The winners of Comedy Crowd Chorts! 2020/21 contest, in association with BCG Pro, have been announced!

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Hi. I’m Ed, I wrote my short Mockumentary script “Country Lines”, then recruited a team and project managed the process until the film’s release a few days ago. You can watch the film here. I’m going to try and talk through the pro’s and con’s of making your script, why I think it’s ultimately a good idea, along with some “quite good” advice about what I learn during the process.

Tell me a bit more about you, Ed.

Well, I’ve been writing comedy scripts for about 5 years. Taking courses, entering competitions, doing the odd smart phone character piece, you know the like. About two years ago I set myself the challenge of making three short films with all the stories set in my home county of Shropshire. I’d call the faux production company “Shropshire Investigates”, with the three films all being mockumentaries. Sounds alright so far. A bit This Country, but all good. I wrote and brought to life the first script – About two siblings inheriting a farm with a small, skeleton crew.

Now it was time to make the second film. I’d had the warm up of the first, this next one felt proper. I wanted to move things up a gear. The running time went from six to eleven minutes, I’d direct, there’d be a bigger crew, with a more complex set of scenes too.

But let’s rewind. You may not be as gung-ho as me, so here are some…

Issues to consider before making your script.

Our friends running the Sitcom geeks podcast have regular discussions on the pro’s and con’s of producing your own script. I’m sure they won’t mind me saying that the conclusion is generally not so positive as there are all of a sudden too many uncontrollables which might tarnish an otherwise good script. This is a huge consideration and here are others too:

Time

Writing a good script, even if it’s “just” a short film, takes long enough. It’ll take that time again, plus some, before your film is actually released.

I began writing my script at the end of 2019, and it’s finally out now (March, 2021). But many factors can play into how long it takes to make your film. Such as; script completion time, aligning many diary’s for rehearsals and filming, the potential abyss of the edit, your main prop; a tractor having a flat tire, a global pandemic, etc.

Money

We’re not talking about getting your mate to film you on their iPhone and knocking it together with iMovie. Money will definitely be a consideration.

There’s a big debate on your local actors and film makers Facebook pages about not paying much (or just expenses) for a film crew. I completely get that it’s an issue that needs to be treated with respect. See what you can afford, be upfront about it and if the script is good enough, you will be surprised the quality of talent who want to have their name attached to your credits

The Other Variables

Going back to the Sitcom geeks point made earlier – why risk your perfectly good script by getting half a dozen others involved who may unintentionally dilute the quality of the portrayal of your script? Well, yes, this can certainly be a gamble. But if you do a solid job of recruiting your team, getting the best crew you can, even with a small budget, then you will all of a sudden have a lot of talented people who will be pushing for this film to be a success.

My reasons for recruiting a team and making my short film.

Maybe some of these will resonate with you.

• Getting a broader look at other departments involved in producing a film

I think this will be invaluable experience for me going forward. I was living a very sheltered life as a solo writer.

• Networking

Living in Shropshire (Up to Birmingham, turn left, keep going, just before Wales) it’s hard to find other screenwriters or similar creatives

• Fulfilment

When constantly writing scripts and sending them off, not hearing, or even if I did hear feedback, it never felt like there was a fulfilling end to all the work I put in. With this film I feel like I have a proper finished piece of work now. Like a painter, or a brickie.

• Marketing myself

It really does all depend on the final piece being a fair representation of your work. Or better than fair, ideally. If so (and it’s a big if), then there is no doubt a film is a far better and easier way of bringing attention to your writing.

Recruiting your team

Other than your script, recruiting your team will be the most important factor in making your script.

Tom, our Director of Photography, was recommended to me. He was brilliant, as were all the team. Looking back, one of the most important pieces of knowledge Tom brought to me, was the use of a “casting call” document. This was an imperative tool in recruiting the team.

A casting call essentially gives all the details about your project such as the genre, planned dates for shooting, estimated running time, expenses paid etc, along with a kind of pitch document about the premise, story line and characters. This is the bible document that I used to send to people who would then have all the details needed to decide if it was something they would want to get involved with. Mine was fairly short at 2.5 pages and I’ be happy to share this with anyone if it might help.

