Chorts Winners Revealed, Plus Alfred Bradley Bursary & Pigeon Laughs 🏆
Your weekly guide to the latest comedy opportunities
NEWSLETTER ISSUE 479
‘Failure and invention are inseparable twins. To invent you have to experiment, and if you know in advance that it’s going to work, it’s not an experiment.’
Scott Galloway
Greetings Comedy Crowders,
There’s no excuse for a lack of inventive spirit. The tools and platforms that allow you to test quickly and cheaply are more accessible than ever.
The biggest problem is finding the audience that creators need to join them in the sandbox and give some feedback. Their attention is at the centre of an algorithmic tug of war that an inventor will struggle to disrupt.
Maybe we need to deploy some invention to finding solutions around getting reliable feedback. We could even shift a bit of financial investment to that, given that the creation process for a minimum viable comedy product can often be done cheaply. Short of locking people in a room (unless you’ve got the chains/budget for it) how can you make your audience captive? Food for thought.
Now this…
COMMUNITY NEWS: Chorts! Winners Awards 🏆
Yesterday we crowned the winners at Chorts Fest 2024! After screening the full Chortlist, the awards were confirmed:
🏆 INDUSTRY JUDGES WINNER:
Rosalie Minnitt - 10 Things A Regency Woman Can’t Live Without
Runners Up:
Blank Peng - Why This Pigeon Was Isolated, Al Nash - People From 1960s Predict The Future, Leah Davis - If Washing Machines Were People
🏆 AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER:
Richard Franks - Firework Safety With Neville Grimace
🏆 FEMALE PILOT CLUB AWARD WINNER:
BAM! Comedy - Living With My PARents
The wonderful Phoenix Arts Club was once again packed for a Sunday lunchtime comedy creating extravaganza. Comedy Crowder legend Dave Bibby (top left below) did a stellar job of hosting the show, with live performances from last year’s Industry Award winner Nikola McMurtrie, OG Chorter of Shimmer Twins fame Peter Rugman, and Chortlist mainstay 3 years in a row Christian Jegard.
A huge thanks once again to all of our judges, and of course to all of the creators who entered Chorts 2024 (taking place in March 2025). Comedy creativity is well and truly alive 🤩.
OPPORTUNITIES
Would you like to see your opportunity featured in this newsletter, sent to over 10,000 creators worldwide? Contact us at theccteam@thecomedycrowd.com
Global Opportunities
Pigeon Laughs Short Film Comedy Festival
Pigeon Laughs Comedy Festival takes place in Cardiff between the 27th and 29th March - tickets are on sale now, and some of the highlights are listed below. There is also still time to submit your Short Comedy Film - deadline is Wednesday 5th March.
27th of March - Comedy & Performance Workshop led by Beth Granville (10am- to 6pm)
28th of March - Industry Guest Q&A (Beth Granville + Matt Ashwell & Scott Pigott) followed by the first screening of the festival (6-9pm) @ USW Cardiff Atrium
29th of March - Finalist Screening + Networking Event (12-3pm) @ Mad Dog Brewery
UK Opportunities
The Alfred Bradley Bursary Award 2025
The Alfred Bradley Bursary Award is an opportunity for writers based in the North of England who are new to writing for audio. It offers a £5,000 bursary to the winner as well as the chance of a Radio 4 Drama commission.
Chesil Theatre | TakeTen New Writing Competition 2025/6
Aspiring and seasoned writers are invited to participate in the ninth biennial playwriting event. This nationwide competition kicks off on 1st March 2025 with the theme of ‘Angels’.
Inspiration
A Procrastinator's Guide to Finishing Things
Well? You want to finish things don’t you?
Newsletter over and out!
Carry on creating and we'll see you next week.
Team Comedy Crowd
Who the heck are Comedy Crowd?
We are on a mission to open opportunities to exciting comedy creators from all backgrounds, and make the world a bit less serious and a bit more human.
If you are a talented creator who has had commissioned comedy work and fancies joining our branded projects, get in touch via our top talent page.
If you are a talented creator who hasn’t had commissioned comedy work but still fancy joining the action, make sure you get involved in our comps such as Chorts! so we can find out all about you.
Would be great to see a line or two from the Chortlist judges about what stood out for them about their award winners.