This week I'm joined by the legendary writer and filmmaker, John Safran. We chat about how his career started with Race Around the World and the upcoming reboot. We talk about the difference between writing books versus making TV shows, and the behind-the-scenes of how things get made.

The Comedy Writers Group is a podcast where we explore the behind-the-scenes of all things writing and performing comedy. This is a podcast for comedians and the comedy-curious, anyone who wants practical insight into the comedy world. We're Australian-based but we feature guests from around the world.

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• Unlock on our online meet-ups and workshops
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This week I'm joined by comedian and "Gaulier-trained harlequin", Elf Lyons. We chat about how we first met at the iconic and infamous Adelaide Fringe venue, The Producers Hotel and take a trip down memory lane.

We discuss how those early days informed the next ten years of Elf's career. We get stuck into clowning, teaching, genre, and class.

Follow Elf Lyons: https://www.instagram.com/elflyons

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This week I'm joined by Chloe Petts (Have I Got News For You, Hannah Gadsby's Gender Agenda) to chat about her show Big Naturals to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Chloe explains why MICF is her favourite festival in the world before playing a game of F*ck, Marry, Kill alongside Edinburgh Fringe and Just For Laughs. We also navigate networking, vomiting before shows, and the relationship between athletes and comedians.

Stick around at the end of the episode to hear Gen Fricker and Tor Snyder workshop a new joke with me.

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Follow The Comedy Writers Group on instagram and join the patreon.

• Unlock on our online meet-ups and workshops
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They said that tragedy + time = comedy. What if you didn't want to wait? What if you wanted to talk about your experience immediately? This week I'm joined by James Barr to chat about his show coming to Australia, Sorry I Hurt Your Son (Said My Ex to My Mum). We talk about the process of turning a traumatic experience into a stand-up show, the challenging first season, working with collaborators, the power of permission, and being "OK".

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Follow The Comedy Writers Group on instagram and join the patreon.

• Unlock on our online meet-ups and workshops
• Access weekly bonus episodes
• Access the first 90 episodes of the podcast
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This week I'm joined by Amy Ruffle (Thank God You're Here) to talk about her new show Vampire coming to The Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Unfortunately, we are interrupted by an unfortunate double-booking when interrupted by surprise guests, Eric Shift the tech, and comedian Josh Bong. We still manage to chat serious subject matter, collaboration, production and improv.

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Follow The Comedy Writers Group on instagram and join the patreon.

• Unlock on our online meet-ups and workshops
• Access weekly bonus episodes
• Access the first 90 episodes of the podcast
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On this week's bonus episode I'm joined by returning guests, Luke Heggie and Chris Ryan. We chat merch, not caring, jokes VS story, before getting into some new material from the note section.

Stick around at the end of the episode to hear me workshopping a new joke with CWG member, Katie Eyles.

Catch Chris and Luke performing around the country.

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Follow The Comedy Writers Group on instagram and join the patreon.

• Unlock on our online meet-ups and workshops
• Access weekly bonus episodes
• Access the first 90 episodes of the podcast
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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I'm joined by the brilliant Josie Long! Josie is coming to The Melbourne International Comedy Festival with her show Now Is The Time of Monsters. We chat about her new show, taking a comedy class at 14, making independent films, and how to channel more positivity into stand-up.

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Follow The Comedy Writers Group on instagram and join the patreon.

• Unlock on our online meet-ups and workshops
• Access weekly bonus episodes
• Access the first 90 episodes of the podcast
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This week I'm joined by Jett Bond, Zoe Heim, and Elyce Phillips to talk room running, open mics, and alt comedy.

Jett and Zoe run Proudly and Elyce runs Script Jam. They're all doing excellent work championing the next generation of Melbourne comedy so I wanted to get together to hear about them and their approach.

This episode is FREE to listen for a limited time only!

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This week I'm joined by Abby Wambaugh who is bringing her show, The First Three Minutes of Seventeen Shows, to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. I figured there was no better way to promote the occasion than to do a very special concept episode where we do the first three minutes of seventeen podcast episodes.

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Special thanks to the contributors on this episode: Emma Leonard, Maddie Stokes, Dan Hough, Rob Hislop, Gabi De Bartha, and Jaye Heather.

Follow The Comedy Writers Group on instagram and join the patreon.

• Unlock on our online meet-ups and workshops
• Access weekly bonus episodes
• Access the first 90 episodes of the podcast
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Steph Tisdell returns to continue our journey together developing her new show Steph Tisdell is Fat touring the country this year. In this episode we get into finding confidence, discussing the first act, and resisting the urge to apologise.

Make sure you listen to Part 1 first.

This episode is FREE to listen for a limited time only!

Find tix to Steph's show here.

Follow your host, Marcel Blanch-de Wilt.

Follow The Comedy Writers Group on instagram and join the patreon.

• Unlock on our online meet-ups and workshops
• Access weekly bonus episodes
• Access the first 90 episodes of the podcast
• Exclusive access to our discord and facebook groups

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.