With Tom on board and after spending a bit of time getting the casting call right, I set about using this document on the Comedy Crowd TV site (whoop), which is where I recruited one of the actors from, Sean – he messaged me after reading my project page on CCTV. Actor recruitment websites are really useful too (surprisingly enough) It was all pretty easy to set up the adverts and they are free too. The two or three sites are all similar and ask the same questions. With a bit of luck, actors will then apply for your role as you then look through their profiles. Our actress, Amber came through one of these sites.

Finally, social media. I mainly used Facebook, but I can imagine other socials may be useful. Facebook has lots of groups set up for actors and film crew members who are looking for projects to get involved in. Our music composer came through posting on one of these groups. Again using my casting call document… Have I told you these casting call documents are a good idea?!

I was amazed that we had over 30 applicants for the three main acting roles. All had sent in self tapes for certain lines within the film. I had such respect for their efforts. I gather that although my casting call document was really fantastic, that number of applicants was not actually uncommon for other film makers.

So that’s a bit about if making your script is the right approach for you and the recruitment side of things, now for the quick fire round.

Here’s some other tips after making my script

• Just keep buying the team food and drinks when you meet up. This has served me well in everyday life too.
• Unless you know a bit about editing, this stage of the process will blow your mind. You’ll feel like you’ve just been shown the internet for the first time. It’s a whole new world and I barely understand any of it still, but I do know editors are very important! Although don’t let that scare you off. Your script can completely change in the edits, communicate regularly with the editor to make sure your vision is followed as best as possible.
• We had three, three hour rehearsals. They were great fun, and each of the actors had a completely different approach. Work with them separately in between rehearsals. It seems only when everyone is fully confident with their lines does the real chemistry start to happen.
• Carefully, carefully plan your shoot days. They will fly by very quickly and those little details can easily be forgotten.
• Performances come across much more relaxed when everyone has settled in. Plan time for warm ups at the start.
• Get as many team members involved as you can manage! I could have really done with a hand on the shoot day to sort out bit and bobs, props, sound – bloody sound! We missed having a sound pro. That ended up being me. I’m not a pro and those booms are damn heavy!
• Make sure you have a very supportive support bubble. Due to blessed Covid, we had to change locations which meant turfing my partner and daughter out of our house (they had somewhere else to stay!) for a day and a night. There are peaks and troughs in the project but in general it’s a consuming process.
• Continuity of set and costume. Be wary of this over multiple days filming.

Thank you reading. I’m always keen to hear from potential collaborators or maybe just to have a chat about some of the above. Here’s my website with further details.

Also, twitter and the film’s instagram.

All the best,

Ed.

To set up a new comedy project and look for collaborators, or to set up your own creator profile and find projects to get involved in, head to Comedy Crowd TV.

We are delighted to have partnered with O2 to produce a series of original sketches showcasing up and coming talent from this fantastic community.

The partnership is part of O2’s campaign to “Do more of what you love”.

O2 and The Comedy Crowd have partnered to enable new creators to make five original comedy sketches which are available now exclusively on Priority. They cover a range of topics including ‘When a Group Chat Joke Fails’, ‘When Fans Forget How To Fan’ and ‘ The Ref Who Can’t Stop Running Backwards’.

At O2, we have a long-standing history of working with up and coming talent. Now we’re bringing the comedy to your living room, through this unique collaboration with our partner The Comedy Crowd to share the talents of new comedy creators and help our customers take some much needed relief.

Maya Murrell, Head of Priority

To make these videos we brought together writers, performers and producers from the Comedy Crowd community, matching them according to their skills and comic style. Our unique approach of working with the community means we can produce tailored content quickly, plus it gives new creators the opportunity to showcase their talents. Creators can sign up for their free weekly opportunities newsletter here to find out more about how to get involved with The Comedy Crowd.

As a new comic used to playing to dusty rooms above pubs with audiences of 8 people, getting this opportunity to create and release my sketch with O2 has been unreal! It’s so exciting that O2 are supporting creators on the grassroots level like this. The whole process has been invaluable and it feels amazing to see my finished sketch on the Priority app!

Jessica Lee, Comedian

Priority is exclusive to O2 customers and brings a collection of invite-only moments to help them do more of the things they love. From exclusive treats and experiences, to early access to the most sought-after tickets in entertainment.

Customers can download the Priority app via the app store, or by texting PRIORITY to 2020. For more information, search Priority on O2 or visit https://priority.o2.co.uk/. 

