Whose tweet is it anyway?

BBC pilots Twitter-based improv show

The BBC is tonight piloting a new improvised comedy show, based around Twitter.

Jarred Christmas, Tom Rosenthal, Humphrey Ker, Cariad Lloyd and Michael Legge are taking part in the trial episode of @cuff.

The audience at the gig in The Tabernacle, in West London, will – unusually – be asked to keep their phones on during the show. They will then be encouraged to tweet ideas, which appear in real time on a massive ‘Twitter wall’ next to the stage, with the best suggestions controlling the direction of the live comedy.

If the show is picked up for broadcast, viewers at home could add suggestions live.

Social media company Smesh is behind the technological side. Founder Tom Quick said: ‘The marriage of comedy with this new technology is an amazing idea. It goes to show how social media can be used in so many interesting ways.’

This is not the only TV show in development to revolve around Twitter. Jonathan Ross is hosting a pilot of a show called Trending Topics for TV next month.

Published: 23 Feb 2012

Live comedy picks

We see you are using AdBlocker software. Chortle relies on advertisers to fund this website so it’s free for you, so we would ask that you disable it for this site. Our ads are non-intrusive and relevant. Help keep Chortle viable.