How to get a BBC Radio Comedy Commission (maybe)
Happy Friday, Team!
Have you ever wondered how to get your very own BBC radio sitcom commission? No? Well, here's a free pass to skip straight to the end because there won't be much here for you today - sorry!
But if you have (or if you're wondering how on earth we managed it with Foiled), then you're in luck!
Earlier this week, Beth and I were invited by the London Comedy Writers group to share our recipe for the secret sauce that would satiate the stomachs of those ravenous BBC commissioners.
On my blog, I've written an absolute monster of a post (at least 13 minutes of your life) detailing every last little folly and foible that took us from here to here.
But - praise the lord - here's the 30s version just for you guys:
Write something good. Do it more quickly and easily by using positive constraints and deadlines. Don't be precious. Make it good enough.
Collaborate with others. Invest in a creative team to make the work better and PR to open doors. By "invest" I mean pay for professionals, for pity's sake.
Get your work on its feet and pay for it yourself. If you're not going to sacrifice blood, sweat and gold for your work, then why the heck do you think the BBC would? No one will care about your show unless they see it with their own eyes.
Keep learning and keep re-writing. Expose your work to critics and audiences. Listen carefully without prejudice, but re-write on your terms.
Be generous. Go to other people's shows, buy them drinks, help with their work. Be the person they really want to work with.
That's the 30s short story, but if you want the War and Peace -
Thanks for reading! Now what?
Now I go back to the beach hut and make some of Maria Granville's outstanding homebrew coleslaw (just as soon as I've got my hands on some sweet heart cabbage).
If you loved Foiled, then next Wednesday Beth's performing in Amusical, which promises comedians singing songs from musicals at the Backyard Comedy Club. Tickets are only £6 and Chris Addison'll be singing. What's not to love?
Inexplicably Popular on the Blog this Week: Charity or Solidarity? (24 June 2015) I'm not sure why this post about an incident that took place on my birthday in 2015 has been gathering the views this past week, but there we go. It's a story from when I was teaching at the Jungle in Calais that illustrates the difference between charity and solidarity - a distinction that was very important to me at the time.
Ooh - low battery at the library with no charger - time to go methinks!
Yours with a crunch of celery, -DC