Recent Correspondents
Correspondents
Chortle's Correspondents section is an arena for fans to share their views on any aspect of comedy. We invite general comment pieces about particular aspects of the comedy scene (although reviews of individual shows or performers tend not to be suited to this section execpt in very rare circumstances) - with the one that's judged best each month receiving a £100 prize. Contributions should be at least 500 words in length, in a similar tone to something you might read in a broadsheet newspaper, and emailed to steve@chortle.co.uk.
We reserve the right to edit pieces - although we will be careful not to change the meaning of anything - or not to use them at all. By submitting an article you grant Chortle indefinite licence to use it freely; though you retain the copyright on it to use it elsewhere.
Fri 22 July 2011
Credit where it's due, Jim
Lloyd Mills thinks it's a crime to overlook a joke's writer
22/07/2011 … I’ve just read Jim Davidson’s latest blog on comedy and I have to take massive issue with his assertion that there is something less than noble about writing and performing one’s own material.
Thu 21 July 2011
Deconstructing the deconstructor
Dave Cohen thinks Stewart Lee is being disingenuous
21/07/2011 … I realise there is a danger, in critiquing Stewart Lee’s critique of the Daily Mail critiquing his dissing of Michael McIntyre, of ending up with a poor facsimile of a typical Lee monologue, but Stewart’s piece for Chortle requires the kind of deconstruction familiar to viewers of his BBC2 series.
Tue 19 July 2011
Why didn't Show Me The Funny show us the funny?
John Fleming is exasperated by ITV's new show
19/07/2011 … Last week, I wrote a Correspondence piece rather piously advising comedians how to get to grips with structuring their hour-long Edinburgh Fringe shows.
Wed 13 July 2011
Comics: See the bigger picture
John Fleming offers some forestry management advice...
13/07/2011 … Around now – just three weeks before the Edinburgh Fringe starts – there is a glut of desperate stand-up comics performing Fringe preview shows in London.
Tue 12 July 2011
Is returning to a free venue a backwards step?
Paul Ricketts has a Fringe dilemma
12/07/2011 … When I started doing stand-up I asked some well- known black comics why they didn’t take a show to the Edinburgh Fringe.
Mon 11 July 2011
I can't stand the competition
Geraint Dafydd Evans gives an insider’s view of comedy contests
11/07/2011 … On Sunday, I was 25, and I’m delighted that I started as a comedian before reaching the quarter of a century.
Fri 08 July 2011
Money for nothing
Ashley Frieze warns new comedians to be wary of the rip-offs
08/07/2011 … It seems like comedy has a ‘pay-to-play’ controversy every few months.
Thu 07 July 2011
You couldn't make it up!
Sean Mason despairs of the way improv is treated on TV
07/07/2011 … Improvisation on TV doesn’t need gimmicks, it needs trust.
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