Not Going Out TV recording

Last week I went to my first TV recording, and what’s a better first recording than Not Going Out?

The filming took place at Teddington Studios, and my friends and I had been eagerly anticipating the recording so we had a Not Going Out marathon beforehand whereby we intended on watching all (or most) of the episodes. However, we ended up only watching just over half of them as they seem not as enjoyable when you watch them one after the other and we had hardly any motivation to watch them.

(image from here)

The appearance of the studios wasn’t quite as I’d expected it, but I don’t really know what I expected. The interiors showed a mass of cameras and wires (as expected) all in quite a small space, with wires everywhere and a couple of screens for the audience to view the filmed acting and prerecorded parts on.

As the set was unusual (and I won’t give away any more than that to prevent spoilers), it was different from usual, not including the pub or flat, and most of it couldn’t be seen by lots of the audience. Nevertheless it was an interesting episode and had many very funny lines. I love the way it’s always put together to show the personalities of each character, and Katy Wix’s character, Daisy, is especially funny.

I’d have to say that TV recordings aren’t as good as radio ones as each scene has to be filmed at least twice (often more) and the cast kept forgetting lines (especially Lee Mack) as they couldn’t have their scripts in front of them.

A person was allocated to keep the audience entertained whilst they waited for the next scene to be filmed, but it got a tad annoying after a while, as he was making jokes about the staff and talking to someone in the audience called Emma who seemed to want to tell everyone about her not-very-exciting job and any minor detail she could give, which was mildly amusing at first but then got a bit wearing. Also, two members of the audience had Lee Mack’s book and wanted to get them signed. However, they were passed around the whole audience (well, almost whole audience; they didn’t quite meet my side) before Lee Mack signed them, so contain many drawings of penises and forged Lee Mack autographs.

It’s really nice that once you get your ticket stamped you get a raffle ticket for the nearby pub, giving you a free drink, which was lovely after waiting outside in the burning sun for a couple of hours.

Although the recording was very enjoyable I find it somewhat disappointing that the funniest parts were on the prerecorded VT and I couldn’t watch much of it live, but I think that part of the problem was the particular set used.

Outside I met Hugh Dennis! I’ve met him a while back but was reminded just how nice he was as he was willing to stop to have a picture. I didn’t meet Lee Mack, Katy Wix or Sally Bretton as I had to leave as not to miss the last train. This series of Not Going Out should be really good as I love Lee Mack’s writing and humour, and Hugh Dennis is a great guy who should fit in well with it all.

John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme recording

~ This post contains spoilers ~

Last week I went to The Shaw Theatre, London, to watch some of series 4 of John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme being recorded.

Of course as I’d gone to the previous try-outs I recognised a lot of the material, but nevertheless the recording was very funny and really enjoyable to watch! I only went to the second recording (as we didn’t have enough tickets for our whole group to go to the first and there was no guarantee we’d get into both), but the recording I did go to was great.

There were a few sketches about the Willoughbies, as well as the good subtle references to Belgium’s greatness throughout and song about Belgium to finish off. In addition to this, there was the ‘Well, since you asked me’ sketch about a trapdoor. I’d heard it before at one of the try-outs, but this time it was shorter and more concise, so probably improved.

This recording included a brief “Well, since you asked me where the hell my script is” moment, where John Finnemore went up to the microphone and realised he didn’t have his script, as well as amusing acting and John Finnemore standing on a chair for one of the sketches. There was also a final sing-along bit for the audience to join in with the Belgium song.

I was really pleased when some of the cast (Carrie and John) recognised me from other recordings and try-outs. Hooray! I also spoke to some of the cast after the recording, though the pictures I got with them weren’t very good quality as it was so dark outside!

There are to be another four JFSP recordings coming up soon, although being the fool I am I forgot to apply. Damn! Oh well, I can’t wait until they are broadcast as this series looks very good so far!

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

After reading John Green’s ‘The Fault In Our Stars’ and feeling annoyingly underwhelmed I decided to give another of his books a go, this time being ‘Will Grayson, Will Grayson’.

This novel is by John Green and David Levithan, written in the perspectives of two boys named Will Grayson whose paths intertwine as they meet (in a porn shop where both feel uncomfortable to hang out but are there by coincidence). I like the way that the narratives and characters’ ways of writing are so different, as the two authors split the chapters between themselves, each writing from the perspective of a different Will Grayson.

Although the lack of capital letters in one of the Will Grayson’s chapters really annoyed me at first, I do understand why the authors chose to do this as it made it much easier to differentiate between the Will Graysons and get a better insight into their personalities and characters.

