Introducing the 2017 Comedy Room writers

Comedy Room is our six-month development scheme for writers identified through our open submission script room and other talent searches. Following our most recent script room the writers in the Comedy Room 2017 have met up this week for the first time for a series of workshops.

The writers in Comedy Room 2017 are:

Beth Granville
Jonny Addy
Kate Elmer
Kevin Curtis
Kulvinder Gill
Laura Kirwan-Ashman
Mariama Ives-Moiba
Sammy Wong
Shane Todd
Stephen Large
Steve Lawrence
Stewart Thomson

The first day of Comedy Room 2017 kicked off with a session from comedian Grainne Maguire which focussed on writing topical comedy - good practice ahead of submissions for Newsjack opening next week and also great advice for writing Radio 4 shows The News Quiz and the Now Show. Many writers get their first broadcast commissions writing for these shows.

Check out former Comedy Room member Claire Wetton's blog on the Newsjack Writers' Room

The second Comedy Room session concentrated on Sitcom, surely one of the most difficult genres to nail. A great line-up of speakers included Andrew Ellard who has worked as a Script Editor on iconic sitcoms including The IT Crowd, Red Dwarf, Miranda and Count Arthur Strong, Lydia Hampson Producer of 2016 hit Fleabag (which has been commissioned for a second series), Joe Tucker, the co-creator and writer of BBC Three's Witless, and Nerys Evans, former Channel 4 Comedy Commissioner, where she oversaw shows including Catastrophe, Flowers and The Windsors.

Topics of discussion included an introduction to the BBC's different channels and how Comedy TV works, what channels look for in a comedy script, story structure and creating memorable characters.

Watch an interview on our website with Andrew Ellard, with some great advice   

The final session concentrated on gag and sketch writing including one-liners. The writers were given some top tips from Comedy Exec Producer and writer Gareth Edwards, comedian Nish Kumar and stand-up comedian Nathan Caton. 

A truly fantastic line-up of speakers who are already providing inspiration for our new Comedy Room writers.  

Find out more about Comedy Room