Chris Ballard

And wow, I can’t believe I’ve been listening to you for six whole years. I guess you’re doing something right! That Springsteen Born to End ‘bit’ seems like yesterday…

I liked this album *just enough* to keep it in rotation and it’s really grown on me. Weirdly, if I have limited time, I tend to start at Dear Stephen and listen through to the end. Production is samey but the songs are strong. I am another one of those middle-aged grumpy Welshmen though.

The most common pub name in Britain is commonly thought to be ‘The Red Lion’.

However, having conducted my own analysis of pub signage, the most common name actually appears to be ‘Sky Sports Live Here’.

Yeah, Chris confirmed they went with a different wording. Funny old business - when I think about some of the things I’ve been paid for which were script-edited beyond all recognition!

Don’t really bother posting rejected gags anymore, but this must be the closest ‘nearly’ I’ve had in six years of writing for #BreakingtheNews :

Acknowledging the programme’s mistakes, Tom Daley bent over backwards to apologise, followed by a reverse somersault with three and a half twists.

Cumulative Impact is a great film about Earth getting destroyed by a series of small asteroids.

Great little tip for giving somebody ham:

Give them a piece of good news, then give them the ham, then give them another piece of good news.

This is called ‘A Ham Sandwich’.

What Just Happened? - Series 3 - with Leila Navabi, Esyllt Sears, Carwyn Blayney and Kiri Pritchard-McLean - BBC Sounds Robin Morgan, Kiri Pritchard-McLean and guests take a look back at the week's news.

Always a pleasure to be on the writing team for this wonderful panel show. It’s not a proscribed show so you may listen without being arrested.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

It’s probably worth it to get in with Jon - he produces a lot of stuff! I felt my Skewer credit gave me an in and let me pitch stuff for Dead Ringers.

Must admit I gave up on The Skewer as soon as I got a sketch on. Sometimes you just have to accept that you don’t have the time to do something - though it’s difficult to let go of the writing FOMO!

Haha, quite. Although I’m not really complaining, but this is a good example of the financial reality of many comedy writing opportunities.

Wait ‘til they hear about spending 5 hours a week writing 50 gags for Breaking the News only to MAYBE get £20 IF one of them gets broadcast 😆

Impressed you’re paying so much! Completely in line with more ‘established’ sites.

Breaking the News - Susie McCabe, Alex Kealy, Krystal Evans and Scott Agnew - BBC Sounds Des Clarke hosts Scotland's award-winning satirical news quiz.

Proud to contribute to a cracking #BreakingtheNews this week. Always fun to get Des to ‘do his Trump’.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

One of the joys of exploring McCartney’s back catalogue is discovering that albums which don’t have a fantastic reputation are often pretty great.

Yeah, I’d literally had a couple of dreams about being LW and not getting anything on (I know that can happen and doesn’t necessarily reflect the quality of material)! I was surprisingly relaxed when it came to it, although having some early gags on definitely helped!

Cheers, Gregor. Yep, that was my first time 🙂

Thank you, Mike!

Breaking the News - Robin Ince, Amanda Dwyer, Gareth Waugh and Diona Doherty - BBC Sounds Jay Lafferty hosts Scotland's award-winning satirical news quiz.

Made it, Ma! I was Lead Writer on this week’s #BreakingtheNews. You may listen here:

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Cheers, Gregor! Yeah, definitely a nice way to round off the week.

Dead Ringers - Series 26 - Episode 3. Glastonbury, Benefits, and Bombs - BBC Sounds Satirical impressions from the team headed up by Jon Culshaw and Jan Ravens.

One of my sketches was on this week’s Dead Ringers. Buzzing like those bees that killed Macaulay Culkin in that film about a kid who gets killed by bees.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

I won’t take it personally. Good luck for next week!

Breaking the News - Mark Nelson, Ria Lina, Elaine Malcolmson and Stuart McPherson - BBC Sounds Des Clarke hosts Scotland's award-winning satirical news quiz.

You there! Take your hands out of your pockets, sit up straight, and listen to the first episode of the new series of #BreakingtheNews! Includes a few bits of nonsense from me.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Confusingly: I2 Angry Men II

The Wrong Woman #HitchcockCorrie

What if the very act of trying the door to make sure it was locked somehow unlocked the door…?

Have become slightly addicted to Slow Jam off of that new Pulp album.

Everyone remembers the Catchphrase episode where it looks like Mr Chips is masturbating.

What people forget is that Mr Chips WAS actually masturbating and the answer was: ‘Wanking yourself silly’.

Different times…

The Sounds of Flatulence
#PaulSimonCurry

That’s it, I’m suing the author of The Complete Guitar Player for lost rock star earnings.