To watch the five sketches on Priority click here.

By Chris Head. My book, “A Director’s Guide to the Art of Stand-up”, begins by exploring ways of identifying and developing your persona as a stand-up comedian. This is your unique voice, outlook and identity that you present on stage. It stems from your actual self but is not identical with your off-stage self.

Finding this persona is key. It’s your on-stage character, a simplified, exaggerated version of yourself. Understanding this character helps you find the angle you’ll take on any given topic and the kind of jokes and material you’ll write for yourself. In effect you have a character you’re writing for. A character based on your actual self.

Finding this persona is the Holy Grail of stand-ups and typically takes hours of stage time to find, but I can offer some insights that can help in the process and might even speed up nailing your on-stage voice. In the first chapter of “A Director’s Guide to the Art of Stand-up” where I discuss persona, I explore status, archetypes, attitudes, likeability, shadow and self-awareness. I’ll introduce these in turn and then, below, is a link where you can read the entire first chapter for FREE (which covers some further angles) so you can start thinking about how to apply all this to your own act.

And in my brand new book “Creating Comedy Narratives for Stage & Screen” I further discuss stand-up persona in the opening chapter, considering positives and negatives and also persona games, both of which I also introduce below along with another link where you can also read this material for FREE. (Alongside stand-up, this new book also covers sketch and sitcom, and discusses improv too).

Let’s now go through these aspects of your stand-up persona in turn.

Status

What is your funniest status? In my model of stand-up’s status you can be:

‘high status’, ‘low status’ or ‘audience’s mate’.

In high status you look down on the problems of the world and your life (or simply on the audience) from a lofty position of insight and wit (eg Chris Rock). In low status you are put upon by the problems of the world and your life (or by the audience and the performance situation) and are struggling with them (eg Lee Evans and Brian Regan). In audience’s mate status you share the problems of the world and of life with the audience, and you laugh at them together. (eg Sarah Millican).

This approach can be finessed by considering a primary and secondary status. Stewart Lee is a high-status comic but, as he says, he is always undermining his status in order to not become objectionable! So he might be looked on as high-status (primary), low-status (secondary). And I identify Brian Regan as low-status above, and certainly when he acts out himself in various situations he plays the fool, but he is a great friend of his audience so perhaps he could more accurately be described as mate-status (primary) and low-status (secondary). And returning to Sarah Millican, there is certainly a strength and at times fierceness to what she does, so I’d see her as s mate-status (primary), high-status (secondary).

You may have some insight into your own status on stage, but even better ask people who know your act well how they see you, and have them reflect it back to you. When you have a clearer understanding of your status, you can more confidently embody it on stage.

Archetypes

In the book, I also discuss how the twelve Jungian archetypes can be keys to your persona. Again, rather than trying to figure out which archetypes you embody on stage, it can be more effective to ask someone else how they see you. They work especially well when used in combination. On p.8 of the first chapter you will find the complete list and an explanation of how they work in stand-up. But here for example are two: sensualist and sage. Bringing them together you get Russell Brand. Finding the two archetypes that you embody – or at a push, three! – can also help define who you are on stage.

Attitude

Next in the book (p.9 – p.11) I consider attitude. Your attitudes are key aspects of your stand-up persona. For example, here’s Al Murray’s Pub Landlord with a typically no-nonsense attitude: “We do not go in for philosophy in this country. We have our own system. It’s called wondering”. (You can find the persona of a stand-up character in the exact same way we are discussing incidentally).

In stand-up, an effective persona will have both positive and negative attitudes. The positive being why we like you and the negative being why we find you funny. Where an act is overwhelmingly negative there is something about their charm, cheek or sheer front that is appealing and enables at least some people to warm to them. At any rate the funny attitudes are the negative ones. There is precious little funny in positive, well-adjusted, reasonable, forgiving and sensible attitudes to things! Once you have the positive and the negative, the light and shade, on your ‘palette’ of attitudes’, it can be effective to jump between them as the Godfather of Alternative Comedy, Tony Allen, describes. (See below for more on positives and negatives).

