British Comedy Guide

Website covering British comedy

British Comedy Guide

Screenshot of the BCG homepage on 15 January 2016

Type of site

| TV, radio, and film guide of British comedy
Owner| Mark Boosey and Aaron Brown
URL| comedy.co.uk
Registration| Required to post (free)
Launched| August 2003
Current status| Active

British Comedy Guide or BCG (formerly the British Sitcom Guide or BSG) is a British website covering British comedies.[1][2] BCG publishes guides to TV and radio situation comedy, sketch shows, comedy dramas, satire, variety and panel games. The website also runs The Comedy.co.uk Awards and hosts multiple podcast series.

Reportedly, British Comedy Guide attracts over 500,000 unique visitors a month, making it Britain's most-visited comedy-related reference website.[3]

## Background

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The logo for the British Comedy Guide between 11 May 2009 and 1 January 2011 The BCG logo between 2 January 2011 and 15 January 2016

The website was founded in August 2003 initially as the British Sitcom Guide (BSG), a website focused on British sitcom TV programmes. The website was created by Mark Boosey, a freelance web developer, originally as a hobby.[1] However, in 2008, the remit of the website was relaunched as British Comedy Guide. Other features added since the site's re-launch in 2008 include a series of podcasts, a section featuring interviews with people working in the British comedy industry, and a Twitter-based news service.

The website went through another relaunch in 2016, where it underwent a redesign of the layout and a new logo which depicts a yellow crown on the word 'Guide'.

In 2015, BCG's data specialist Ian Wolf was awarded the inaugural "Unsung Hero" at the first FringePig Ham Fist awards for his work collating reviews during that year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe.[4]

## Key people

[edit]

Ref  | Joined  | Person  | Job Title(s)

|
|
|

[5] | 2003 | Mark Boosey | Site Editor
[6] | 2005 | Aaron Brown | Noise
[7] | 2006 | Ian Dunn (aka Ian Wolf) | Data Specialist
[8] | 2009 | Si Hawkins | Regular Columnist

## Podcasts

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BCG hosts multiple podcasts, some of which have gone on to win awards. As It Occurs to Me was nominated for a Sony Radio Academy Award in 2010,[9] Do the Right Thing won the Bronze Sony Award for "Best Internet Programme" in 2012,[10] Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown won at the 2012 Loaded Lafta Awards for "Best Podcast",[11] and Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast won the Bronze Sony Radio Award for comedy in 2013.[12]

In June 2013, an episode of Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast saw host Richard Herring interviewing Stephen Fry, in which Fry revealed that he had attempted to commit suicide. The story has been reported in the BBC and Sky News.[13][14]

The podcasts hosted by BCG are:[15]

Name  | Year

|

The Collings and Herrin Podcast | 2008–2011
Richard Herring: As It Occurs to Me | 2009–2011
What Are You Laughing At? | 2011–2014
Richard Herring's Edinburgh Fringe Podcast | 2011–present
Me1 vs Me2 Snooker with Richard Herring | 2011–present
Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown | 2011–present
Do the Right Thing | 2011–2019
Talking Cock with Richard Herring | 2012–2013
Live from Kirrin Island | 2012–2015
Mat Ricardo's London Varieties | 2012–2013
No Pressure to Be Funny | 2011–2015
Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast | 2012–present
The John Dredge Nothing to Do with Anything Show | 2013–2020
The Comedian's Comedian with Stuart Goldsmith | 2013–present
Richard Herring: We're All Going to Die | 2013
Margaret Thatcher Queen of Podcasts | 2015
Sitcom Geeks | 2015–2023
My Dad Wrote a Porno | 2015–2022
ManBuyCow | 2015–present
Richard Herring: Happy Now? | 2016
Isy Suttie's The Things We Do for Love | 2016–present
The Adventures of Grett Binchleaf | 2016–present
Hayley & Ruth: Two Stars | 2016–present

## References

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1. ^ a b "About the British Comedy Guide". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
2. ^ "British Comedy Guide on Listorious". Archived from the original on 18 September 2010. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
3. ^ "Mark Boosey". Such Small Portions. 25 May 2012. Archived from the original on 14 August 2016.
4. ^ "Inaugural FringePig Ham Fist Prize Winners Announced". British Comedy Guide. 1 September 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
5. ^ "Mark". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
6. ^ Brown, Aaron. "Aaron Brown". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
7. ^ Wolf, Ian. "Ian Wolf". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
8. ^ Hawkins, Si. "Circuit Training". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
9. ^ "Sony Radio Award nominees announced". British Comedy Guide. 6 April 2010. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
10. ^ "Sony Radio Academy Award 2012: Best Internet Programme". Sony Radio Academy Awards. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
11. ^ Mann, Andrea (9 February 2012). "The Laftas 2012: Who Won What At Loaded Magazine's Comedy Awards". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
12. ^ "Sony Radio Academy Award 2013: Best Comedy". Sony Radio Academy Awards. Archived from the original on 8 June 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
13. ^ "Stephen Fry reveals he attempted suicide in 2012". BBC News. 6 June 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
14. ^ "Stephen Fry Reveals 2012 Suicide Attempt". Sky News. 6 June 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
15. ^ "Podcasts". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 18 June 2013.

## External links

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* Official website