The best spot on Reddit to find full episodes and clips of panel shows from around the world. Come chat with your fellow panel show lovers from across the globe.
Question
Hi guys. Hope you're all well. I am preparing to write an article about Panel Shows for polish magazine. It's about history of it, how it became and why is it so deeply rooted in UK TV culture and while other countries try to replicate it's succes - they are unable to.
I am trying to get in touch with UK comedians that took part in some of the panel shows and sadly it AINT EASY. In Poland getting in contact with someone is not a problem. As a journalist you always know someone that knows someone. But i don't anyone who knows anyone in the UK. Maybe you can help me out - do you know comedians that are easy to contact? Those guys who even if say know - i will know they read an e-mail and i don't have to go through management, agent and publicist. Or maybe you know agency that should me first choice as they work with many people and might propose someone to talk to?
I would be forever grateful for any help from your side. I wrote to few people, but i assume most of them won't be interested, because they're busy and they won't really get much out of an article printed in Poland...
Sort by:
Best
Open comment sort options
Best
Top
New
Controversial
Old
Q&A
![r/panelshow - Guy Montgomery [TMNZ S2] on Thank God You're Here doing improv](https://external-preview.redd.it/cDZ3YmVkdXM4Y3VjMeHCl3Hj5EMOHSuS2po8SvRHn-j2nHWsi3k0JXugt2GI.png?width=140&height=78&crop=140:78,smart&format=jpg&v=enabled<humb=true&s=fa50a2922272337fa1cca3c342a69748a28b950a)
Are there any UK comedians planning on doing gigs in Poland? Because they would probably be happy to talk to promote their show. I couldn't immediately find any on Google. The closest I see is Jimmy Carr has shows coming up in Vilnius. Maybe try to contact him through his management, Chambers Management. Carr is an expert on comedy history, tradition and theory. He's written books about it. Chambers represent a lot of UK comedians so maybe you could pitch it to them as a way of promoting UK comedy in Poland and they could set you up with someone. Anyway, good luck with the article. I hope it works out.
Thank you man!
Actually Jimmy Carr performed in Poland 3 times so i'll try to go through management and in worst case, gonna ask people that booked him.
Good shout.
Have you thought about contacting the creators/writers/producers rather than the comedians? They probably get far fewer interview requests and might be more interested in getting an opportunity to talk about their role than someone who has to do it on a weekle basis. They also most likely know a lot more about the history and the inner workings of those shows.
Good thought. Jon Naismith at Random Entertainment would be great.
I emailed Jon about something a couple of years ago and he got back to me.
Article writing tip #1: You don't use an apostrophe to make words plural.
You found a mistake in a long post written in English... by a Polish person... asking for help on an article to be written for a Polish magazine in Polish. Most of the English in this post is better than we see from about 80% of the contributors here. But hey, you got 'em good... so congrats!
Cheers. I made some mistakes in the post, but it's more due to using my phone for it, autocorrect and losing words while writing. But thanks for being nice!
I'm in America so there isn't much help I can provide on the contacts front, but I have noticed that panel shows do well in Australia and New Zealand too. They have been attempted a few times in the US, but they never really got much traction. There are a couple like Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me on NPR radio that has run for many years and After Midnight on Comedy Central seems to be doing OK, but it's in its first series.
One of the broadcast networks tried to import Mock the Week to the US last year. It didn't get renewed. The format was helped along by importing some British comedians to sit on the panels. There was also a US version of Would I Lie to You that ran for one series.
I've noticed a difference between American/Canadian comedy and that in the UK/Aus/NZ. The latter countries favor the witty quip and word play more than North American comedy which lends itself well to the panel show format. English has such a huge vocabulary that playing with words is fairly easy for a creative comedian.
I watch a fair bit of UK/Aus/NZ comedy because I like the style better than American comedy.
Just my 2 cents, 2/100th of a Euro or whatever.
Being half Polish, Anna Ptaszynski might be willing to help you on your way. She's been at QI for years. Famously is not on social media but podcast@qi.com will get you through to her.