Self-awareness & Likeability

In the opening persona chapter in my Director’s Guide to Stand-up book, I also consider self-awareness. There are two ends of the spectrum. How aware is the version of you on stage?:

1. Self-aware. Insight into own failings. A high-status or audience mate stance.
2. Totally unaware. Here you see yourself one way, and the audience see you completely differently. Eg, you see yourself as a hit with the opposite sex, the audience see you as a loser. The comedy comes from the gap between how you see yourself and how others see you. A low status stance.

Another aspect of self-awareness is this: is your on-stage character aware that they doing a comedy performance? Or is your character just talking about the world and their life without meaning to be funny? Or even knowing or realising why they are funny? This is a niche area, but can really pay off when you play the weirdness entirely straight (eg Emo Phillips).

I also consider the question of likeability in stand-ups. Stand-ups who have a likeable persona, are flawed with a clear shadow and yet aware of it (high self-awareness) and struggling to be better can be very likeable to an audience (for Brian Regan). These stand-ups care and want to be better but keep tripping themselves up.

If however a stand-up’s persona is comically unaware of their shadow (low self-awareness), then they are more tragically comic and less obviously likeable. Alternatively they can be aware of their shadow (their nastiness or rudeness or aggression) and simply not care. This can work (for instance Frankie Boyle), where the stand-up does behave appallingly BUT does and says the kinds of things we the audience would love to do if we were bold or reckless enough. They are aware of their shadow, don’t care and we love it.

But typically for the audience to laugh they have to like you – even acts that are deliberately nasty are still in fact liked by those who laugh with them. So try and identify what makes you likeable and do more of it. Self-deprecation is one potential route to likeability. Also, identifying your negatives and then balancing them with positives can help and also opens up the opportunity to switch from positive to negative (and vice-versa) which can amplify the laughs.

Positives and negatives

This very week I worked with an act who, despite having been going several years, feels he hasn’t fully developed his persona. On watching videos of his act it struck me that his issue is that he’s too nice! The audience like him and the material is good, but he hasn’t developed the negative side to create a comic friction with his positive qualities. Another way of looking at this is to think in terms of persona and shadow, where the shadow are the negatives that undermine the positives of the persona.

Sitting opposite him, I took the liberty of reading out a list of negative qualities I felt he could develop. (Having softened him up with some positive ones). I’ve compiled a table of 108 negative qualities and 108 positive that you can see for free via the link below to my “Creating Comedy Narratives for Stage & Screen” book.

In a class, I’ll get the group to pick three positives and three negatives for each comic. Then I’ll get them to stand up and share the attitudes that the group identified in them. This in itself generates much hilarity, especially when the qualities ring true for that person. For example:

“I am affectionate, cheerful and tolerant. But I am also arrogant cowering and resentful”.

Once you’ve identified this persona/shadow for your persona, how might you set about exploring it in action? One way is to pick a situation where you were expected to be positive but in fact you were pissed off about it (eg a work situation with clients or a family situation where you were meeting someone new). You then try and talk about it in a positive way to the audience but the negatives keep slipping out and revealing your true feelings.

In the writing of it, get yourself flipping from positive to negative, from persona to shadow, repeatedly. It’s these sudden changes that can make it really funny rather than having one negative attitude throughout.

Persona games

Finally, in my new book “Creating Comedy Narratives for Stage & Screen” I boil all of this down into my concept of persona games. Read all about this for FREE via the link below.

You can read the complete opening chapter about persona from the stand-up perspective in Chris Head’s book “A Director’s Guide to the Art of Stand-up” here:

https://bloomsburycp3.codemantra.com/viewer/5b6331436b2f0700011dd33b

And you can read the first 17 pages of Chris’s new book “Creating Comedy Narratives for Stage & Screen” here which includes the positives and negatives and Chris’ discussion of persona games.

https://bloomsburycp3.codemantra.com/viewer/607d587152faff0001578d16

Buy:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Directors-Guide-Stand-up-Performance-Books/dp/1350035521 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Creating-Comedy-Narratives-Stage-Screen/dp/1350155756

For more info about Chris and the courses he runs:

www.chrishead.com

The Comedy Crowd TV 2020 Showcase, in association with BCG Pro, is our quest to find the best independent comedy to showcase at a special screening event the LOCO Comedy Film Festival at the BFI (initially scheduled for May but now postponed to Autumn). We were looking for submissions to fall into one of 4 categories – Music, Animation, ‘How to’ or Famous Faces.

