Welcome to the latest episode of The Comedy Bureau. The Comedy Bureau is a passion project from comedian Laura Lexx and academic Oliver Double. The pair are OBSESSED with comedy and so have joined forces to make a show where comedy is taken incredibly seriously.

Right from the inception of the show, they had an idea that some episodes could be about singular people and the impact they have had on the comedy world. Today's episode is the first of those style... and who better to start with than Victoria Wood?

Chosen not only because of how beloved, creative and hilarious she was, we have also made her our first solo subject because of the unique way in which she entered and conquered the comedy scene. Victoria Wood didn't arrive in comedy through the usual route and so her comedy voice was as unique as her trajectory.

We track her rise and rise from New Faces in 1974, to the Summer Show with Lenny Henry, to That’s Life. We discuss the line where comic songs become stand up and whether there’s a definitive answer to what is stand up comedy.

Then we follow her illustrious career through Wood and Walters, Victoria Wood As Seen on TV from which we got Acorn Antiques, An Audience With Victoria Wood, into more plays and many series of stand up comedy. And of course, who could forget Dinnerladies.

We end the episode discussing Oliver Double's all time favourite comic masterpiece: The Ballad of Barry and Freda.

We hope you enjoy The Comedy Bureau... if you do, please consider leaving us a five star review on your podcast app or telling your friends and family all about the show. We rely on word of mouth from listeners to keep the podcast growing.

Many thanks, and we'll be back with a new episode next week!

Our sources for this week include:

"Victoria Wood Chunky" (2023), Trapeze

Brandwood, Neil (2002) "Victoria Wood: The Biography" Virgin Books Ltd

1988 Release Brighton Dome Recording - Victoria Wood “Live”

“Lucky Bag” Recording - Edinburgh Fringe