please empty your brain below

Blimey DG, don't encourage people - I've been applying for tickets to the News Quiz for over a year and haven't acquired any! :o(

And if you find that's difficult just try getting a ticket to a recording of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue!

The only time I managed to get a ticket for I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue was at the National Theatre, where Humphrey Lyttelton was able to do a riff about his uncle after whom the Lyttelton Theatre is named. As for the live:broadcast ratio, it was about 2:1 I recall.

I've seen Susan Calman and Roisin Conarty do stand up and both are very funny. I'll try and catch this episode on iplayer.

If you're a regular listener you'll be familiar with one of my friends, Paul Sinha who is a News Quiz semi-regular.

He is very funny and worth catching live.

I went to see QI and Not Going Out being recorded, but still waiting for tickets to Top Gear ... I think they said there is a 5 year wait for that! But yes, its a free night out and good fun.

I've been really lucky. Got tickets for a month ago, and then a friend got some for last week and took me.

Looking around at the rest the audience, I can't quite work out whether it's gratifying or disturbing to think these are my peers.

There is a Compton Theatre Organ in that radio theatre, which, during and for a few years after the war, was played almost every day. It was broadcast live mainly on the "Light Programme" in the mornings (Radio 2) but you could sometimes hear it in the background on the "Home Service" (Radio 4) as the soundproofing was not too good. I think in the major refurbishment this has been fixed.
I agree it is a nice theatre.
When the BBC also had the Paris Theatre in Lower Regent Street I often used to go along to programme recordings. In those days there were often empty seats!.

I went to see the News Quiz several years ago when it was at the Drill Hall whilst the wonderful Radio Theatre was being refurbished.

We sat quite near the back and thus discovered a whole different league of News Quiz audience members. Those with portable tape decks and small microphones... Not for them the edited highlights...

I suspect there's quite an underground community still making those illicit recordings!

Was there a couple of weeks ago for a recording of Showstoppers! the improvised musical.

you failed to mention the hideously expensive prices for a simple drink, snack at the "bar" beforehand where they keep you waiting for an hour in a room without enough seats, and so i sat on the floor ...

It's funny to actually see these well known people in the flesh. I've been in the audience for a number of things over the years. Being wholly innocent of any malice, I've also been startled by the snivelling unpleasantness of certain "celeb's" when I have been 2 feet in front of them. I don't know who I must resemble but, who ever it is, my visage really gets under their skin. Others have been absolute dears and I follow their progress with great pleasure.

Sorry, I failed to mention the hideously expensive prices for a simple drink & snack at the "bar" beforehand where they keep you waiting for an hour in a room without enough seats.

The first 20 people into the room sat down, and then everyone else (including several older people) got to stand in the middle. Not very Radio 4 behaviour, I thought.

Not sure I could ever watch ISIHAC being recorded without "Humph" being in the chair, and of course that's not going to happen again. "One of the most talented panel-game chairmen was Lionel Blair, and who can forget when...".

The room they put you in, with the overpriced bar is the only thing I dislike about the whole experience.

Agree this is something anyone who lives in or near London with an interest in seeing a show recorded should try. I'm off to see a new Al Murray show (Compete for the Meat) next week, thanks to www.lostintv.com - worth signing up for, as a lot of the independently-produced shows use them.

Come on B don't hold back, let us know who these miserable celebs are.

A few years back my mum went to see Big Break being filmed and said Jim Davidson was really miserable when they weren't recording. Though she did say she thinks he was in the middle of one of his many divorces at the time and this could be the reason he weren't that cheerfull.

Really interesting description of what goes on behind the scenes. I always enjoy The News Quiz, especially Jeremy Hardy's contributions - he does hold the show together, as you said. But I find lately there are sometimes rather long reminiscences by the panellists, which aren't connected to the news and aren't particularly funny. But that's a small gripe. Sandi Toksvig is a good chairperson. I didn't realise she writes novels - yesterday by chance I discovered in the library her novel "Flying under bridges". Such a relief to find a modern novelist who writes with depth and wonderful humour (and also NOT written in the present tense... but that's another story). Much better to read - and just as rewarding - than the turgid stodge of e.g. Martin Amis and Salman Rushdie.

I do hope Radio 4 doesn't change too much. Why shouldn't the educated middle class have a radio station?

Probably an obvious question - if the show is so popular and the BBC issue more tickets than seats then what happens when more more bodies than seats turn up with valid tickets - is there unseemly pushing and shoving, tutting and mumbling?

It's a first come, first served and the audiences team are very strict on that - if they're too full, you don't get in the building.

If I remember correctly, those that miss out can apply for priority for the next time they have a broadcast though - as in they get a priority ticket. That might just be for TV though, and only refers to situations where BBC Audiences are running the show (other companies sometimes organise tickets for independent production companies - although BBC Audiences staff still run the show on the night, the rules may be different)

Cool, I love The News Quiz.

Susan Calman's not new though, she's always on there.

dg writes: ah, ok, text amended, thanks.

It was great to read what it's like to be in the studio audience. I have applied for tickets for years but gave up and now I just enjoy the podcast. Great editing, the final 27 minutes always turn out to flow smoothly.

I always cringe a bit when Sandi has to ask newcomers "So, X, are you interested in politics?" or "X, what do *you* think about Y?" because it's an obvious sign they haven't "got" it. A shame.

I got one for the news Quiz but I decided it was too expensive to come down so did not take up my ticket. Its a very very funny show though

http://www.radiotimes.com/blogs/1199-bbc-radio-4-extra-to-replace-radio-7/

"The BBC is to replace Radio 7 with a new digital sister station for Radio 4 called Radio 4 Extra in April

Two of Radio 4's most popular entertainment formats, The Now Show and The News Quiz, will broadcast "extra" versions on the station, offering an additional 15 minutes of "beefed-up" programming, interviews and behind-the-scenes features for ardent fans."

I had tickets for the same recording! I couldn't go (thanks to work) in the end, but N was there... it's a small world.

(I love radio 4 recordings, always lots of fun)











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