Head writer for “The Mash Report”, show-runner for “Hello America” on Quibi, and profoundly nice man, Tom Neenan has a practised ease with pulling jokes out of thin air. He’s also a comcompletist and one of the nicest people in the industry.
We talk about his entry into the business as a recipient of the BBC writer’s bursary, how a position as staff-writer taught him to be super-productive, and how to mine ambiguity for a punchline.
30 minutes of extra content available exclusively to members of the Insiders Club includes Tom on learning to make shows more personal; Stu and Tom get self-indulgent riffing on story and the Lubitsch touch with reference to Pixar and the MCU, and Tom shares some of his favourite joke-formats…
Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for this and much more, including the exclusive Insiders Q&A with James Acaster.
Tom Neenan
Follow @tneenan for his very funny tweets and drawing
Follow Tom’s Dr Who podcast @Wheezingpod
We also mentioned some of his favourite instructional YouTubers; these include HBomberguy, Jenny Nicholson, Every Frame a Painting, Lessons From The Screenplay, Folded Ideas, and Lindsey Ellis.
And here’s a link to the video about The Lubitsch touch Tom mentions in the extras:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxqt7UmN_bQ
Everything Stu's up to:
Stu’s “Virtual Office Party” is now available as the perfect solution to remote-working office parties, sales conferences, motivational and wellbeing events.
“It was an absolutely hysterical and wonderful evening, for both those partaking and everyone watching online!”
- Maria Kuzak (Fundraising Manager at CALM)
The games and interactive element were hilarious and extremely well executed! 10/10 from us, you created a real buzz in our business, thank you.\"
- Ben Gott, Practice Lead, Marketing Solutions EMEA, SVP at Merkle
For more info on how this unique concept can bring your staff together while working apart, go to www.virtualofficeparty.co.uk
Stu also offers remote talks to business on what the distilled wisdom of over 350 comics can teach you about resilience, especially in times of pandemic.
“The most inspiring talk I’ve had in years!” (LEGO staff member)
Find out more at www.comedyinsights.com
This podcast is @ComComPod on twitter and instagram