We received a Comedy Crowd record 800 entries which were judged by a diverse panel of comedy fans drawn from our community. We’re delighted to announce the top 3 videos, which are available for you to watch now…

1st Place – Mini Cheddah

Scooping up the £250 prize and created by Laughing Stock, this is a brilliant musical sketch about the pitfalls of collaboration.

2nd Place – Chris Martin From Coldplay Heals The Sick

Ticking the boxes of music, animation, famous faces and then creating it’s own box that no-one has ever seen before. By Victor Hampson.

3rd Place – Jingle Bells, Batman Smells

So goes the infantile adaptation of a Christmas classic, but Batman isn’t getting the joke. By Christian Jegard.

So there you have it! We can’t wait to share with you some of the fantastic entries that made it onto the shortlist. Suffice to say that independent comedy is alive and well. As soon as we have a date for the screening we will let you know.

For this competition we were delighted to have the support of our friends at BCG Pro, the UK’s leading online platform for new, emerging and established comedy professionals. They provide tools and services for those looking to advance their career in comedy on stage, screen, radio or behind the scenes. Visit comedy.co.uk/pro and enter the unique discount code ‘ComedyCrowd’ on the join page to get £5 off your first year’s membership.

To get a Monday update on the latest comedy opportunities, plus a weekly dose of creative inspiration sign up to our newsletter here

From today you can own a share in The Comedy Crowd and help us change the way comedy is made and discovered.

Plus owning shares is a great way to get a bit of company during isolation 😉.

5 years ago we started with a dream – to enable talented creators from all backgrounds to make the comedy they love and showcase it to the world.

So we did the best thing we could think of to make this happen. We held a meetup in a cafe. The coffee was lukewarm and the seats were lacking a comfortable bottom padding. But there was a spark. People wanted to be part of a crowd making comedy. Something exciting was happening.

We started to tell creators about all the opportunities we could find to make comedy. We even started calling people “creators” whether they liked it or not. The Comedy Crowd was born.

(Comedy Crowd Trivia: we were originally called “Comedy From Script To Screen”, and our company is called “Grassroutes Entertainment”. Nice one to know for the next pub/Zoom quiz.)

The events continued and the competitions started. Forget the fancy frills and months of production. Show us something quick and funny in 2 minutes or less.

And in 2019 Comedy Crowd TV arrived. A place where this Comedy Crowd community could work together to make shows. And a channel showing the best original comedy to fans. You responded in your thousands and it’s been amazing.

Getting closer to the dream now right? The Crowd has grown to over 8000 creators and counting.

And the industry partners have followed. BBC Comedy Controller Shane Allen has recommended us as a place to go for new creators. We’ve worked with comedy commissioners at ITV, C4, UKTV, Sky and more.

We’ve seen sketch scripts from the UK performed in the US, and entries from all over the world to our competitions.

Your Comedy Crowd TV original shows have been produced with more to follow, as we want to work with the best new talent to help you make the comedy you believe in.

The success stories have begun. Michael Spicer has shot to stardom with his amazing Room Next Door videos and is on the Late Late Show with James Corden every week, and many other Comedy Crowd stars are on the verge of following suit.

In 2020 the covid crisis rolled in and comedy has proven more important than ever, as people continue to do the most naturally human thing: laughing in the face of adversity.

Now the next step is here. We are raising funds to grow the Comedy Crowd channels, to fund and produce more exciting content with you and to continue working with major channels. But this is a Crowd. A community, and none of this would be possible without you. So we want you to be with us every step of the journey.

From today you have the chance to own a stake in Comedy Crowd. So as we continue to grow, you can be part of that. Shares are worth £12.35 in this round, and whether you want 1 share or 1,000 shares of Comedy Crowd on your mantlepiece, as long as you do display us on your mantlepiece ahead of any outdated birthday cards that’s all we ask.

Here are the 3 things you can do:

1. I want to find out more and hear from the team:

Join us for a free webinar on Thursday 21st May to hear more from us about this, ask any questions about the future of Comedy Crowd TV and everything we are doing to help creators:

2. I’m ready reserve my Comedy Crowd shares now:

If you want to join in now you can make a pledge on the 360 Equity platform today and reserve your shares (there are extra perks for being in first too).
**If you are based in the US, Canada, Australia or Japan and want to get involved please hit reply to this email instead as crowdfunding rules are different in your countries.**

3. Any other way I can get involved?

Please share our posts to spread the word about the chance to support and own a share in The Comedy Crowd:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

FAQs

What is the 360 Equity platform?

