Wryangle - Comedy Stuff

I’ve written thousands of sketches, spoof ads and song parodies in nearly 20 years as a comedy writer for stage and national radio. They’ve been performed by some brilliant actors, singers and impressionists, from Alistair McGowan to Bill Bailey.

For the BBC
Dozens of topical sketches on Radio 4’s Week Ending, satirising the politicians and poseurs of the day. For example, a retro style newsreel on the Gulf War (Mullahtone News) and an explanation of the Soviet economy by Stanislav Unwinov. And cameos by John Prescott, before he started being a love god and hobnobbing with billionaires (allegedly).

The BBC Radio 4 flagship Today Programme featured my J R Hartley spoof, with Neil Kinnock vainly searching for his long-lost socialist principles. And a Space Oddity song parody, with a doomed Major John spinning out of control. That song was very successfully revived for the Currie affair revelations.

For Newsrevue & the Treason Show (London, Brighton and Edinburgh)

Thousands of pieces performed. Some far too near the wrist (forget the knuckle) to appear here. There’s been a karaoke Pope, singing a valedictory My Way. A failing shoe bomber who, consoling himself with a cigar to the tune of that famous TV commercial, finds sudden, explosive success. End-line: “Paradise is a cigar called Hamlet” A while back, we marked a spate of speeding police car tragedies with a variation on a Chuck Berry theme: “What a Spectacular Way to Go”. That was written for Bill Bailey, who also performed my world premiere of the yet to be discovered Beethoven’s Tenth symphony.

Are you trying to be funny?

Maybe you could do with a comedy consultant. Lots of people are pretty good at making speeches, but only a lucky few are also naturally funny. I can work with you, discovering what it is you want to achieve and what you need to communicate. Then I can come up with some fresh angles, knock out a few ideas for you to consider and put it all together, in your language. That way, they’ll think it was all your own work.