The "Tyranny of Edinburgh" – Craft of Comedy Conference Report

Craft of Comedy

Programme-makers and talent spotters need to look beyond the Edinburgh Fringe when searching for tomorrow’s stars. And particularly when searching for tomorrow's female stars. That was one of the conclusions of this weekend’s Craft of Comedy Conference at Venue Cymru, Llandudno.

Caroline Raphael, who left her job as Commissioning Editor Comedy and Fiction, BBC Radio 4 earlier this year, talked of the risk of the “tyranny of Edinburgh” and suggested that this was particularly detrimental to the discovery of new female talent. 

Raphael felt that the comedy industry should be looking more at things such as podcasts and YouTube and not just at the Fringe, where stand-up – often male stand-up – tends to dominate. These newer formats were maybe places where women who did character comedy, for  instance, might flourish.

This comment came up during a panel discussion entitled “Women in Comedy in the 21st Century: Levelling The Playing Field”, which also featured lecturer Lisa Moore, the first female Have I Got News producer Rebecca Papworth, Raised By Wolves co-writer Caroline Moran, comedian Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Eleanor Tomsett, who is currently studying for  a PhD at Hallam Sheffield University exploring the role of women in comedy.

The conference, a co-production between Venue Cymru and Giddy Goat Productions, also featured a talk about online comedy and offered tips on how to make something go viral. The panel – Mark Boosey (British Comedy Guide), Tim Telling (The Daily Mash) and filmmaker John Panton (aka @meatbingo) – argued that there was no perfect formula or everyone would do it.

But Boosey did say that if you are making a funny clip make sure there is a joke in the first few seconds or viewers may not stick with it. Telling said that quality helps. His spoof news site features stories written by professional writers who are paid. Panton suggested being cheeky. He approached David Quantick to do the voiceover for his first short film and despite not knowing him Quantick agreed.

A discussion on satire with panellists Ben Partridge (Newsjack writer), Rebecca Papworth, Ged Parsons (HIGNFY writer) and Caroline Raphael touched on similar themes to Friday’s BTJ piece on the state of satire.

It also raised the problem of how to be cutting edge when Twitter can respond to a breaking news story with gags in seconds. Ged Parsons pointed out that people always think HIGNFY writers trawl Twitter for gags. They don’t, he explained, they are too busy writing their own. 

An illuminating session with Raised By Wolves writer Caroline Moran and producer Caroline Norris revealed how it took 12 years for the idea to get to the screen. At one point it had been planned as a movie. Moran also confirmed the story that the BBC turned it down on the basis that they “already had a sitcom with women in it” at the time.  

In another session comedians Justin Moorhouse and Kiri Pritchard-McLean offered their tips on having a career in stand-up. Despite starting over a decade apart, not a lot has changed. You have still got to be utterly committed and maybe be slightly dysfunctional to be prepared to drive up and down the country's motorways to do to ten-minute open spots. Justin Moorhouse added that "balls of steel" help too.

Pritchard-McLean recalled doing three gigs in Newcastle and breaking down en route each time. Moorhouse recalled how he used to get a fiver for open spots at Manchester's Frog and Bucket except for a gig the week after 9/11 when the money went to charity. The club owner stuck a big bit of cardboard over the picture of the Twin Towers on the Peter Stuyvesant cigarette machine out of respect.

Artistic director of the conference Steve Doherty said, "We wanted it to be interesting, but more importantly useful to those who attended. It was a chance for professionals to meet, share ideas and shed some light on the way the industry works for those who'd like to be part of it." I think it's fair to say it achieved that.

 

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