Comedy - Terrorble Puns

A few weeks ago I entered a Channel 4 comedy writing competition. You had to submit three sketches and a topical monologue.

I decided to leave writing the monologue until shortly before the deadline hoping it would still be fresh when the judges looked at it. Five days before the deadline for entries the 7th of July London bombings happened.

Being a Londoner I was left in a difficult position. Should I play safe and talk about other issues? Or should I tackle them head on? It seemed to me it was more offensive to figuratively plug my fingers in my ears and say "oh, I haven't noticed the bombings, here's my monologue about Sebastian Bloody Coe."

I decided, instead, to write something that makes a bit of fun of Al-Qaeda (not Islam, mind) and - I hoped - would get people to have a nervous giggle in the face of adversity.

Here's an article from the Sunday Times about Edinburgh Fringe comedians facing the same kind of decision.

Speaking of The Fringe, a dedicated radio station, Festival FM (available, streamed on the web), will be broadcasting from tomorrow.