24 random tips for writing comedy by Abigail Burdess

Abigail Burdess - whose credits include Tracey Ullman's Show, Watson And Oliver and That Mitchell And Webb Look - shares some of the tips she's picked up along the way...

Live review: Balham Comedy Festival Comedy Contest

It is a truth universally acknowledged - among stand-ups anyway - that you can't have too many comedy competitions.

"I'm a sex champion, and I'd like a trophy," declares Robert Webb, setting the gloriously quirky tone for a sketch show which, at the start of its fourth series, seems to have lost none of its originality. David Mitchell is perfect as the conscientious small shopkeeper who gamely cobbles something together using a snooker player and a badminton figurine. The skits range in subject from the timeless to the contemporary, puncturing pomposity whether the subject is Caesar referring to himself in the third person (and getting very confused in the process) or Apple's cooler-than-thou advertising campaigns. Even the fact that the duo once promoted the Mac themselves hasn't detered them.

As ever with this duo, most famous for their roles in the deliciously dark Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show, their verbal flair is evident. A generic 1970s-style company is called "Amalgamated Perforations", neatly skewering the meaninglessness of corporate language, while the head of a leading cosmetics laboratory berates his team of scientists for "wasting their time" on making genuine scientific breakthroughs. "Does perpetual motion do anything for the Sleek and Shiny range?" he demands huffily.

There's also a sketch about a couple who are forever having vicious arguments in front of their baby. The couple are played by Webb and his real-life wife, Abigail Burdess; although we presume the sketch has no autobiographical basis...