Comedy Masterclass

Danielle Krage interviews Chelsea Kania and Emily Chase from Female Pilot Club, and they discuss the benefits of entering writing competitions and the development opportunities they offer.

From their work with Female Pilot Club’s comedy script call, they share practical tips for developing your pitch, engaging with the advice of industry judges, responding to feedback and development notes, and finding the right fit with mentors.

The conversation covers:

00:00 Introduction to Female Pilot Club and Writing Competitions

02:08 The Benefits of Live Script Readings

03:35 The Purpose of the Script Call and Female Pilot Club

05:33 The Importance of Championing Female Writers

07:34 The Development Opportunities in the Script Call

08:08 Tips for Crafting a Succinct and Captivating Pitch

09:34 Advice from Industry Judges on Writing Comedy Scripts

11:05 Balancing Unique Personal Lens and Broad Comedy Appeal

13:49 Tips for Engaging with Script Development Notes

18:04 Considerations for Standing Out in Submissions

20:12 The Value of Script Consultancy and Mentoring

22:33 Finding a Good Fit in Mentors and Consultants

25:45 Staying Centred and True to Your Vision

30:09 Favourite Comedies and Comedy Dramas

32:57 Advice for Writers: Patience and Focus

37:00 Closing Remarks and Script Call Details

You can find out more about Female Pilot Club, their script call, and consultancy here:

https://www.femalepilotclub.co.uk

https://www.femalepilotclub.co.uk/2024scriptcall

https://www.femalepilotclub.co.uk/script-consultancy

https://www.instagram.com/femalepilotclub

https://twitter.com/femalepilotclub

You can find the transcript at:

https://comedymasterclass.com

And Danielle’s socials here:

https://twitter.com/daniellekrage

https://www.instagram.com/dekrage

https://bsky.app/profile/daniellekrage.bsky.social

Danielle Krage interviews comedy director, coach and mentor, Chris Head.

This episode is a deep dive into how to structure your 30 min comedy or comedy-drama script. Then Chris and Danielle play with using the structure to brainstorm a new show.

Tactics covered include:

• Breaking down the 3 main beats that shape your story.

You can find out more about Chris’ work here:

https://www.chrishead.com

You can find the blog post referenced here (including links to scripts):

https://www.comedy.co.uk/pro/inside_track/structuring-your-30-minute-script

You can find the transcript at:

https://comedymasterclass.com

And Danielle’s socials here:

https://twitter.com/daniellekrage

https://www.instagram.com/dekrage

https://bsky.app/profile/daniellekrage.bsky.social

Danielle Krage interviews Johnny Smith, animation and live-action screenwriter and script consultant. His work spans books, TV and film, including Dragon Rider, and co-writer for The Queen’s Corgi, and Gnomeo and Juliet.

This conversation includes:

• Creating rules for your world, using setting, and telling the story visually.

You can find out more about Johnny Smith and his work here:

https://www.johnnysmith.co.uk/

You can find the transcript at:

https://comedymasterclass.com

And Danielle’s socials here:

https://twitter.com/daniellekrage

https://www.instagram.com/dekrage

https://bsky.app/profile/daniellekrage.bsky.social

Danielle Krage interviews writers Jane Lovering and Jeevani Charika. They are shortlisted and award-winning romantic novelists in their individual careers, and together they wrote How to Write a Romantic Comedy.

This conversation includes:

• Having pen names and marketing your funny books.

You can find out more about their work here:

https://books2read.com/u/4AQBgk - How to Write Romantic Comedy

https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Jane-Lovering/author/B003NYBX9M?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true Jane’s Amazon page

www.Jeevanicharika.com Jeevani Charika’s website

https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Jeevani-Charika/author/B07C6W8Z88?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true Jeevani's Amazon page

You can find the transcript at:

https://comedymasterclass.com

And Danielle’s socials here:

https://twitter.com/daniellekrage

https://www.instagram.com/dekrage

https://bsky.app/profile/daniellekrage.bsky.social

Danielle Krage interviews Dave Cohen - Broadcaster, BBC TV writer, BAFTA winner for his Horrible Histories songs, and novelist (Stand Up, Barry Goldman, and soon to be released, Barry Goldman: The Wilderness Years).

Dave is the author of The Complete Comedy Writer: Make your Sitcom, Stand-Up, Screenplay, Sketches and Stories 62% funnier. He brings his extensive comedy writing experience to this conversation.

