Are You Laughing At Us Or With Us?
It's always fun to attend the recording of radio comedy shows, especially if that involves a live audience. The new series of Ellis & Clarke, for example, was recorded at Pacific Quay a few weeks ago and the producer has worked with our online team to provide a few extra treats from behind-the-scenes.
That includes part of the audience "warm-up" routine from Glasgow comedian Raymond Mearns (pictured below). This is a vital part of the process and that was never more true than the time we were recording in the public foyer and the automatic slide doors to the building malfunctioned. They began to emit a horrible high pitched squeak and we had no choice but to jam them open and allow the icy December wind to blast across the Clyde and straight into the audience seating area. Imagine all those eager listeners sittting in their coats, hats and gloves. Luckily we had a few sketches about Christmas so the atmosphere was appropriate.
Usually the warm-up is designed to get an audience in the mood for laughing out loud. Nods and smiles just don't cut it on the radio. I'm sure you know that.
The other thing that live audiences seem to love is when things go wrong. A fluffed line or mis-timed sound effect can often get as big a laugh as a gag from the actual script. This always annoys the writers who are usually sitting among the crowd going through mental somersaults of insecurity.
If you go to the Ellis & Clarke programme page you can hear examples of all of this.
Comments
or to comment.