Chortle's Opinions section is an arena for fans to share their views on any aspect of comedy.
We invite general comment pieces about particular aspects of the comedy scene (although reviews of individual shows or performers tend not to be suited to this section except in very rare circumstances). Contributions should be at least 500 words in length, in a similar tone to something you might read in a broadsheet newspaper, and emailed to steve@chortle.co.uk
We reserve the right to edit pieces – although we will be careful not to change the meaning of anything – or not to use them at all. By submitting an article you grant Chortle indefinite licence to use it freely; though you retain the copyright on it to use it elsewhere.
Nadia Kamil defends the News Quiz 'trial writers' scheme
11/03/2012 … Chortle this week ran an ‘exposé’ of the News Quiz, with their anonymous source apparently furious that a long-running, well-established and respected radio…
09/03/2012 … 'Learn the principle, abide by the principle, and dissolve the principle.
Liam Mullone on the lionisation of Frank Carson
29/02/2012 … Roger Lewis recently wrote a piece for the Daily Telegraph on how Frank Carson was brilliant.
Chris Hallam says the genre needs more respect
29/02/2012 … Why don’t comedy films win more Oscars?This may seem like a strange time to be asking this question.
Marcel Lucont offers a personal, Gallic perspective on the sexism in comedy debate
29/02/2012 … While the debate rages once again about women in comedy, with reference to the Chortle and Funny Women awards, it seems to have almost gone unnoticed that I, a French…
Ted Shiress learns a lot from MCing
25/02/2012 … I remember my first few gigs, I’d go on stage with a list of funny ideas with a vague idea how to waffle up a narrative between them.
Chortle editor Steve Bennett on the dearth of women on our awards shortlist
24/02/2012 … It’s a storm we never saw coming.
Marc Blake on the reality of stand-up
23/02/2012 … A month ago I was approached by a PR company to ‘train’ five journalists who had never performed before to each do a five-minute set for the Dave channel at…
We see you are using AdBlocker software. Chortle relies on advertisers to fund this website so it’s free for you, so we would ask that you disable it for this site. Our ads are non-intrusive and relevant. Help keep Chortle viable.