\",\"icon\":\"twitter\",\"link\":\"https://twitter.com/thelcw\"},{\"svg\":\"\",\"icon\":\"facebook\",\"link\":\"https://www.facebook.com/groups/thelcw\"},{\"svg\":\"\",\"icon\":\"youtube\",\"link\":\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi6zZZxrG2x4kmnqqj2pxdw\"}],\"settings\":{\"styles\":{\"align\":\"flex-start\",\"justify\":\"center\",\"position\":\"3/12/4/15\",\"icon-size\":\"36px\",\"icon-color\":\"var(--colors-dark)\",\"icon-spacing\":\"\",\"icon-direction\":\"row\",\"icon-color-hover\":\"#3a3a3a\",\"m-element-margin\":\"0 0 56px 0\",\"space-between-icons\":\"32px\"},\"useBrandColors\":false}},\"QqBpMf3kt7\":{\"type\":\"GridTextBox\",\"content\":\"
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LONDON COMEDY WRITERS
What we do
London Comedy Writers was formed in 2001 by writer Jack Milner, to create a space where comedy writers could find camaraderie and support. Twenty years on, LCW has become an essential resource for peer-to-peer mentoring and networking in the aspiring comedy writers’ community. (We owe a massive debt to our former chair, Graham Trelfer, for our longevity).
Anyone is welcome to join London Comedy Writers and you can just turn up on the night. There’s no membership fee nor charges for joining a meeting and you can:
Get constructive feedback on your writing for free
(some LCW members have experience in TV, film and radio)
Hear your work read aloud by actors
(it’s the best way to see what’s working and what isn’t)
Learn about developing characters and stories
(you'll pick up lots of advice from listening to other people’s scripts)
Meet other writers and actors
(many collaborations have started at an LCW meeting)
(Potentially) Have your work performed
(we organise an annual live sketch show and have various group audio projects planned)
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT
LONDON COMEDY WRITERS
What we do
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Al manages @TheLCW on Twitter and Facebook, and is heavily involved with organising LCW projects. He’s a published author of fiction and his comedy film script reached the finals of the Golden Script 2018 and Your Script Produced! 2019. His sitcom was selected for the Lit Laughs International Film Festival 2020. Al presents music show, Comes with MP3s (@ComesWithMP3s) on Radio Woking.
Join a meeting
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Here’s a few questions that new members might have about our meetings.
IMPORTANT NOTE: London Comedy Writers is not a professional body that can commission, create or produce your work, nor can we offer representation for you as a writer.
Do I need to let you know I’m coming to a meeting?
When COVID-19 restrictions are in place, we’ll need you to book a free seat via Eventbrite. In normal times it’s fine to just turn up on the night (but get there early to grab a chair). We can’t read material you bring along on the night, so please submit your script in advance to get in the queue.
When is the best time to bring my script to the group?
Your first draft will often have issues that you can fix yourself, so we suggest you submit the script at a stage when you’re happy to have it read but are still willing to do heavy re-writes. The group is very good at seeing other directions a script could take and you can make the most of the feedback if you’re still willing to make changes.
Can I submit a feature length comedy script?
Sorry, the absolute maximum length we allow is 40 pages in standard screenplay formatting. We prefer less though.
My script isn’t that funny... will the group read it?
If it isn’t that funny because it is an early draft, that’s fine. You’ll get lots of useful feedback to make it funny. If the script is not intended to be funny, then this is not the group for you.
How long will I have to wait to get my script read?
That depends on how often you come to meetings and how many people have scripts in line. It is possible to queue jump if someone drops out.
I’m writer-performer, can I read my own script?
You can... but we recommend that you don’t! Table reads are an important part of the development process and it’s easier to listen objectively and without distraction when you take a step back.
How many people attend meetings?
A typical meeting hosts 40 members. We have around 120 people that we count as LCW regulars, and lots of old faces who drop in from time to time.
How do I know someone won’t steal my great idea?
You don’t. But, given the volume of people who attend our meetings, plagiarism would be pretty hard for someone else to get away with. However, do bear in mind that people occasionally come up with the same ideas.
Will you read my script again now I’ve redrafted?
Potentially. To avoid repetition of feedback we would suggest you only do this if you have made extensive changes. Many of our writers choose to utilise what they’ve learned on a new episode of the same series. Again, how soon we get round to re-reading your sitcom depends on how many scripts are in line and how often you attend the group.
What can I do with my finished script?
You can submit it to competitions, any production company or theatre that accepts unsolicited script submissions, or record it yourself as a calling card. The Comedy Crowd are particularly interested in helping emerging talent produce new content.
Who’s in charge around here?
This is us, and what we do.
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Jordan is a writer-performer who co-chairs our in-person meetings. He helps prep for our live shows and supports the general running of the group.
What we do
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We’re the current team at London Comedy Writers and here’s a summary of what we do. If you want to submit a script for a table read, please read our Submit a script page. For general enquiries, you can reach us on londoncomedywriters@gmail.com
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IMPORTANT NOTE: London Comedy Writers DO NOT commission, create or produce work for individual writers, nor do we offer representation. We’re a not-for-profit group, run by volunteers, that facilitates mutual support, networking and table reads. We cannot offer 1-2-1 feedback outside of our meetings.