A crowdfunding platform that allows you to buy shares in Comedy Crowd and other exciting new businesses

Is there any cost to doing this?

Only the price of your shares, which starts at £12.35 for 1 share.

360 Equity take 7% of any profit you make on the shares. So e.g. if the company was sold for £20 / share you would make £7.65 profit per share on top of your original investment, and 360 Equity would take 54p of that.

What are the benefits of doing this?

You are officially a card carrying Comedy Crowd share owner. So as well as being awesome, when people ask what you do you can say whatever you normally say, plus you own shares in the world’s largest Crowd of comedy creators supporting independent comedy. Then bask in the surprised silence that follows.

You will own a share in everything Comedy Crowd, including the original comedy shows we produce, the Comedy Crowd TV channel, and everything to do with the Comedy Crowd community.

How do I get my money back?

You can’t sell your shares, so you will only get your money back or make a profit if:

a) the company is sold

b) the company is publicly listed

c) the company buys them back off you

This is unlikely to happen quickly so buying shares means joining us for the long haul.

What is SEIS and should I take advantage of it when I get my shares?

If you get your shares early you will see an option to take advantage of the SEIS benefit.

SEIS is a UK tax incentive for investing in early stage businesses. It is primarily beneficial if you are a higher rate tax payer. Here are some docs that explain more:

https://www.360equity.co/news/what-is-eis-seis

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-tax-relief-for-investors

Got any other questions? Shoot us an email at theccteam@thecomedycrowd.com and we’ll get right back to you.

By Peter Wright

In April we’re donating half our Comedy Crowd TV channel subscription revenues to comedy clubs to support them during this difficult time. After that if you choose to pay for a year’s access (£12) we’ll use that to support grassroots comedy creators and local comedy clubs

Much of the World is in lockdown, and if you aren’t afflicted by the virus itself you are now suffering the consequences of extended isolation from (or with) loved ones. Here at Comedy Crowd TV we are offering you an escape with a 30 days of free access to a channel which showcases the best of independent comedy shorts, sketch shows and series.

In addition, we’re supporting comedy clubs and organisations who have been hit by the recent restrictions. Participating companies have been given an exclusive code and if you enter it when signing up for your free trial, and then continue your access beyond the 30 days, then they will receive half of your £12 access fee!

To get a taste of the shows you can watch today on Comedy Crowd TV we’ve compiled a little post with 5 of the best. Check that out here.

Join us on Comedy Crowd TV this April, supporting independent creators, local comedy clubs and injecting a ray of comedy into your day. Sign up for your 30 day free trial.

No code for your local club? Or are you a company owner? Get in touch at theccteam@thecomedycrowd.com

By Peter Wright

So you don’t need to watch anything really. I know that. I just thought with this being the internet the custom seems to be that a healthy dollop of hyperbole doesn’t go amiss. And this next bit will change your life.

During April we’ve launched a 30 day free trial for the Comedy Crowd TV channel, added to which if you continue beyond the 30 days you can elect a comedy club or organisation to receive half of your £12 access fee (that’s £12 for a year, not a month like your average subscription channels).

But what the jumping Jehovahs is the Comedy Crowd TV Channel? Well it’s the home for the best independent comedy from our community of creators. The fresh creators who nowadays face a real slog to get noticed by mainstream channels, but who thrive in our crowd sourced comedy community. This is the place to find the most exciting new talent, first. Here are 5 shows you ‘need’ to check out:

Michael Spicer’s One-Man Lolwagon

Michael Spicer shot to prominence this year with his ‘Room Next Door’ series in which he plays the role of an adviser to celebrities and politicians during their most calamitous interviews (yes, Boris and Donald are featured and don’t disappoint). The viral appeal of this format is finally getting Spicer the recognition he deserves, but take time to look at his back catalogue and you’ll find a treasure trove of weird and wonderful sketches. Michael Spicer’s Lolwagon has now been compiled into a 3 episode series on Comedy Crowd TV. Chris Catcher, the tone-deaf leader of the United Men’s Movement (UMM) is a character not to be missed.

