So I’ve not been around here for a while, busy doing ‘stuff’. Why not follow me on Twitter, it’s @comedyburble

There you’ll get a regular stream of ‘amusing’ tweets.

Okay? Twitter, @comedyburble, do it.

Keep strong.

MISSING SCENE:

Myself, David ‘The Drunk Camel’ Bussell and Ben ‘Don’t Look At His Mobile Phone Pictures’ Ricketts wrote a bunch of stuff, and some mad fool of a production company decided to go and make a bloody pilot! And what’s more, Alice Lowe, Kevin Eldon, Steve Furst and Isabel Fay for some reason agreed to star in it; madness! It’s still slightly hard to believe that it ever happened, but the weeks filming was amongst the most enjoyable things I’ve ever been involved in.

So what is its current status? Well, it’s still out there; basically it was decided that it would stand a better chance of getting the opportunity it deserves if a bigger name production company agreed to come aboard and put their weight behind it. So let’s see if any of them like it enough to put their balls where my mouth is.

THE I.T.CROWD:

Okay, this was a biggie, THE biggie, the most important professional moment of my ‘career’ (don’t laugh) so far. Graham Linehan asked me to join a few other writers in helping to create and develop stories and ideas for series 5 of The IT Crowd. Mental.

As I write this, I’m still in the middle of working on the show, and it’s been amazing. Will I end up having anything I can point to on screen and shout ‘that was me!’?? Who knows, but it’s been a great and potentially hugely important time for me as a writer. A comedy genius thought enough of me to welcome me onto his show. If I wasn’t such a double hard bastard, I’d well up a little.

I GOT ME AN AGENT:

I’m official! I was never really bothered about getting an agent, and never chased one or put myself forward in the hope of getting signed up. Then a producer sent a script of mine along to her agent, and he asked me in for a chat. I can’t deny that being able to say you have an agent feels good, it feels proper. I now have someone actively looking after me as a writer, trying to find me work; and it’s thanks to Will at Independent Talent that I landed the I.T. gig.

It feels like another big milestone crossed off the list; of course, come this time next year I could have been dropped like a hot sausage, but right now I have an agent, and it feels rather lovely.

So those are the three big things that happened to me as a writer this year; by far the best twelve months for me since I decided to try scribbling comedy nonsense. There were other things, such as the show I wrote with Ben ‘Reporter In Sherlock’ Green that Pozzitive pitched, but no channel wanted, but those three have been the biggest and most important to me.

So 2010, a potential game changer of a year for me as a writer; will 2011 match up, or somehow better it even, or will this be as good as it gets for me? Will the agent drop me before march? Will The IT Crowd be nothing more than a sexy blip? Looking forward to finding out!

Hello there you.

Bit of good news for me, I’m currently one of the small team of writers helping Graham Linehan develop the next series of The IT Crowd. Which is a bit lovely, isn’t it?

I wasn’t going to come out and say it, but then some of the other writers have it up on their websites, so I thought why the hell not?

Exciting.

So then, long time no blog, lazy.

Quick update called for then:

1) ‘MISSING SCENE’, the Kevin Eldon, Alice Lowe starring sketch show pilot is currently at the BBC, sitting with someone who could allow us to make more, with a big thumbs up from a couple of other influential BBC bods; so keeping our fingers crossed there. If it comes to nothing, then there’s other BBC people, other channels, and the Prod Company is looking Stateside to see what the opportunities could be for the show over there.

2)I have an agent now actively promoting my wares, at Independant Talent no less; and thanks to him, I have landed number 3-

3)I’m currently helping a genuine British comedy writing legend develop his new series, which will broadcast next year. Whether any of my work ends up making it to screen is another matter, I may very well end up making no impact at all; but it is a real thrill to be working with one of my absolute comedy heroes; seriously, this guy has been responsible for some of my favourite shows ever and has been a big influence on me.

4)Developing a new sitcom of my own with a production company, early days on that, we only have the first ten pages of a first draft, but I think it could be a goodie.

