Exclusive to 主播大秀 Radio 4 Extra, showcases the week's news stories which have been lovingly bashed, mashed and moulded into sketches and one-liners. Anyone can submit material to go into the show alongside material from the show's core group of writers. Claire Wetton explains how she made the move from submitting material to being part of the show's Writers' Room...
When I first received an email asking me into the Writers' Room as a commissioned writer for an episode of , I did what I presume all professional comedy writers do. I screamed, jumped in the air, did a little dance, ran down the stairs, ran back up the stairs, did another little dance…and then freaked the motherfudger* out.
Like most people, Newsjack was my first ‘proper’ job in comedy writing. Up to that point, I’d been writing sketches on my own, in my PJs, in the hope that I was maybe producing something mildly amusing. But writing a sketch about a killer gang of goats in my bedroom on a Sunday evening was one thing. Writing some award-winning, cutting edge, biting satire at the 主播大秀, in front of actual producers, whilst wearing actual clothes, was something totally different. I was filled with a mixture of overwhelming terror, irrepressible excitement, and of course, an unnecessary amount of anxiety about which notepad I should use to make sure I was being taken seriously.
Claire Wetton
If you don’t know what the Newsjack Writers' Room is, then let me explain. As you probably know, Newsjack is the 主播大秀’s open door show (if you don’t know about , there are about how you can get involved). Anyone can submit either sketches or one-liners to the show. If the production team consistently enjoys the work you’re submitting, they may ask you to come in and be part of the Writers' Room. I’d been submitting both one-liners and sketches every week for one series when I was called in. In that time, I’d had one sketch and 3 one-liners on air.
So what happens in the Newsjack Writers' Room? Well, about six writers and two producers meet on a Monday morning somewhere in the 主播大秀, to come up with ideas for that week’s show. As a writer you’re expected to come to the meeting with two to three sketch ideas, based on stories from that weekend’s news. I tend to take four to six ideas, as sometimes another writer pitches a brilliantly biting sketch idea about killer goats, which blows yours out the water. You want to have something else you can fall back on.
Claire (second from right) with the Newsjack Writers' Room
The pitching meeting sounds scarier than it is. The good thing about Newsjack is that it’s a show for new writers. Everyone in the room remembers what it was like the first time they pitched a sketch in front of a roomful of strangers. There’s a definite spirit of support in the room, and no one is judging you based on your pitches.** Some of the worst pitches end up being the best sketches, and vice versa.
The producers will ask each writer to pitch their favourite idea. If it’s your first time in the room, you won’t be asked to pitch first, so you’ll have the chance to see how it’s done before it’s your go. Once you’ve pitched an idea, the producer may make some suggestions on how you might want to frame the sketch or how to best focus the idea. The rest of the writers may then pitch in some jokes or ideas that may help you write your sketch (which you are free to use or ignore). Then we keep doing that until all the ideas have been pitched, and everyone has at least two sketches to work on.
Once the morning meeting is done, you have about two hours to write your first drafts. You can do this however you want. Most writers tend to stay in the meeting room, and work in there where we can support each other with ideas and cups of tea, but you’re welcome to go and find a quiet space on your own if you work better that way.
Once you’ve finished your first draft, the producers will read them and provide you with some feedback, so you have the afternoon to redraft and create some truly award-winning, cutting edge, biting satire. Or a sketch about a gang of killer goats. You never know with Newsjack.
Newjack presenter Angela Barnes gives tips on how you can get your material on the show鈥�
Excellent things about writing for Newsjack in the writers room.
1. You get to pitch your idea to a producer before you write it. That way, you know whether they’re interested in putting it in the show or not, before you come up with 25 puns about killer goats.
2. You get to meet and work with other writers. Everyone at Newsjack is really supportive and generous with their ideas, so when, for example you shout out ‘Urgh, apparently I can’t murder this robot at the end of my sketch. What can I do?!’ Someone else might shout out, ‘Send him off to Robot Wars!’ thereby, giving you a perfect ending you’d have never thought of yourself. (This is a true story. I told you the Newsjack room’s full of award winning, biting satire.)
3. There’s no guarantee your work will make it to air just because you’re in the Writers' Room, but as you’ve spent a whole day getting feedback from producers, you do have a much better chance.
4. You get to go and work at Television Centre. And drink tea out of 主播大秀 mugs. And pretend you’re dead cool and important.
5. You get to build up relationships with producers across the radio comedy department, which can lead to work on other comedy shows. Which is also exciting.
Bad things about writing for Newsjack in the writers room.
1. They really do frown on you writing in your PJs.
I’m writing for my 5th series of Newsjack now, and I’ve had all sorts of opportunities and experiences from it. It’s one of my very favourite things to do. And someone always comments on my choice of notepad.
*Insert your own expletive here
**Although I may be judging you on your choice of notepad.
Newsjack is open for submissions of sketches and one-liners now with weekly deadlines on Mondays and Tuesdays until 28th February
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