Heat 1 2010
Tuesday 13th April 2010
Well, we're up and running - Heat 1 has now taken place. The 5pm show was a corker, with MC Sara Pascoe introducing the sitcoms, and instantly furthering Dean Gafney's career with her improvised sitcom Fishery Days. The judges were Michael Deacon (TV critic, Daily Telegraph), Alexi Duggins (Time Out), Dawn Ellis (comedy producer, Radio 4), and Robert Epstein (TV critic, The Independent).
Initial concerns about slow ticket sales for the 8pm show were confounded by a complete sell out and having to turn people away. We were really sorry to disappoint some people, and can heartily recommend buying your seats in advance.
The 8pm started slowly with Joel Slack-Smith's The Moo Crew not making the great impression that it had in the 5pm show, followed by Daniel Flinter and Elizabeth Rhodes' entertaining antidote to Last Of The Summer Wine, Stand And Deliver. After the interval, Bryn Mills' Victorian melo-comedy-drama Thunderer quite literally stormed the show, followed by John Stylianou's crowd-pleaser Sitting Ducks.
While we were counting the audience vote, the show was finished off in fine form by our now resident improv group The Scat Pack
Enormous thanks go to the casts of each sitcom, and to Lisa Cagnacci, Fergus March, David Fynn and Jemma Gross for their brilliant directing and dedication to the cause. The wonderfully brilliant Deb Jones was stage manager, who made the whole thing look so darn smooth.
We'd also like to give a huge thanks to the guys at The Big Chill on Pentonville Road for all their help with preparations for the show and ongoing support. And to David Byrne and everyone at The New Diorama Theatre for their hard work.
So, to the results... It was a unanimous decision by the panel of the two to go through to the semi-finals, although they were split over their preferences, two going for The Moo Crew and two preferring Thunderer.
The audience vote for the 5pm show had Thunderer out in front with 11 votes, followed by Moo Crew and Sitting Ducks on 4 and Stand And Deliver on 3. The 8pm audience showed their appreciation of Thunderer with 60 votes, Sitting Ducks on 42 and Stand And Deliver on 17 and Moo Crew on 16.
Congrats to Bryn and David, Joel and Lisa and their respective casts, we'll see you in the semis. Commiserations to Fergus, Daniel and Liz and Jemma and John, and thank you for helping create a fabulous first night of live comedy theatre.