Punching up a comedy script

Punching up, punching down, punching in all directions - comedy writers always seem to be talking about punching these days. But perhaps the most important punch-based activity any writer can be involved in is the 'punch up' - which is quite different to fashioning witty bon mots about the government or any other powerful people in the public eye.

So what do we mean by a punch-up? Put simply, a punch up is when a writer - usually a small group of writers; if you're a new writer, perhaps you, the script editor and maybe somebody else - goes through...