5)Just about finished another sitcom pilot script, and I’m very happy with it. It’s a modern, fast, confident, primary coloured show; soon I’ll see if anyone else agrees with me!

6)About to start work on a twelve part web series. We have the concept, the characters, the world, and a specially written teaser ready to shoot. It’s going to consist of short, sub-ten minute episodes. I’m really excited about it, it’s definitely happening, and will be a proper narrative comedy. No pitching, no hoping someone likes a pilot script, it’s happening and a full series will be out there for people to watch. Or to completely ignore.

7) Aside from all THAT, I have a bit of a different project I’m slowly thinking about. It’s going to be hour long episodes; serious, funny, musical, scary, nostalgic, and, for me, pretty new territory. Gotta stay fresh!

8)And some other bits and bobs besides. Including a couple of audio pilots I should be getting around to recording, then shooting around the different radio producing Prod Companies.

Okay then, blimey, that sounds like rather a lot, doesn’t it! And I haven’t even mentioned everything!

I’d better get on with it.

EDIT:

Oops! I somehow managed to forget two other sitcom projects! One, written with David ‘The Bussell’ Bussell, has just been submitted to Channel 4 by the prod company behind ‘Missing Scene’, and the second, written with televisions own Ben Green, has just been shown interest by a different prod company. We’ve only actually knocked up the first ten pages of that one, but they seem to have liked what they’ve seen.

Okay, enough!

How about a peek at the  ’Missing Scene’ (Kevin Eldon, Alice Lowe) title sequence?

You’ll find below a little sketch I wrote that those super talented chaps David Bussell and Stuart Laws performed and shot.  Why not check out more of their stuff? They funny men.

Stuart Laws, ‘Becoming Batman’:

http://www.youtube.com/becomingbatman

David Bussell, just general nonsense and fluff:

http://www.youtube.com/user/davidbussell1

Decided to embed a couple of specially put together teaser thingies for ‘Missing Scene’, the forthcoming sketch show pilot I co-created and Co-wrote; starring none other than, ooh, Kevin Eldon, Alice Lowe, Isabel Fay, Steve Furst, and some other guy. I think his name’s Davey Bus-Stool.

Here you go:

Ah, ‘Big Train’. Love ‘Big Train’. It’s possibly my favourite sketch show. There are plenty of others I’m totally gay-bones over, but in the end I always come back to The Train. From the comedy brains of Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews (Father Ted), this is sketch comedy at its very best.

‘Big Train’ always starts with the silliest of ideas, then plays them completely straight; and hilarity ensues. Usually. It completely avoids the curse of modern sketch shows too, by which I mean taking one idea, character, or catchphrase, and drilling it into the ground week after terrible, stupefying week.

It’s amazing the cast this show had, too; from Simon Pegg (Spaced, Shaun Of The Dead) and Mark Heap (Green Wing, Jam), to ’Missing Scene’s’ own Kevin Eldon! *Cough* Plug-Plug*Cough*

Personally, I don’t think there’s really been a British sketch show to touch it since. Oh, there have been a few good ones, but none better than the mighty ‘Big Train’. I don’t think the show was ever a huge hit, and has passed many people by; it certainly hasn’t entered the publics consciousness in the way that ‘The Fast Show’ or ‘Little Britain’ have, and that’s a terrible shame, for it deserves to be cherished. If you haven’t seen it, do your funny bone a big favour and pick up the DVD; you won’t be dissapointed.

Missing Scene, the super duper, Kevin Eldon and Alice Lowe starring sketch show pilot, is more or less done, lovely!

Thought I’d pop up a random sketch, it was for a radio pilot that in the end came to nothing.

EAT IT, BITCH:

• 1968 – Apollo program: Apollo 7 safely splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean after orbiting the Earth 163 times.

LETTER FROM NEIL.

 MISSION CONTROL:

And we have splash down on the crew of Apollo 7 into the Atlantic, 200 nautical miles SSW of Bermuda; welcome back to Earth boys.

GRAMS                                      SOUND OF THE SEA.