‘As an act of protest against the feminexist women only screenings I am organising a male only screening of a male centric film at my local cinema. My Aunt Sharon is coming. She is a woman but she has agreed to drive me to the cinema and she doesn’t want to wait in the car all that time… But that’s it.’ – Chris Catcher

Zipwaz Humphries

Victor Hampson is the creator of ‘Zipwaz Humphries’, a sitcom that celebrates a pocket of South West rural England and a menagerie of oddball characters. Surreal yet reassuringly familar. Dark yet undeniably warm and sweet. If the Mighty Boosh was musical theatre on acid, Zipwaz is the Mighty Boosh on nothing but earl grey tea and a slice of battenburg. The reason the show hasn’t hit the mainstream yet? On first watch it can seem that Victor and his pals are chancing it. The acting appears wooden, the effects rudimentary, and the music tapped out on keyboard piano. But keep watching and it soon becomes clear that the style is deliberate, and perfectly pitched to Victor’s bizarre but brilliant sense of humour. There’s nothing like this anywhere else. 

‘All this sacrificing has taken me by surprise. I had plans, I was going to go swimming on Thursday. How’s that going to work if I’ve been sacrificed? I suppose you might take my corpse to the pool, I might float about a bit, but there’s going to be no active propulsion so it’s just going to drift across the lanes. That’s going to inconvenience the other swimmers.‘

Aussie Girls

Joanne Carolan and Pascale WIlson have been touring their stand-up and character shows as ‘Shirley and Shirley’ for 6 years. Their brash and irreverent style is best showcased in their series ‘Aussie Girls’ which portrays two Australians in search of the English dream: binge drinking and promiscuity. They’ve made a mini series of the show which is available on Comedy Crowd TV. It’s not safe for the easily offended and definitely not for work.

‘You are a strong, independent Aussie chick from Darwin, with an alcohol dependency and an unhealthy relationship with picnic cheese. They need to accept you for who you are’

Third Leg Studios

The boys from Third Leg Studios, Mark Whelan, Joel Stern and Tel Mears, have been making great sketches for a while. They take a sideways look at modern masculinity, satirising characters and behaviours in a way rarely seen on the mainstream comedy scene. The best of their work comes in their 5 part web-series ‘No-Fap’ which follows Richard Perera on his journey to abstain from porn and masturbation – which he has been led to believe will help him become physically stronger, mentally sharper and spiritually enlightened.

‘I was masturbating up to 30 times per month and that, coupled with my low sales record, cost me my job’

Un_conditional

Un_conditional is a self-filmed documentary by Rob Morgan and Tom Cousins following a Christian outreach pop/synth band as they release new music and tour the country’s top churches. There’s little new about comedians poking fun at religion, but this mockumentary is both kind hearted and hilarious. It acts as the perfect showreel to propel this comedy duo, whose writing is sharp and dynamic is authentic. 

’The way Chrinder works is you get put in a virtual church hall, you have a two minute sermon and then you start swiping. So you swipe right if you want to pursue them, you swipe left to love them as a sister of Christ. If you get a match you can then offer them a digital piece of quiche and filter coffee, if they accept that you can then start chatting to their Dad.’ 

All these shows and many more are available today on the Comedy Crowd TV channel.

No code for your local club? Or are you a company owner? Get in touch at theccteam@thecomedycrowd.com.

By Becky Holderness.

Watch out, everybody. Fiona’s here and she’s got a fitness plan to conquer the world.

Meet Fiona. She’s confident, she’s spiritual, and she’s a positive thinker. She’s also got a strategy to bring her amazing talents to the public.

Fit to Drop is a mockumentary following one woman and her mission to give fitness classes to the wider community. She’s willing to help everybody out of the kindness of her heart, from her husband and his “accidental” affair to those people that she knows will most benefit from her fitness expertise. Fiona’s aware of her natural talents but, being the good person that she is, she wants to share them with everyone.

With the help of her best friend Lindsey, and her overly-enthusiastic assistant Suzi, Fiona is finally realising her dream of giving fitness classes. She’s doing everything she can, eating 4500 calories a day to “keep her energy up”, creating marketing plans to “touch people” seven times a week so they get enough exposure and not charging for classes because it’s a “gift” she wants to give to those in need.

