Aug 16 (Day 14) BBC Comedy Writers workshop and another showcase

Today I went along to a Comedy Writers Course for aspiring writers being run by the BBC. Honestly, I wish the ABC were even remotely as pro-active as the BBC in getting new programs made that are edgy, from unknown writers and may quite easily fail but which they will still try because there is a chance they MAY be awesome IF given the chance. We don't have anything like that in Australia so I can understand why our writers get frustrated and leave for the UK. And overall the vibe from the panel (which included some serious BBC people) was that they actually do read every sketch, every email, every proposal sent to them just in case it IS good and they can use it. In fact, one of the guys on the panel did that very thing and is now a full-time freelance comedy writer. Their advice was to write stuff that suits your style. Aim it at the shows it suits. You wont hear anything back if they don't select it, but when they read between 700 - 1000 emails each week that's fair enough...it doesn't mean they hated it either, just that it didn't fit what they needed for the show at that time. And for writers, to keep going as you only get better the more you write. Then they opened the floor to Q and A and unfortunately there were a large number of STUPID questions asked that just showed that a lot of people there weren't writers and were likely never to be writers either. One guy asked what material was "good" and what the content should be about...ya know? DUH. Other than that I got a lot out of it and one of those things is that if I ever want my stuff looked at, its the UK or nothing. 

After that I found another Free Fringe showcase in a cellar/nightclub/dive called "Espionage", which could suitably be renamed "Friztl's" and no-one would think it was inappropriate. This showcase was called "Pick of the Fringe" and showcased 4 comedians and the host, each getting a ten-minute slot. I think ten minutes is a better "set" length for showcases, I wish more would do it like this. "Pick" was hosted by a comedian named Mike Belgrave who seemed slightly unprepared and struggled to bring up the vibe of the crowd, but admittedly it wasn't an easy room. Luckily he was followed by an excellent young comedian named Matt Green, a sharp and confident young bloke with clever material and I wanted him to keep going which is always a good sign. He is on the list. Next up was a bloke named Nick Sun, who was brought up in Australia but has since left there and now has an accent that I couldn't place. His material was hit and miss but the crowd were warming up to him with a few more laughs just as his 10 minutes were up. After that came a bloke named Richard Rycroft whose show reflects that he is turning 50 and the crowd of Gen Ys in the room missed most of his material as the references were often from things that were around before their time. The material was actually quite clever but I could see various young girls looking at each other as though it was their dad up on stage and they just weren't interested. Adam Belbin was up last and he was a good way to round out the hour. When he first got on stage, his delivery and material made him seem like his Dad ran the venue and had let him have a go...which was all part of the act as he soon turns it around with some clever stuff. He too, is on the list of acts to go and see the full hour's worth. A productive day - a good workshop that largely made me feel good about stuff and two more acts on the "want to see" list.

Daily Show Count : 2
Total Shows Seen: 25

Later in the week - Olivia Lee