Happy Christmas! By way of an episode and all round Christmas greeting, we thought we would share with you a special Festive podcast Ed recorded with his two very good friends and regular co-hosts on Ed & Friends Natasha Parrott and Ellie Grice, aka Giggle Loop, which secretly makes this particular episode of the show The Giggle Loop Podcast.
Thank you so much to all of our loyal listeners and we look forward to sharing more fun podcasts with you in the New Year!
And as always, don’t for get to rate, review, like share and subscribe on iTunes, Soundcloud and aCast.
Paul Hughes was once a radio producer for the Music Control evening show, but had always been a train-nut since he was a child. So he chased his dream and became a Train Conductor, and now he is an Operations Manager of one of the largest train stations in the country.
Ed and Paul talk about the beauties of train travel, the strange things that Train Conductors witness and the sometimes dangerous and sometimes noble duty of the train conductor.
This week on Ed & Friends; lots of lessons and laughter from improv comedy legend and founder of Hoopla, Steve Roe!
Steve has made a name for himself teaching and performing improvised comedy. In 2006, he and his friends started meeting above a pub in Balham and eventually created Hoopla, which has since become a comedy community with weekly shows, its own festival and a platter of classes and courses that are training and showcasing comedians in the heart of London.
Steve gives Ed a potted history of improv and chats about making things up on the spot, breaking the rules and keeping a healthy disrespect for the art form. He also shares a soon to be award winning story about some Spanish tourists and a bookshop toilet.
Please remember to rate, review, like and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Soundcloud and ACast!
Sketch, Please! is back for its sixth episode! We tackle motherhood, the Internet and DIY. Stories of all life’s colourful characters written and performed by the most hilarious volunteers the Internet has to offer.
Ever wondered how superheroes cope with their kids? Or tried to remember what life without broadband was like? Have you ever pondered what would happen if Facebook and Twitter had personalities of their own? All of this and more on this week’s episode!
And remember, YOU CAN BE PART OF THE SHOW! The show is comprised of scripts submitted by writers via email. To find out how to get your work produced, check out the Submissions Page where you will also find our Terms & Conditions and details for how to be a performer as well! The next deadline is midnight on SUNDAY 31st JULY.
Follow the podcast on iTunes, Soundcloud and ACast. Every rating, review, subscription and download is greatly appreciated.
DC NCT by Fin O’Driscoll
Supergirl – Cherry Walters
Wonder Woman – Jacqueline Black
63 Things by Mark Daniels
Boss – Scott Samain
Exec – Cherry Walters
One Night Stand by Robert Mills
Man – Scott Samain
Woman – Jacqueline Black
Budget News Delivery by Michael McHardy
Advertiser – Scott Samain
Telephone Operator – Cherry Walters
Miss Wallis – Jacqueline Black
Example Person – Edmund Fargher
Mrs Gardener – Jacqueline Black
Mr Gardener – Scott Samain
If Social Media Profiles Were Real People by David Keenan
Facebook – Scott Samain
Twitter – Cherry Walters
LinkedIn – Jacqueline Black
Google+ – Edmund Fargher
Village Slow Broadband by Vivienne Riddoch and Jane McCutcheon
Frank – Scott Samain
Mrs Villager – Jacqueline Black
Modern Remakes by Edmund Fargher
Rick – Scott Samain
Ilsa – Jacqueline Black
Editor – Cherry Walters
Reporter – Scott Samain
Rhett -Edmund Fargher
Scarlett – Jacqueline Black
Jack – Edmund Fargher
Wendy – Cherry Walters
George – Edmund Fargher
Zuzu – Jacqueline Black
Hosted by Edmund Farther
Produced by Katharine Kerr
This week on the Ed and Friends Podcast, Ed and producer Kat celebrate 6 months of the show with some top clips.
A huge thank you to all of our wonderful guests, and thanks to you for listening! We’ll be back next week with another great interview, but if you know someone unusual and brilliant you think Ed should be talking to, why not let us know! You can get in touch with us by emailing on mail@podcastadventures.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe on Soundcloud and iTunes!
Episode 5 of Sketch, Please! is ready to rock your world with an array of sketches that will punch you in your funny bone. The internet has sent us their finest comedy sketches and performance talents and now we have built a sketch show just for you! There might have been a few beers involved so be warned: there is manic cheering and jollity throughout.
