More comedy

As followers of this blog (there's nine, which I find hard to believe) will know, I recently competed in the Sheffield heat of the Chortle Student Comedy awards. I recorded my performance that night and interviewed some very pleasant comics, from Comedy Sportz in Manchester and Abbcom in Sheffield, and this is the result....

N.B. The 'cue' to this (read by newsreader/presenter) would be

"Comedy’s been popular on radio and television ever since the first commercial radio broadcasts in the 1920s. But how do comedians get their foot in the door?"

Chortle Chortle

A weekend of much comedy here in Sheffield, where the inaugral Sheffield Student Comedy Festival took place. It was organised by the universities own 'Shrimps', an improv comedy troupe, and featured sketches, improv, standup and more from around the UK.

We ventured down on Friday night for some jolly good fun. Highlight for me were the Cambridge Footlights, who were superb, but the whole event was incredibly well organised and I didn't see a bad act.

Sunday saw the Sheffield heat of the Chortle Student Comedy awards, which was also held at the university. The competition consists of ten heats around the UK, with around twelve participants in each. The winner of each heat is decided by a panel of judges from Chortle, “The UK comedy guide”.

Thoroughly milking my postgraduate student status, yours truly entered the contest. I didn’t win; that honour went to the hilarious, and very deserving, Joe Lycett but I had lots of fun. Unfortunately the clip of me selected by the good people of Chortle includes me telling an absolute stinker of a joke, which will never be aired again.

But a good night had nonetheless. All the acts were lovely, and very amusing. I’m backing Joe to win the final in Edinburgh.

You can see video clips of us here, and vote for your favourite act here... (One more act will progress to the final based on the public vote)

I'm a Barbie girl

I was stood outside Topshop on Monday harrassing women. Not in a strange way; I was asking them about Barbie for a radio piece.

We have mock news days every Monday, where we perform the function of a real radio news team, and I had improved my dress accordingly. Resplendent in newish brown boots, close fitting jeans, flamboyant white belt, metrosexual scarf and retro red leather jacket, I confidently strutted up to gaggle after gaggle, asking ladies about their favourite Barbies, favourite Barbie memories and the like.

I was shocked out of my pretend reporting when a young boy, who could have been no older than five, ran up to me with a cheeky grin on his face, as if the little royster-doyster was going to coyly give me a picture he'd crayoned or such like. Instead of giving me a charmingly daubed image, however, he merely shouted "You look like a puff."

Quite taken aback, I sternly inquired "Excuse me?" to the tracksuit clad youngster.

Unabashed, he repeated "You look like a puff."

At this point, the child's father came running up behind him with a friend. I awaited an embarrassed apology and enthused retraction. It did not come.

Instead of chastising his odious offspring and compelling him to say sorry, the father had a rather different message - "Tell him again, son!" - he proudly commanded.

"You look like a puff, you do." The son faithfully repeated, before adding, "A big puff."

The father and his friend caught up with their son, stopped, looked at me and laughed. I began to glare back, and a stand-off may well have ensued, but the tension was broken when I spotted a giggly group of girls leaving Topshop.

I cleared my throat. "Excuse me girls, did you know it's Barbie's 50th birthday today?"