann, Mavis Cheek, Ruth Jones, Posy Simmonds and Danny Noble have been announced as the winners of the Comedy Women in Print Prize 2020.
thortful competition winners
Congratulations to BCG Pro members Dave Hefford, Perry Wilsher, Lizzy Mansfield and Zoë Browne, who were selected by thortful as the winners of our recent greetings card competition. Their cash prizes are on the way to them, and their gags are now on sale as real life cards.
Showcase
WAWHOA
BCG Pro member Ward Alsafi is the writer, director, producer and co-star of this series of inventive sketches. If you like what you see, check out the 'see also' tab for his other sketch series, including VTPP.
Comedy Casebook: Henry Dawe
Actor and writer Henry Dawe writes in his Casebook interview that if a genie offered him one wish, he'd pick to bring Kenneth Williams back to life. Have a read, and find out more about his Thirty Pieces of Pottiness project.
Thanks for reading
As we hinted above, there'll be some exciting exclusive things coming up for BCG Pro members in October - keep an eye on the website!
British Comedy Guide
www.comedy.co.uk/pro
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