Topics covered include:

• Ways into comedy writing (including children’s TV and radio).

You can find out more about Dave and his work here:

https://davidjcohenauthor.com/

https://www.davecohen.org.uk/

https://www.waterstones.com/book/stand-up-barry-goldman/david-j-cohen/9781999313821

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BLZXRG5G

You can find the transcript at:

https://comedymasterclass.com

And Danielle’s socials here:

https://twitter.com/daniellekrage

https://www.instagram.com/dekrage

https://bsky.app/profile/daniellekrage.bsky.social

Danielle Krage interviews writer Aaron Starmer, whose young adult and middle-grade novels you can find on so many best-of-year lists, from Time Magazine to the Wall Street Journal.  

He’s the author of Spontaneous, also adapted into a romantic black comedy horror film, produced and directed by Brian Duffield (Underwater, Love and Monsters, No One Will Save You).

Spontaneous was one of Danielle’s top picks in episode 30 (comedy horror for Halloween).

In the interview with Aaron, the conversation covers:

• Humour and its relationship to tragedy and trauma.

You can find out more about Aaron Starmer and his work here:

https://www.aaronstarmer.com

https://twitter.com/aaronstarmer

https://bsky.app/profile/aaronstarmer.bsky.social

You can find the transcript at:

https://comedymasterclass.com

And Danielle’s socials here:

https://twitter.com/daniellekrage

https://www.instagram.com/dekrage

https://bsky.app/profile/daniellekrage.bsky.social

Danielle Krage interviews writer and creative, Isaac Marion.

Isaac is the author of the Warm Bodies series. (Warm Bodies became a New York Times Bestseller, inspired a major film, and was translated into 25 languages.)

This conversation about weaving humour with darker themes includes:

1) Exploring different writing perspectives and viewpoints. Where do we set our zoom level?

2) Deadpan and dark humour.

3) What does creativity give us?

AND there’s a bonus appearance from Bob the cat.

You can find out more about Isaac Marion and his work here:

https://isaacmarion.com

https://www.youtube.com/@OuterEdgeOutpost2

You can find the transcript at:

https://comedymasterclass.com

And Danielle’s socials here:

https://twitter.com/daniellekrage

https://www.instagram.com/dekrage

https://bsky.app/profile/daniellekrage.bsky.social

Zanandi Botes, writer and comedy horror expert, is the special guest for this Halloween show. Zanandi and Danielle share 3 picks each, to give you 6 comedy-horror recommendations, just in time for Spooky Season. They span zombies, mockumentary, anthology and more.

You can find Zanandi at:

https://www.cracked.com/members/Zanandi

https://twitter.com/ZaNandi

https://bsky.app/profile/zanandi.bsky.social

You can listen to our previous episode about comedy-horror here:

https://comedymasterclass.com/podcast/12-zanandi-botes-comedy-horror-and-twisting-tropes/

You can find the transcript at:

https://comedymasterclass.com

And Danielle’s socials here:

https://twitter.com/daniellekrage

https://www.instagram.com/dekrage

https://bsky.app/profile/daniellekrage.bsky.social

Comedy Masterclass will be back on October 25th (with a special Halloween episode!)

In the meantime, I would love it if you could help me share the show, in a way that makes sense for wherever you listen/watch - rate, review, leave a comment. Or share with comedy-loving friends, or on social media. 

And if you want to message me directly, you can find how to do so at 

I love hearing what's resonating with you, and how you're applying it to your own writing. 

Back soon! 

Danielle

Danielle Krage interviews The Blaine Brothers (Chris and Ben) about their work as filmmakers and particularly their approaches to directing comedy.

They directed Sara Pascoe’s ‘Out of Her Mind’ series for BBC2 and Sony TV (through Simon Pegg’s production company Stolen Picture) and received both awards and brilliant reviews for their debut feature Nina Forever.

In this interview, they share practical lessons learned from their highly creative careers.

You can find out more about their work here:

https://www.blainebrothers.co.uk

https://www.instagram.com/theblainebrothers

https://twitter.com/blainebrothers

You can find details for Ben’s course (Find Your Voice in TV and Film), and his Substack about stories here:

https://thefreeassociation.culmas.io/class/gKYOkrLHFZ6r2GINYJgO?from=component-api

https://themidpoint.substack.com 

You can find the transcript at:

https://comedymasterclass.com

And Danielle’s socials here:

https://twitter.com/daniellekrage

https://www.instagram.com/dekrage