The Stage

BBC begins search for online comedy monkeys

Published Wednesday 8 February 2006 at 13:00 by Liz Thomas

BBC3 is joining forces with the Corporation’s Talent and New Media departments to find the next generation of comedy writers.

The campaign is to begin in March and is being overseen by Comedy North, headed by Kenton Allen. Upcoming comedians will be invited to submit their sketches or showcase material via the BBC3 website, where it can be viewed and rated by producers, commissioners and other comedians.

The writers/performers of the best sketches will be invited to attend comedy workshops in Manchester given by leading comedy talent. If the campaign is successful in uncovering a diverse range of new talent then it is envisaged that a half-hour comedy pilot could be produced for transmission on BBC3.

Allen said: “While the BBC is the pre-eminent place for new talent in comedy in this country, it is important to reach out and attract audiences that we may not be engaging as well as we might. We want to attract a diverse range of people, who perhaps have not been able to get through the normal comedy routes. We want to find the Arctic Monkeys of comedy. We want people who have written things at home but wouldn’t get the chance to reach BBC comedy producers normally. This offers a new way of getting material seen and getting people. While TV series are hard to come by, we will be able to offer feedback, guidance and help people to take the first tentative steps.”

The move to attract a wider range of writers and performers follows criticisms of BBC comedy by the board of governors, branding it too white, middle-class and suburban.

Allen added: “This is a major campaign that will run over several months, which we hope will extend and complement the more traditional ways in which we discover and engage with the next generation of comedy programme makers.