The format of a typical London Comedy Writers meeting includes a maximum of three sketches and a sitcom script, so material in these formats will get preferential treatment, although we will also read webisodes and shorts. We never read feature length scripts. Writers who regularly attend meetings in support of their peers will get priority placement on the waiting list. If your script is chosen for a reading, we ask the writer to bring along enough hard copies for all the actors (including anyone narrating or reading the stage directions). Please print at A4 size.
Before submitting your script, you should consider the following points:
Story
Write characters with heart (give them flaws to make them relatable) and understand the role they play in your story arc as all major characters should have some kind of narrative function. Refer to the Bechdel Test to ensure your female characters aren’t simply an adjunct to the men. Also, bear in mind that, if your central characters are all straight, white, able-bodied, neurotypical, middle class males, you will be presenting a narrow reflection of our world that lacks the diverse representation commissioners and producers increasingly look for in comedy.
Familiarise yourself with the structure of a sitcom (acts, A, B and C plots, and beat sheets) so that you’re able to the create the tension that will keep your audience engaged. You should aim to establish your main characters and the rules and tone of their world within the first five pages of your script. Fewer if you can! You’ll need a good hook to keep a commissioner’s script reader, and subsequently an audience, engaged and tuned in.
Medium
Is your script intended for television, internet or radio? Decide this before you start to write and format your script accordingly – avoid leaving stage directions in your radio script because you changed format halfway through writing! Think about the benefits and restrictions of each medium. If your script is particularly surreal then, unless you have a big budget, it’s possibly more suited to radio and the listener’s imagination!
Length
The length of your script should depend upon the medium and your chosen broadcaster. For example, a typical BBC sitcom will last 30 minutes (sometimes 15 minutes for radio), a Channel 4 sitcom/comedy drama (excluding commercials) might be only 25 or 40 minutes long while the same is shorter still on Sky. Material intended for the internet is much shorter, ranging from 3-15 minutes. Owing to time restrictions, we regret that we’re unable to read scripts that run longer than 40 minutes.
Using the rough assumption that your script will run at one minute per page, we ask that your sitcom runs between 20 and 40 pages. If your submission runs over, we’ll ask you to edit it down before it is read. If it runs under (because it’s part of a web series or a 15 minute radio sitcom) then we may ask you to supply an additional episode from the same series to be read with it. We’ll try to time the reading for you on the night!
Formatting
We ask writers to adhere to the standard screenplay format when submitting scripts for a table read at London Comedy Writers. A badly formatted script will be impossible for our actors to read and any professional production company would reject it outright, so it’s in your interest to learn the industry standard. Follow this formatting guide from the BBC for your table read with us but you should ultimately research your broadcaster’s preferred format when submitting your work professionally.
Script formatting software
Final Draft, Celtx, Highland 2, Scrivener and Writer Duet are specialist script formatting software used by many in the screenwriting industry. They’re easy to use and both offer a free trial before committing to buy. You can, of course, produce basic scripts in Word but you may find the formatting process slightly laborious! Here is some advice from bang2write.com
Feedback
If you think your script is a finished product, ready to pitch, then please don't send it to us. We're here to help writers who are a few drafts into their story, willing to hear feedback from the group and open to rewrites that will improve the script. If that sounds like you, please send us your script: londoncomedywriters@gmail.com
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LONDON COMEDY WRITERS
FAQs
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(ON HOLD)
Next meeting (online)
13 APRIL 2021, 19.00 (BST)
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\",\"settings\":{\"styles\":{\"text\":\"center\",\"align\":\"flex-start\",\"justify\":\"flex-start\",\"position\":\"11/11/12/14\",\"m-element-margin\":\"0 0 8px 0\"}}},\"GhtG1cleO-section-title\":{\"type\":\"GridTextBox\",\"content\":\"If you attended a London Comedy Writers meeting in recent years you might have heard us talking about a podcast we were working on. If you're a regular you may have been there for the reading and critiquing of some of the scripts. Now we're finally ready for everyone to listen to our new audio sitcom, the Bureau of Lost Things!
In a quiet corner of every town, down a street nobody cares about, you’ll find a Bureau of Lost Things. Here a dedicated team strives to reunite lost things with their careless owners. One such branch nestles just inside the M25, where no-nonsense overseer Veronica runs a tight ship; at least according to her (Head Office may disagree). We follow eager new recruit Will, cynical con-artist Cara and bureau lifer Raymond as, every episode, they grapple with a fresh batch of things. And Veronica.
The Bureau of Lost Things stars Michael Keane (Dr Who, The Play That Goes Wrong), Annette Flynn (Eastenders, Lost and Found), Nick Ewans (Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days Later) and Grace Morgan (Shuffle Play, Sketchley Park) with special guest stars in each episode. The first series comprises six episodes that can be listened to in any order (we endorse Shuffle Play!) This is intended to be a comedy listening experience for all ages, however Parental Guidance is recommended for younger children.
You can listen, download, like, share and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or on the YouTube channel. Here are some helpful links:
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