Colganology: The comedy award that many comedians cannot win

Tuesday, 4 December 2012

The comedy award that many comedians cannot win

I found myself having a tiny tantrum on Twitter today. Alliteration aside, I was venting my spleen about nominations for the British Comedy Awards 2012. I have no issue with the people who have been put forward - I was delighted to see the brilliant Moone Boy up for two awards - but I do have an axe to grind with the organisers.

What decade are you living in?

If these awards are meant to represent the best of Bristish comedy then where are the categories for radio or podcast or other online productions?

If they were called the British Television Comedy Awards then I'd have no issue. But they're not. They purport to be the British Comedy Awards - the best of British comedy. So, to my mind, they should be celebrating comedy across all media not just TV. And, frankly, a lot of the best comedy is not on TV. On radio you'll find shows like Bleak Expectations, now in its fifth series on Radio 4 - a show, incidentally, that tried to transfer to TV and wasn't as funny. Radio has all the best pictures you see. Then there are the perennial favourites (some of which are so popular they've been on air for 40 years!) like The Now Show, The News Quiz, Infinite Monkey Cage, Heresy, I'm Sorry I haven't a Clue, The Museum of Curiosity, The Unbelievable Truth, Just a Minute and the many, many wonderful comedy plays and dramas that appear on the BBC? And let's not forget that radio is also the proving ground for many shows that do eventually transfer to TV successfully. Without radio there would be no Sarah Millican's Support Group, The Thick of It, The League of Gentlemen, Little Britain, Harry Hill, Lee and Herring's Fist of Fun, The Day Today, I'm Alan Partridge, etc.

But lest you think it's all about the BBC, what about all the great stuff that turns up on indie stations like Resonance FM's John Dredge's Nothing to Do wit Anything or Kevin Eldon's Speakers series? Or Frank Skinner's and Dave Gorman's shows on Absolute Radio? Or XFM's Marsha meets ...? Then there are the podcasts like Do the Right Thing, Adam and Joe, David Mitchell's Soapbox, The Ricky Gervais Show, The Onion, The Collings and Herrin Podcast, Helen and Ollie's Answer me this and all of the odd stuff that Peter Serafinowicz and Robert Popper put out periodically. Just visit the iTunes store and type 'comedy podcast' into the search box and you'll find hundreds of great products, many of them free. And I haven't even touched all the great comedy on YouTube and the many other free video channels.

And, while we're at it, what about books and audiobooks? You can't tell me that Steve Coogan's performance reading I, Partridge isn't one of the best comedy performances of 2012. It absolutely is. And what about theatre?

We live in a brave new world of multimedia. So why don't the British Comedy Awards? Why are they fixated on one form of media? If their argument is that non TV-based comedy is less well known, then they could do a great deal to change that. Exposure during such a prestigious event would create a whole new audience for these wonderful shows. Mind you, I'm pretty sure that some podcasts and radio shows already get more 'viewers' than some TV comedy shows. Like him or loathe him, the record-breaking Ricky Gervais podcasts were downloaded by the millions.

Maybe the British Comedy Awards should just be for TV. Then we can have a proper awards ceremony that celebrates brilliant, innovative, hilarious British comedy in all its various forms and across a myriad of platforms.

I'd rather listen to Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown than watch Kookyville any day of the week. But only one of those would be eligible for a comedy award it seems.

And it isn't the funny one.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Praise for Joined-Up Thinking

'I found myself fascinated and somewhat dizzy. Most impressive' - Stephen Fry

'Dizzily intriguing' - The Bookseller

'The book that nails that odd, slightly unnerving feeling that everything really is connected' - John Mitchinson (Co-author of QI: The Book of General Ignorance)

'This is not a stocking filler - this is a real book. Buy several copies and keep one' - Daily Telegraph

'Quite simply the best way to spend time when not shopping, sleeping or preparing food' - Tony Hawks (author of Around Ireland with a Fridge)

'Can I recommend a book? It’s Joined-Up Thinking by Stevyn Colgan. The book’s packed with great info, from the derivation of the phrase ‘letting the cat out of the bag’ to the name for the thin bits of a cricket bail. Spigots, since you ask' - Mark Mason (author of The Importance of being Trivial)

'If you've ever looked at the Eiffel Tower and wondered how it's related to Dracula, then Stevyn Colgan is your man. Yes, it's trivia porn' - London Lite

'He connects each piece of his trivia puzzle in a concise, chatty, easy to follow, even logical, manner. This free-flowing style does not, thankfully, lend itself to pause and evaluation, but does allow for a great deal of chuckling and chin-stroking. He is the master of the trivial, the collector and cataloguer of the forgotten and inane - but no matter how worthless and unnecessary the information, Colgan has the knack of making it all sound intensely fascinating' - New Zealand Herald

'Stevyn Colgan has a theory; everything in the world can be connected through 'six degrees of information'. Trying to prove it takes us up some strange alleys but his engaging style means we don't get stuck down the road of intellectual whimsy' - Maxim

'It's a very smart style to a trivia book, and will I am sure be one of the hits of the forthcoming season' - The Bookbag

‘Stevyn Colgan's book, 'Joined-Up Thinking', could well be turned into a pub quiz or even a TV show. The latter could be even more of a possibility as Colgan has connections to the 'QI' BBC TV show. You're going to walk away from this book knowing a lot more than when you started.’ - SF Crows Nest

'How Colgan manages to find all these connections, unravel them and create something coherent and entertaining out of them is beyond me. But I'm glad he took the time, as the result is vastly fascinating and had my mind whirring round after itself for hours - immense fun!' - Falmouth People

Praise for Henhwedhlow

‘All power to Stevyn Colgan and his project to preserve Cornish myth, legend and song. Who knows; as a result some Penzance Wagner may write the Cornish Ring Cycle and won’t the world be pleased? There’s more to Cornwall than Padstow, pasties and ‘Piss off you grockles’ and Colgan is doing the ancient kingdom a great service.’ - Stephen Fry

‘Jumping from the 19th to the 21st century, Stevyn is taking an essential element of our Cornish culture and bringing it bang up-to-date. With the aid of the very clever artwork he aims to do this in a way that even kids sitting their exams will be tempted to bring the book to school so as to take an occasional peek under the desk for a spot of well-deserved humour.’ - Howard Curnow (Cornish bard and storyteller)

'The best book I've ever seen for helping you to learn the Cornish language or practice reading it. Brilliant fun too' - Cornish Voice