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We're back on the 8th of Sept @BBCRadio4Extra - if you wanna come and see our shows being recorded, click link below bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/…
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Newsjack on Radio 4 Extra is back
(24 posts) (7 voices)
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I've had material used on many series of Newsjack. I don't tend to use the same stuff as I post on here. You have to write to suit the audience. The best thing to do is listen to previous episodes and write similar types/styles of the tried and tested jokes/sketches they use. Writing jokes for radio can be very different than writing for a website like Newsbiscuit.
Good luck to anyone submitting, they get literally thousands of sketches/one-liners a week.Posted 2 years ago # -
Well done Dominic, you seem to have cracked the code (not that your contributions aren't stone cold classics worthy entirely on their own merits). I've had a one-liner used, though it always strikes me how average a lot of the lines they use are considering the wealth of material they must get sent, especially the lame puns and 'Viewsjack'. It seems to me the strategies to use are agoiding the popular stories, avoiding edgy material, and creating scenes characters rather than 'dry' stories, with plenty for the female cast to do. It does seem a shame though the degree to which getting a quick cue-able laugh overrides smarter material you might post here... though I tend to think the same of thenother satirical news sites - you know, the ones with a lot of followers and 'likes', and aren't just about amusing the other contributors.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Thanks, Wrenfoe :)
Adrian,
I used to get annoyed when my material wasn't used especially when I thought it was amazing (!) but I think we sometimes feel that way when we see some of the tickers and stories on here ;)
Before Newsjack I'd sent scripts to all of the BBC's "open door" programmes (even Weekending!), with only one success. I'm in no way a professional writer, it's a hobby and occasionally I get lucky :)Posted 2 years ago # -
I sent a fine sketch to them this week, probably won't be used, if not I'll post it up here tomorrow for your enjoyment.
I noticed the show which was sniffing round here for writers is finally on tonight, though it's channel has switched from BBC2 to Dave. They also apparently have Owen Smith as a guest, sounds like it could be decent:
Posted 2 years ago # -
I sent a fine sketch to them this week, probably won't be used, if not I'll post it up here tomorrow for your enjoyment.
I noticed the show which was sniffing round here for writers is finally on tonight, though it's channel has switched from BBC2 to Dave. They also apparently have Owen Smith as a guest, sounds like it could be decent:
Posted 2 years ago # -
No word back from the show, so here's what I sent - I'll have to try and rework the ideas into a news story for here:
NISH:
Amid all the confusion over Brexit, the Prime Minister has said she doesn't believe a points-based immigration system, advocate by some Brexiteers, is the way to manage immigration into the UK. But is a workable alternative staring us in the face? Step forward, the Pointless-based immigration system!FX: HUSTLE AND BUSTLE OF A BUSY IMMIGRATION DESK.
ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG:
Next contestant... I mean applicant please!GRAMS: SHORT SEGMENT OF ‘NEW ROUND’ MUSIC FROM TV’S POINTLESS
ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG:
Welcome to the desk, my name's Alexander Armstrong – look, ladies, but don't touch – and I'll be your immigration officer today. So, please tell me, what's your name and where do you come from?ANNA:
My name is Anna and I come from Lithuania.ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG:
Splendid. Now let me see your papers... yes, they seem to be in order, which just leaves the small matter of what job you would like once you've entered the UK...ANNA:
In Lithuania I am child minder, but the pay there is very low.ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG:
Child minder... is that your final answer?ANNA:
(CONFUSED) Er, yes?ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG:
Well, let's see how low that job scores with the UK populace.FX: SOUND FROM POINTLESS OF POINTS GRADUALLY DESCENDING
ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG:
It's unpopular, but how unpopular? Don't forget, we want something deeply unpleasant for disproportionately low pay. It's gone past working in a chicken processing plant... past fruit picking... there goes cleaning... will it beat waiting tables, a job so horrible that most people would rather eat their own head? It has! Getting down to the dregs now... past building site labouring and shelf stacking, now, it's coming up to nurse...FX: SOUND FROM POINTLESS WHEN AN ANSWER PROVES NOT TO BE POINTLESS
ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG:
Oh, bad luck, you were close, but it seems for the British, nothing is more demeaning and bereft of worth than working in hospitals saving people's lives.RICHARD OSMAN:
Yes, though you could have also had working in an Amazon warehouse, a coffee shop or burger chain - all joyless careers.ANNA:
That's it? You're turning me back?ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG:
Yes, though we've loved having you at the desk, but we're only interested in people willing to completely prostitute themselves. Perhaps next time, lower your ambitions. Now, next applicant, please!NEXT APPLICANT:
Hello, I'm here to work for Sports Direct.ARMSTRONG & OSMAN:
You're in!Posted 2 years ago # -
Adrian
nice sketch.
