Until the 2012 National Student Radio Conference in Bradford
University of Surrey
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The Leeds Tealights are a sketch comedy group at Leeds University. We had a show on LSR by the same name which was broadcast on Saturdays for an hour. The show was a mixture of scripted sketches, improvised sketches, semi-improvised sketches, and pre-recorded sketches. These were separated by music tracks and LSR jingles.
The preparation consisted of a long meeting the night before the show where we brainstormed ideas for sketches. We would also have another meeting before the show where these sketches would be scripted, necessary sound effects gathered, and pre-records completed and edited. We would then rehearse. Many of the sketches, although based around a skeleton script of plot and punch lines, were semi-improvised. This was necessary due to time restrictions and the volume of new material we had to produce every week. Artistically it was also good as it made dialogue sound naturalistic. Most sketches were performed live.
As a group we normally perform on stage but radio was creatively liberating to do as there are a lot less limitations, for example: you can do sketches which, if visible, would require complicated scenery, you can also do sketches where you occupy body shapes significantly different to yourself (see boxing sketch). We learnt that radio comedy was as much about what you don’t say as what you do. The assumptions of the listeners, as well as their imaginations, are very powerful.
The Leeds Tealights are made up of 4 members all of whom contribute to the writing and performing process: Max Dickins, Patrick Turpin, Chris Quaile and Winston Smith. Max Dickins was responsible for the production as he had substantially more radio experience. We treated the radio show as a wonderful opportunity to explore ideas for our stage shows, and, as mentioned earlier, we could do sketches that would have been impossible in front of a watching crowd. We produced our own jingles, as imagery plays an important part in singing your comedy brand. For example ours were quite irreverent and surreal in the style of the Mighty Boosh. We also produced a weekly podcast for our fans to subscribe to, which consisted of a 25 minute highlights package of the Saturday show.