 WALTER:

We did it-

 DONN:

163 times around the Earth-

 CUNNINGHAM:

Amazing-

 WALTER:

We’re in the history books now boys! Our names shall echo through the ages. Whenever people speak of the glories of human endeavour, our names will not be far from their lips.

 DONN:

Wow . . . Hey, what’s that?

CUNNINGHAM: 
Is that a note?

 DONN:

I never noticed that before, who’s it from?

WALTER: 
Armstrong!

 CUNNINGHAM:

Aw!

 WALTER:

He must have snuck it in here before we left!

 DONN:

That is so totally like Neil.

CUNNINHAM: 
Such a good guy, what’s it say Walter?
 

WALTER:
(READING) Hey guys, A-Dog here, hope you enjoyed your super gay earth orbit. Did I mention I’m actually going to be going to the moon?
  
I’m off to eat a nice big slice of American Hero pie, sprinkled with ’as much tail as I can hit for the rest of my awesome life’ flakes.
 
Laters losers, I’ve already forgotton your names.
 
Neil.
 
xxx.
 
p.s. I totally banged your wives and / or girlfriends when you were away. Buzz watched.

 CUNNINHAM: 
That Armstrong, what a kidder!

 WALTER:

…PPS. I’m not kidding.

                                    END

So where to start? Well, it’s obvious isn’t it; you start with the Boss-‘SEINFELD’.

 Quiver before it comedy writers! This show is your God and you should bend and scrape before its DVD boxsets, for within lies the true meaning of life! Or something. I may be getting carried away; but with good reason, for ‘Seinfeld’ is possibly the greatest example of the sitcom form ever tossed away at midnight by British TV schedulers.

I’ll let you into a secret, when I was sixteen, I used to hate ‘Seinfeld’. I remember standing with friends in a pub (Yeah I went to pubs aged sixteen, rock and roll!) talking about how terrible this American show I saw in the wee small hours the previous night was. Ah, the folly of youth. When I came to watch it properly for the first time, now old enough to have to shave on a regular basis, I quickly realised what a Grade A tit I’d been, because ‘Seinfeld’ is perfect. Yes! Drink in that word! Not, ‘great’, not ‘outstanding’, and certainly not shitting ‘awesome!’ or any other lowly platitude you care to masticate between your food chewers and gob in its direction; ‘Seinfeld’ is

P-E-R-F-E-C-T.

But what makes it so perfect? So perfect that it makes me want to drag all my script files onto a USB stick, shove it down a suicide bombers trousers and kick him train-wards? Well, everything; it does everything right. Every character is a startlingly wonderful creation, from the obvious ones, such as George Costanza (The greatest sitcom character ever created, don’t agree? You’re a moron, go kill yourself) to the minor characters, like Elaine’s hulking, deadpan lunk of an on-off boyfriend, Puddy. Christ, I love Puddy. Yeah, that’s right.

And then how about those plots? Those lovingly crafted, weavy-in-and-out until they head butt at the end plots? It’s just some of the greatest writing ever put on TV. Go fuck yourself ‘The Wire’; I’ll take ‘The Puffy Shirt’ over you every blooming day of the sodding week!

What else? Well, its smart, it’s a clever show, full of wonderfully thought through story telling and just some of the best dialogue and exchanges around; but not only is it smart, its completely silly too. I love Kramer. No one can walk through a door or fall over like Michael Richards; just sublime physical clowning that endows ‘Seinfeld’ with a whole extra strand of funny to exploit.

Oh, and it’s funny; gut wrenchingly, hernia inducingly funny.

And you know what the scary thing is? If it had started today, Seinfeld wouldn’t have made it past its first season. Not a chance in hell. Forget about it. Shows aren’t given the chance to develop, to find their groove and their audience today; after three episodes, ‘Seinfeld’ would have been kicked into the street like a cat that had just done a poo on your couch.

So there you go, I don’t think I could have been more over-the-topply orgasmic than I have been, but you know what? I don’t care, I’m not embarrassed, ‘Seinfeld’ deserves it, because it’s the best Jerry; the best.