The Newsjack Twitter account said that they will contact anyone whose material was going to be used by 7pm....so still a few hours yet!
But I've given up hope on my one liners and sketch from this week.One liners were:
1. Liam Fox announces new golfing event for companies to network about reducing their tax liabilities. It will be called the Free Rider Cup.
2. MP’s set to leave the Houses of Parliament by 2020. This gives them time to get to the Westminster Red Lion where Happy Hour starts at 2030 sharp.
3. Business Leaders nickname the new £5 note the ‘Liam Fox’. Like him, you can screw it up time after time and it continues to function as normal.
Also put in a sketch about grammar schools which ended with Theresa May singing to the Grammars We Love You to the tune of the St Winifreds School choir classic. This seemed very funny to me on Monday, after reading it many times, but not so great after I looked at it again today after a couple of days break.
As you and Dominic have said, writing for this is a very particular craft, and I'm under no illusions about the difficulty of getting anything on there. Anyone who gets anything into the final cut, and on the show, given the volume of submissions, is doing bloody well, I think.
will keep plugging away
cheers
ChrisFPosted 2 years ago # -
I sent them some material as well but no word yet. I was just wondering, does anyone know whether material submitted for one week might be used in a subsequent week, if appropriate, or is everything discarded at the end of each week? Adrian's sketch, for instance, would be suitable at any point over the next few weeks. Just because they don't use it this week, does that mean they forget about it, and if so, would it be worth resubmitting it next week, the week after?
Posted 2 years ago # -
This blog is worth a look Adrian.
https://thecomedycrowd.com/confessions-of-a-newsjack-addict/
Suggests that some sketches that didn't make it in the last series got put into the mix for a separate show. But doesn't answer your question about whether they bank some sketches to the next week. I'd suspect not, as they probably get so much new material each week. But I don't know enough about itPosted 2 years ago # -
Breaking news! I just got this via email:
'Thank you for submitting to Newsjack. Unfortunately you haven’t made it into this week’s show, but we wanted to get in touch to say that you were really close. One of your submissions made it into the script and may have even been read out in the Radio Theatre, but unfortunately didn’t make the final cut.'
Posted 2 years ago # -
Posted 2 years ago #
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That's a handy site for writing tip-offs, thanks for that.
I may have fared better if I had been quicker off the mark; unfortunately, the Points System story broke on Sunday, with the Newsjack sketch deadline on Monday. By the time of the show, it was already a week and a half old.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I sneaked another one liner into this week's programme and no-one was more surprised than I was! I've only ever had one piece of material per series before, so my theory about one item per writer per series has just been shot down in flames. Interestingly, there are some names which do keep appearing in the credits and I've noticed a lot of not-very-well-known stand-up comics' names appearing, too. Not that I'm complaining... Not until next Thursday, anyhow...
Posted 2 years ago # -
Well done Dominic - what was the one-liner? The apparently invite you to their meetings of you get a lot of material used so they're clearly not biased against regular contributors.
Posted 2 years ago #
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