Before we get into the self-regarding nonsense that I’ve written below, if you’re a podcaster yourself, please do go and vote in the Podcast Peer Awards for my Liverpudlian friend Graham Holland. He’s been nominated for his excellent show, ‘The It’s a Frog’s Life Acoustic Podcast’ and deserves to win. Off you pop, then to www.podcastpeers.org and I’ll be waiting for you when you get back.
All done? Cheers ears. Be warned – from this point on, it’s all me, me, me, with a big dollop of me on the side. Danny Baker calls it self-regarding nonsense, and it definitely is, but I’m less uncomfortable about that than I would have been a while back. I’m the new tougher me now, you know. I do weight-training and everything.
Here goes, then. Stop reading at any time if you become nauseous.
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I’ve suspected this for a long time, but now the evidence is clear: I’m at my strongest creatively when I’m under a huge amount of pressure.
Now is not the time for creating comedy podcasts: I have a business that is putting me under huge pressure at the moment, with long days and deadlines looming, and in virtually every other area of my life, things are quite stressful. Even the technology is conspiring against me as my laptop has decided to start cutting out suddenly, and there’s no money in the pot for a replacement, or even a service. But somehow – somehow! – I’m managing to pull together a new podcast that I’m very proud of. I absolutely can’t wait to release it.
Basically, the effort has been put into upping the energy and pace of the show. There are more shorter, punchier segments, and the longer sketches have been rewritten within an inch of their lives until the gag-rate stays consistent. There’s a new intro sequence that’s very different from what’s come before, and the style of the comedy is – I hope – a bit cheekier than before, although I still haven’t gone down the ‘adult content’ route. I think that would be a mistake.
Show 40 is still being recorded and edited to make it a real showcase piece that will bear repeat listens and act as a strong example of what I can do when I really put my mind to it.
I listen back to previous CLPs and am usually quite critical – my ultimate aim is to produce something that is on a par with anything on Radio 4 (apart from technical quality) because I know I’m capable of doing it. On a lot of shows, though, I’ve placed more importance on getting a show out, and it has often been at the expense of the quality of writing. I’m not doing that any more. Taking the time to write show 40 has reminded me what a huge buzz it is to get the comedy ‘on the nose’.
Every creative bone in my body is being put into taking the show to a new level. I’m fighting astronomical odds to get noticed as a writer/performer in a virtual sea teaming with talent. But I don’t care whether it takes another 3 years or another 30. Success, when it comes, will just be that bit sweeter as a result.
Want spoilers?
Well, there’s a new regular feature called ‘CLP’s History of Britain’ which has been flying around as an idea for over a year. New Topical Pish stuff gets adapted and included as a short insert, and there’s a regular satire on sell-out kids TV that I’m also hoping to use as a viral.
The new show 40 will be out by July 10th at the latest.
