The Newsjack Addict goes to a Newsjack Writers Briefing
By Simon Paul Miller
The first bit of advice I can pass on is, if you ever get an invite to a Newsjack Writers’ Briefing, accept it immediately! I responded a day later and got put on a waiting list because the session was already fully booked. Fortunately, I got a seat at the quickly arranged second session on the same night. (For those that don’t know, Newsjack is a topical comedy broadcast on Radio 4 Extra that anyone can write for. See the Newsjack website for details on how to submit material, but you should also read Confessions of a Newsjack Addict so you know what you’re letting yourself in for.)
The producer, Adnan Ahmed, along with Abby Kumar, Co-producer, hosted the Writers’ briefing and both did a terrific job. Jenny Laville and Robin Morgan, who were both awarded the 2016 BBC Radio Comedy Writer’s Bursary, gave us a quick overview of how they got into writing for Newsjack and how it helped them into their present roles at the BBC.
Angela Barnes, the new Newsjack host, was there too and explained how she herself was both a writer and a performer. Angela came over as very empathic and encouraging throughout the evening. The whole atmosphere was professional, but in a very warm and friendly way, for which the team should be applauded.
I could go on an on about how good the evening was, but these blogs are supposed to be brief, so here are my notes from the evening. Hope you find them useful…
So What’s Changing in Series 16?
The big news is that the Viewsjack section has been replaced by a ‘Number Crunching’ section. Apparently there were not enough Viewsjack items being submitted. Here’s an example of one of a number of Number Crunchers that were written and performed on the evening by Jenny and Robin…
“24. Hours the tube lines were closed due to industrial action.
58 million. The number of people who don’t live in London and couldn’t care less.”
So the syntax for these gags, for those who like this sort of thing, is as follows…
<Number> <explanation of number> <number> <punchline>.
Ideally, these one-liners should be topical. As in the last series, you have a limit of six one liners each week, no more than three for each of the two categories (Breaking News and the new Number Crunchers).
However, for sketches, the short commercial sketch is being dropped. It’s just two sketches you can send in each week now and keep them short (if you get to page three, it’s a long sketch). Don’t just use front page stories, they like to have a wide variety of news stories in the show. As a general rule, you should try to use stories that were in the news on/after the Friday before the show goes out. Think about what you are trying to communicate so that the message and/or target of the sketch are clear.
All sketches submitted need an introduction which should be written in the ‘voice’ of the new host, Angela Barnes. To get an idea of her voice, check out her appearance in The News Quiz (Fri 6th Jan) and clips on You Tube. She want’s self-depreciating stuff, which I’m going to find hard to write because she was so nice to us!
Useful Tips & Advice
Newsjack would like to be politically neutral but a lot of sketches/one-liners have a left wing or Remain bias. Submitting a good one-liner/sketch that takes a swipe at the left-wing or Remainers should increase your chances of getting something on the show.
Avoid anti-climatic endings. Sketches should end with a punch. A recommended technique is to think of a good ending first and then write towards that ending.
In answering the question, ‘How long is a one liner?’ Angela said, ‘Basically, if you’ve got a long setup for a joke, it had better be a bl**dy good joke.’
If you can get to the recordings, do. If your stuff doesn’t make it into the final show, it’s the only chance you’ll get to hear your material being performed. And getting your material recorded is a great achievement; don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t get into the final recording.
As with Nish Kumar, Angela will write her own monologue at the start of the show.
A sketch can be really short. For example, if it’s only three lines with one gag, if it’s a good enough gag, they’ll use it. But if that sketch could be a one-liner, it should be a one-liner.
Of the six categories in the show, Arts & Entertainment; Business & Economy; Politics; Science & Technology; Sport; World News, Sport is still the one that receives the least submissions. The team would love to receive more Sports related material and they hope the new one-liners Number Crunching category will encourage this.
There are two men and two women in every show. If you can use them (in a valuable way) to improve your sketch, it will make your sketch more attractive over it’s competition.
With radio, there are no sets to build, so you can set your sketch anywhere. (Another way to look at this that I’ve picked up elsewhere is, if you have written a sketch that’s an interview in a studio, ask yourself, ‘Isn’t there a more imaginative way to do this?’)
Edit your material. Don’t be precious over your stuff. Chuck out unnecessary/weak words/lines, leaving in as much strong stuff as you can.
Don’t worry about using famous people. If it’s funny enough, the crew will figure out how to get it done.
Any topical news story is viable, including local news. The team are looking for the funniest ideas/jokes you can pin on anything with a current news story, big or small.
Follow Newsjack on Twitter (Twitter handle: @NewsjackBBC). During the series they’ll be tweeting cast information and other useful tips that may help you improve your chances of getting something accepted.
My lasting impression of the evening is that Newsjack is in very capable hands and, more than writing for it, I’m really looking forwards to listening to this forthcoming series.
Simon Paul Miller writes (and performs in) The Rhyming Detective podcast.
The 16th series of Newsjack starts on BBC Radio 4 Extra, Thurs. 26th Jan 10:30pm.