Ever wondered what the job application for the X-Men is like? We have your answer! Wondering what your library would be like as a trendy immersive experience? Look no further. We’ve got all this and more written and performed by the finest the internet has to offer.
If you would like to write sketches and perform for Sketch, Please!, head to the Submissions Page where you’ll find all the guidelines, T&Cs and email addresses you’ll need. The deadline for our next episode is Sunday 29th May 2016, so get writing!
You can also rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Soundcloud.
Cast
Melanie Gayle is a Comedian, Actress, TV Presenter & Voiceover Artist from North West London. She has been a stand-up since 2014 and was the recipient of the 2015 BEFFTA “Best Comedian” Award. You can also follow her on Twitter/Instagram and Facebook.
Steve Tanner has been an Actor, Director (and various other technical roles) with Balham based Southside Players for 10 years. He is also a film maker with 4 Foot 1 Films and very, very occasional improvisor.
Jess-Luisa Flynn is a actress and improviser with an as yet unnamed musical improv troupe (we will update in due course!). She also performs immersive theatre with Bearded Kitten.
Credits
Mutant Interview by Jenny Laville Tom – Steve Tanner
Karen – Melanie Gayle
Bell Pundit by Edmund Fargher
Gordon – Steve Tanner
Terri – Jess-Luisa Flynn
Borrowers Blues by Stephanie Weston Borrower – Jess-Luisa Flynn
Librarian 1 – Melanie Gayle
Librarian 2 – Steve Tanner
French Voices – Edmund Fargher
Tea Monologue by Rachel E. Thorn Performed by Jess-Luisa Flynn
Three Mice by Gareth Moore
Mrs Gilles – Jess-Luisa Flynn
DCI Spencer – Melanie Gayle
Det. Barns – Steve Tanner
Britain’s Got Sentiment by Jasmine Tonie Anchor – Steve Tanner
Audience Member – Melanie Gayle
PR Rep – Jess-Luisa Flynn
Cake Shop by Jane McCutcheon & Vivienne Riddoch Customer – Melanie Gayle
Shop Assistant – Jess-Luisa Flynn
Hosted by Edmund Fargher
Produced by Katharine Kerr
Once again, seven intrepid comedy writers and three voiceovers have combined their inescapable talents (via the internet) and created Episode 5 of Sketch, Please!
From left to right: Edmund Fargher, Jess-Luisa Flynn, Steve Tanner and Melanie Gayle
This week, we recorded a brand new episode of your finest sketches and this weekend it will be posted for the whole world to enjoy, so keep your ears peeled.
Subscribe on iTunes and Soundcloud to have the episode automatically downloaded on to your feed, or check back later on the Sketch, Please! page.
Episode 4 lands with a bang this week with sketches largely about sex, sexism, sexuality and also money. But before you dismiss this podcast as “being from the 1980s” or “downright smutty”, we promise that it is a show cock-full of the latest sketches from the finest writers on the internet! Beware of grown-up language…
Ever wondered how uncomfortable a quiz show could get? Or what your therapist really thinks of you? How about the unsung philosophical prowess of pop music’s brightest? Find out in the finest aural platter you could possibly desire.
If you would like to write sketches and perform for Sketch, Please!, head to the Submissions Page where you’ll find all the guidelines, T&Cs and email addresses you’ll need. The deadline for our next episode is Sunday 1st May 2016.
You can also rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Soundcloud.
Juwel Haque is an improviser. With the narrative group Mr Fridge he performs improvised stories, and he’s a cast member of Story Kitchen, London’s Theatresports team. He goes where the fun is, and that’s usually in comedy, writing, shower singing and tending to his fantasy football team.
The next episode of Sketch please is going to this weekend! Comprised of sketches submitted by non-commissioned writers from all across the internet, we had a ball recording this episode with voiceover artists Georgie Morrell, Juwel Haque and Katie Pritchard!
Lefto to Right: Juwel Haque, Georgie Morrell, Edmund Fargher & Katie Pritchard
Subscribe to iTunes and/or Soundcloud to have the latest episodes automatically downloaded on to your feed, or check back on the weekend!
