BBC Radio 7 Tilt

Early in 2008, BBC 7 Radio broadcast Tilt, a new satirical sketch show that, rather than tackling the week's events in the normal way, examined news stories at a slightly different angle. The big news was that they were looking for aspiring comedy writers to send in unsolicited material. A number of BSG members got their sketches on the radio as a result.

The show has now ended but is likely to return. In the meantime here is the details about the show, and also asked radio sketch tutor Dave Cohen for some tips...

Details From The BBC...

Tilt is a new topical sketch show that takes you behind the week's news. And then mucks about with it a bit.

It's being recorded live every Wednesday night from 26th March till the 1st of May 2008 and it's broadcast on BBC7 the following night at 11:30pm. The first show will be recorded at 'Up The Creek' in Greenwich, the remaining shows at the BBC Radio Theatre.

We're looking for topical material from new writers to support the core writing team.

The people behind Tilt want to make a show that is playful and witty. We don't want to take the obvious angle on any story - and we'd rather not have to do impersonations of Gordon Brown. So we're looking for sketches that go beyond obvious topical satire.

The big stories of the week will be told in running sketches written by the core team. Around that we want stand alone topical sketches, headliners, monologues, spoof ads, spoof trailers, news parodies... Tilt isn't a spoof news programme, but it's hard to poke fun at all things topical without turning an eye to the ways in which we receive news. And for that matter, sport, weather, or celebrity gossip.

The big UK politics story of the week will be told in a running sketch written by the core team. Around that stand one-off topical sketches, headliners, and our recurring characters. We break at half time for some spoof ads, and look ahead trailers to forthcoming TV, Radio and Films.

And it's hard to poke fun at all things topical without turning an eye to the ways in which we receive news. And for that matter, sport, weather, or celebrity gossip. So there's a healthy dose of news parody using fictional stories to send up the way our news is served up.

The runner each week is set in the fictional Ministry without Portfolio – a Whitehall task force that firefights trouble whichever Government department it happens to affect. The team is led by Charlotte – a force to be reckoned with, she recently worked up a proposal to rebrand the Queen as Queen version 2.0 – an interactive model. Charlotte is supported by former tabloid journalist Dominic and academic Ruth. The runner takes care of the major UK politics story of the week – be it Speaker John Martin’s expense woes; the u-turn on supercasinos or legislation on 24 hour drinking. These stories form the background to the runner – but the humour comes from the characters themselves – and the way in which they deal with whatever Westminster throws at them.

The cast is three male, three female - Olly Maltman, Simon Brodkin, Nick Mohammed, Isy Suttie, Margaret Cabourn-Smith and Katy Wix. There's no presenter, so it's entirely 4th wall, and it's being linked by bits of realistic sounding news that's made up, or bits of real news that we've monkeyed around with. Gordon Brown saying "I'd like Tony Blair to wear more foundation". That kind of thing.

Between now and 14 March the core writers, plus a few invited non-commissioned writers, are creating recurring characters - pundits, news anchors, journalists, hairdressers with precognisant knowledge of governmental affairs. Also strands, completely spoof news etc.

Once the series is up and running there will be the opportunity to pitch in one liners in the shape of headlines (real or fictional, but funny in either case), and of course that's the time to submit the proper stand alone topical sketches.

The producers will also start sending all their promising non-commissioned writers the weekly Tilt email which will tell you which stories to avoid (usually because the core writing team are working on them) and what we need more of. That will start circulating on 21st March.

Dave Cohen's Advice To Non-Commissioned Writers

We've asked Dave Cohen to provide a few tips for those of you that are thinking of submitting sketches to this new series. Dave is one of Britain's top comedy writers - he writes for topical comedies like Have I Got News For You and Radio 4's 15 Minute Musical. Dave is also a sketch writing tutor and runs courses from time to time - we'd definitely recommend his workshops. Here are his tips:

Don't start sending stuff until the 21st March, and make sure it pertains to the brief as outlined above. In fact, I would recommend waiting until the first episode has been broadcast (or if you can, go to a recording), so you'll get a real sense of how long sketches are, what sort of quickies they are looking for, what the tone of the show is.

Don't send loads and loads of material. This is a weekly show with a massive turnover and lots of writers, and I'm guessing there'll be a large volume of stuff sent to the producers. Better to send your five funniest one-liners than a page of 30. And maybe two or three sketches at the most.

Don't send in sketches based around the recurring characters. If you have a brilliant idea for one it might be worth sending to the producers, who will then give it to the creator of the character to write up. You'll get a credit, you probably won't get paid, but you'll be remembered as someone who sent in a funny idea.

Here are some hints if you want to try writing topical head-liners:

1. Read the newspapers. Not as daft as it sounds, sometimes a sentence jumps out at you and you come up with an instant punchline.

2. Try and avoid the obvious or the ongoing old story - if there's another joke to be had out of Harry in Afghanistan that hasn't been done yet it'll take you too long to think of it.

3. Look at the quirkier stories in the news - you can find them in newspapers, on the net, even on ceefax. Often there'll be a simple gag off the back of them.

4. Try and be different. Go off on a tangent, find a topic where you hear the same obvious jokes being made (e.g. Heather Mills only has one leg, David Cameron is a toff) and try and look at the story from a completely different angle.

5. Listen to the current topical shows on the radio. You can catch up with them on the net. Don't nick the jokes (instant disqualification, because everyone else will have heard them), but get the feel for the structure of a gag, and listen to how the professionals tackle the week's stories.

6. Look up websites like News Biscuit and The Onion - these will give you an idea of what a funny headline looks like. Again, no stealing.

Dave Cohen has also written a more in-depth article on how to write good sketches

If you want to gain an edge over all the other writers sending in material to the BBC we recommend Dave's sketch reading service. He can offer you advice and suggestions for changes to help you maximise your chance of getting a credit on the show. Find out more