Course Overview

Get the skills, tools and industry insights to push your projects to the top of the commissioning editor's pile and get your comedy script green-lit.

Interrogate big ideas like sex, politics, religion and family through comedy. Or write an unashamedly stupid show! There are many opportunities and a great need for new comedy writers. Who knows; you could see yourself on the way to the BAFTAs, Oscars or Golden Globes with the next Fleabag, VEEP, Modern Family or Father Ted.

Throughout this Comedy Writing course, you'll get writing tips and career guidance masterclasses from the very best in the industry. Guests have included sketch comedy heroes French & Saunders, Emmy and BAFTA-winning comedy writer Simon Blackwell, Radio 4 comedy commissioner Sioned Wiliam and former head of BBC and Sky comedy commissioning Lucy Lumsden.

This online MA has been developed by award-winning comedy producer and executive producer Simon Nicholls. Simon has 20 years of comedy industry experience, producing and selling comedies in the UK and US.

You will: 

• Study the work of renowned writers and directors, reflect on professional trends and learn how to seize market opportunities

• Be taught by a host of comedy experts, including multi-award-winning TV and Radio comedy producer and executive producer Simon Nicholls. 

• Learn how to write comedy sketches, sitcoms, and comedy dramas and develop a body of work for multiple platforms, including; radio, TV, film and online 

• Develop a comedy writing portfolio consisting of scripts, treatments, synopses and your responses to professional comedy briefs, which can be used as a calling card to gain agent representation and to present to commissioning editors 

• Structure your working practice as a comedy writer; plotting your day, dealing with writer's block, working to tight deadlines while remaining funny 

• Understand the role of a commissioner, the criteria by which they assess new writing and what it takes to get your project green-lit 

General Eligibility

An honours degree or Level 6 equivalent qualification is desirable. However, candidates without a degree or formal qualification are still encouraged to apply. Contact an advisor for more information about entry requirements and Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL).

You'll need to submit up to five pages of a script for either radio, TV or film. It's your choice, but it must be a comedy script that best shows off your comedy writing, not any other genre. Please also submit a 300-word piece of paper considering an old sitcom which is no longer running. The amount of paper should tell us why you've picked this show for reinvention now. Please describe how you'll modernise and reinvent the show as a relevant must-watch for today's audience. Considering who will star in this production and your vision for the performance would be best.

Part Time Work Details

N/A

Language Requirement

• If your first language is not English, you'll need to take one of the following tests to verify your proficiency:

  • IELTS - minimum overall score of IELTS 6.5 with at least 6.0 in Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening

  • TOEFL iBT (online test) - minimum of 88 general and at least 21 in all four components

  • LanguageCert (online test) - a High Pass from the ESOL B2 Communicator test in reading, writing, speaking and listening (2 parts)

  We also accept a range of equivalent recognised English language qualifications.