The storyline is based around a musical being arranged by Tiny Cooper, friends with the Will Grayson whose chapters are capitalised. Tiny Cooper is an openly and proud gay character, seemingly incredibly large in size and always standing out from the crowd, whereas his friend, Will Grayson, prefers to go around unnoticed so there is an interesting contrast.

The other Will Grayson is gay and suffering from depression. His most anticipated part of the day is writing to an online friend, Isaac, and his feelings for Isaac are made clear when he says “GOD I AM SO IN LOVE.”

The story follows the two Graysons as their lives become more linked as the characters meet up and realise more about love, relationships and break-ups. I did quite enjoy the book and would recommend others to read it, as I loved the character development and seeing how each character reacted to different situations. Also, I love the way some aspects of all characters are relatable. However, I feel as though there could have been a stronger or more engaging storyline as I really enjoyed it at the beginning but my attention span began to waver a bit in the middle.

All the same, if you don’t have a book to read and want to read a book to rekindle your love for reading then I would highly recommend this book!

Welcome To Our Village, Please Invade Carefully

As I’ve got a long break from school, I’ve been going to quite a few radio recordings, two of them being for ‘Welcome To Our Village, Please Invade Carefully, which is a radio sitcom originally on Radio 2 but now for Radio 4.

It focuses on a small village which has been invaded by an alien race and the inhabitants have been trapped in, forced to stay and put up with or try to escape the aliens. There is a great cast, including Hattie Morahan (Jane in Outnumbered), Peter Davison (the 5th Doctor in Dr Who), Jan Francis (Emmerdale) and Hannah Murray (Cassie from Skins, Game Of Thrones).

I must admit that I wasn’t particularly looking forward to going as I had heard from people that the first series was very disappointing. However, I thought that it was actually really good, full of great humour and executed brilliantly by the talented cast.

The first episode involved a lot of digging for an escape plan and the alien leader, Uljabaan, growing potentially threatening and violent giant plants, whilst the second episode was based around the alien leader’s computer going to the village’s much loved Pub Quiz.

There were double recordings, so I would have had the chance to listen to 4 episodes, but I chose to leave before the fourth in the hope that I would be able to catch Peter Davison before he left (as he left really quickly after the first recordings and lots of people waited outside in the hope of meeting him, not realising he’d already left). Of course, it was just my luck that even though he came out he left just as I was gonna get his autograph. Irritating!

So, despite having missed the last recording for no reason I did get to listen to the third episode which was enjoyable, with Hannah Murray’s brilliant and humorous singing about Uljabaan accompanied by Grace Petrie playing the guitar (which Hannah Murray’s character is supposed to be playing).

After the recordings I got to meet some of the cast, Hattie Morahan, Hannah Murray and Ed Morrish (the producer) as shown above, and in the second recording I met Grace Petrie  and Hannah Murray again (below).

Hannah Murray is such a sweet person, letting everyone meet her and get her autograph (even the dodgy guys with high quality, professional pictures that you just know are going to soon end up on eBay). It’s just a shame that I didn’t get to meet peter Davison even though the rest of my group did.

John Finnemore’s Library Edition

Well, John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme is soon to be recorded for series 4 and so John Finnemore has been holding try-outs of some of his new material at Kensington Library to see how the audience reacts to it and know which sketches should make it to the final show.

John Finnemore’s Souvennir programme is a Radio 4 Sketch Show, written (surprisingly enough) by John Finnemore. Not all of the cast could make it, so there were a few extra appearances.

The first try-out included only Simon Kane and John Finnemore from the usual cast, with Susy Kane and Kieran Hodgson standing in to help out and fill the spaces. The second try-out included, as pictured below, John Finnemore, Simon Kane, Carrie Quinlan and Susannah Pearse (pianist and composer of music).

I have gone to the two try-outs so far and they’ve been pretty goddamned good, the first recording inluding a few hilarious references to Belgium throughout and a very good final sketch about a hotel with a trapdoor. Some of the sketches were repeated in the second try out, and there some new brilliant sketches which had the audience laughing constantly throughout, including one about ‘the Willoughbys’ which was particularly great (though I won’t give away any more about it as you need to hear it to appreciate it).

I felt that the second recording was more successful, as the sketches seemed funnier (even the ones I’d already heard, for some reason), but it amazes me how John Finnemore doesn’t seem to run out of ideas for sketches!

I also (of course) stayed afterwards to meet and have a chat with the cast, which was great. The cast were, as usual, really kind and willing to hang around for a bit to speak to, sign things for and have photos with fans.