We are thrilled to say that we have gotten a HUGE number of fantastic submissions for our monthly sketch podcast Sketch, Please!, and now that we’ve done three episodes, we thought we would provide some tips and tricks for any prospective sketch writers about what we are looking for. These are not hard and fast rules for sketch writing, but they are some of the things we consider when deciding a running order for the podcast.
What we look for:
Matches our format guidelines – These can be found on the submissions page of the Sketch, Please! website.
3 page limit on sketches, but aim for 2 if you can.
Written for an audible format i.e. no visual gags!
The script will be performed by a cast of up to 2 men and 2 women
No limits on how many submissions per author but time limits how many we can include in each show
Jokes and Characters – Not every sketch we pick will have a joke every other line. Sometimes we enjoy pieces that have a slower pace and get in a bit deeper with the characters or relationships. This is partly why we have the Soapbox Monologue segment.
Simple premise – we’ve only got a couple of minutes to tell our story, so the premise needs to be clear and simple. A good way to tell is if you can summarise your story in a single sentence. e.g. “What if characters recorded the DVD commentaries rather than the actors” or “What if your significant other took everything you said 100% literally”.
General Advice:
Who, What, Where? – It may seem rudimentary or obvious, but you would be surprised by the number of sketches we receive that don’t cover this! We have no set, no props and we can’t even see our performers faces. It’s therefore very helpful to establish the setting, who the characters are and what they are doing in the dialogue or sound design of the sketch as early as possible. Once we’ve laid the foundations, we can build from there. It’s hard to care about characters or what they are doing when you don’t know who they are or where they are doing it. So tick “who”, “what” and where” off the to-do list and then have fun with your premise.
Think audio, not video – Again, this should be obvious, but we can’t “watch” the sketch. Yet, very often we receive submissions with stage directions that actively describe the actions of what they are doing rather than what would indicate that practically. We can do some of the leg work for you and think about how to build the soundscape of the action you describe, but there are limits to that when you have not considered how to represent the action audibly. So keep that in mind. Think about each sound individually and how it will build the environment and/or action.
Use the format – Not being able to see the action is actually a blessing. It allows radio comedy to be a lot more versatile and a lot less limiting than it gets credit for. You can jump cut like you can on TV and film. You can have bold characters in incredible settings without having to spend a penny on sets and costumes. As long as you audibly establish the context of the scene, there’s virtually nothing that can’t happen. We’ve had some great sketches already where people are really provoking the listener’s imagination to get their premise across and take the scenes to bizarre and fun places. So have fun with “the theatre of the mind”.
a) Write for format – We’ve been sent several sketches that are adaptations of TV or stage sketches, or even different types of radio comedy. That is absolutely fine, but at least rewrite it so that it resembles a radio comedy sketch. We try to develop the sketches with their authors, but it’s a bit of a turn off to read a sketch for a YouTube video that would need to be turned upside down to suit our radio show.
b) Consider the structure – A well-structured sketch is a beautiful thing. The laughs have a kind of tempo. There’s a template to some; they establish the premise, they escalate it three times or so and kick the exit down with a killer punch-line. It’s not a concrete rule and there are other sketches that will successfully break that template, but it’s not a bad guideline. (Further from the above point, you can immediately tell when a sketch has been repurposed from a radio sitcom, TV sketch or a stand-up set because the structure is off.) But we very much enjoy a funny sketch with a strong structural backbone.
Make it fun for the actors– It’s always a plus when we get to record a sketch with some fun roles that our voice actors are going to enjoy. It means that the actor is going to give it their all and the entire process is more enjoyable. If you have a clear idea, by all means add some suggestions for characterisation in the notes.
Admin Elf Bonus: You can submit as many sketches as you want, and even send them all in a single email, but try not to send them all in a single document. They’re much easier for us to organise if they are in individual documents. Thanks!
Thank you to Jon from The Comedy Crowd for suggesting we post some tips for writers!
A huge thank you to all of our wonderful guests, and thanks to you for listening! We’ll be back next week with another great interview, but if you know someone unusual and brilliant you think Ed should be talking to, why not let us know! You can get in touch with us by emailing on mail@podcastadventures.com or follow us on 
Juwel Haque is an improviser. With the narrative group 
Georgie Morrell (
PODCAST ADVENTURES 