In series one, we followed Fiona as she went out into the local community, finding the perfect location for her classes and going door to door to promote them (with the minor setback of only having one copy of her flyers). Fit to Drop is now back with a second series, in which Fiona expands her brand and reaches out to even more people… which isn’t too difficult considering she had no customers last time. She’s giving taster classes to the residents at the local care home, drafting up marketing plans, and even auditioning additional instructors. There’s the same cast of interesting characters, from hopeless caretaker Mr Bowen to her arrogant husband Alexander, only now we can finally see Fiona’s plans come to fruition.

Who wouldn’t want to get ‘Fab, fit and funky with Fiona’?

The full mini-series of Fit To Drop is available exclusively on Comedy Crowd TV – the home of independent comedy.

Sign up here to watch the Fit To Drop, and more of the best independent comedy you won’t find on TV.

The winner of the 3rd Annual Comedy Crowd Chorts! competition is Madam Horace, a dark comic sketch by Winston Gregory in which a young boy discovers his special powers. Gregory and the team receive £500 and expert support towards developing the show into a series.

The competition was judged by Saskia Schuster (Head of Comedy for ITV and founder of Comedy 50:50) and Michael Orton-Toliver (co-creator, writer and Executive Producer of Borderline on Netflix). Michael said of the winner:

There were 357 entries to this year’s Chorts! Competition and you can watch all the shortlisted videos here.

‘The idea behind Chorts! is to shine a light on some of the brilliant independent creators that don’t get the attention they deserve. The incredibly high standard this year demonstrates that there’s so much untapped potential. It’s our mission to support and showcase these creators.’

Peter Wright, Co-Founder

The Chortlist was screened at a sold out event at Angel Comedy in London. The audience voted on the show they most wanted to see more of and the winner was ‘The Amateurs’, created by Jamie Higgins.

If this has inspired you to create your comedy show, our Comedy Crowd TV platform is the perfect place to collaborate and find your audience. Find out more here.

Chorts2019 is supported by BCG Pro – the leading new online platform for emerging and established UK comedy professionals.

BCG Pro provides tools and services for those looking to advance their career in comedy on stage, screen, radio or behind the scenes, including new Pro-exclusive opportunities. Find out more here

Comedy duo Joanna Carolan and Pascale Wilson (aka Shirley & Shirley) have been tearing up the live circuit for years performing their range of comedy characters to sold out audiences.

“Flirty, filthy and funny as fuck” says Matt Cain, Editor-in-chief at Attitude

“The Punk Rock of Comedy” – Phil Jupitus

“Characters that make you think I wish I’d thought of that” – Mackenzie Crook

Now two of the characters Mackenzie Crook is talking about have made it to the screen, and Matt Cain’s 4-f description perfectly sums up ‘The Aussie Girls’.

The 5-episode mini-series follows best friends Kelli and Tammi, who moved from Darwin to Luton to pursue their careers in nursing and work their way through British Tinder.

But their friendship and promiscuity is put to the test when Kelli meets a British bloke who wants to do strange things like ‘date’ and ‘meet the family’.

In episode 5 Danni, aka Big Roo (played by the brilliant Jessica Gunning), moves in and has shocking news for Kelli.

Aussie Girls shines a timely light on how women really behave when they think men aren’t watching… Except these Aussies don’t care who’s watching.

From the Uber Eats guy being tied up upstairs to Tammi leaving a snail trail on an unsuspecting senior citizen, there is plenty here for all the family to enjoy. Just not together.

The Aussie Girls will slap you across the face in a very good way, and remind you not to spend too much time in a Walkabout.

The full mini-series of Aussie Girls is available exclusively on Comedy Crowd TV – the home of independent comedy.

Sign up here to watch the Aussie Girls, and more of the best independent comedy you won’t find on TV.

By Becky Holderness

Winner of “Best Script” at Short Com Film Festival and awarded second place in the “Funniest Film” category, alongside a raft of other awards, Spokke is a scandi-noir like no other. A visually stunning and cleverly-scripted series by Tim Grewcock and Shaun Lowthian, it is a fantastic addition to Comedy Crowd TV. From the outset, Spokke has the feel of a high-budget tv drama, written with a dry and witty humour that will have you immediately hooked.

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