Episodes

35: Johnny Smith (writing screenplays for animation)

Danielle Krage interviews Johnny Smith, animation and live-action screenwriter and script consultant. His work spans books, TV and film, including Dragon Rider, and co-writer for The Queen’s Corgi, and...

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34: Jane Lovering and Jeevani Charika (How to Write Romantic Comedy)

Danielle Krage interviews writers Jane Lovering and Jeevani Charika. They are shortlisted and award-winning romantic novelists in their individual careers, and together they wrote How to Write a Romantic...

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33: Dave Cohen (The Complete Comedy Writer)

Danielle Krage interviews Dave Cohen - Broadcaster, BBC TV writer, BAFTA winner for his Horrible Histories songs, and novelist (Stand Up, Barry Goldman, and soon to be released, Barry...

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32: Aaron Starmer (author of Spontaneous)

Danielle Krage interviews writer Aaron Starmer, whose young adult and middle-grade novels you can find on so many best-of-year lists, from Time Magazine to the Wall Street Journal.   He’s...

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31: Isaac Marion (author of Warm Bodies)

Danielle Krage interviews writer and creative, Isaac Marion. Isaac is the author of the Warm Bodies series. (Warm Bodies became a New York Times Bestseller, inspired a major film, and...

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30: Zanandi Botes (comedy-horror for Halloween)

Zanandi Botes, writer and comedy horror expert, is the special guest for this Halloween show. Zanandi and Danielle share 3 picks each, to give you 6 comedy-horror recommendations, just...

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29: Short autumn break and a quick request

Comedy Masterclass will be back on October 25th (with a special Halloween episode!) In the meantime, I would love it if you could help me share the show, in a...

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28: The Blaine Brothers (directing comedy)

Danielle Krage interviews The Blaine Brothers (Chris and Ben) about their work as filmmakers and particularly their approaches to directing comedy. They directed Sara Pascoe’s ‘Out of Her Mind’ series...

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27: Lynne Murphy (humour in non-fiction writing)

Danielle Krage interviews Lynne Murphy, Professor of Linguistics at the University of Sussex. Lynne has a fabulous alter-ego as Lynneguist, with an award-winning blog ‘Separated by a Common Language’. Lynne...

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26: Adam Courting (improv culture and Shakespeare)

Danielle Krage interviews Adam Courting, a highly curious creative whose experience spans improv, devising, performing Shakespeare and more. Adam has brilliant insights into improv comedy culture - what needs to...

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25: Michelle Gallen (winner of the Comedy Women in Print Prize 2023)

Danielle Krage interviews writer Michelle Gallen, whose book ‘Factory Girls’ won the Comedy Women in Print Prize 2023. Michelle has wonderfully honest and practical takes on the craft and business...

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24: Kevin Tomlinson (improv and theatre)

Danielle Krage interviews Kevin Tomlinson, theatre maker and Co-Founder of Kepow Theatre Company. Kevin’s extensive training and live experience in so many forms of improvisation (including with Keith Johnstone,...

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23: Tim Ferguson (writing narrative comedy)

Danielle Krage interviews comedian and screenwriter, Tim Ferguson. They dig into his wonderfully practical book, Cheeky Monkey: Writing Narrative Comedy, to talk about characters, conflict, situation, and simplicity. Tim has...

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22: Ian McMillan (poetry and wordplay)

Danielle Krage interviews poet, writer and broadcaster Ian McMillan about how he approaches humour in his work - whether it’s his poetry collections or his beautiful memoir, My Sand...

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21: Holly Hall (from online sketch to live solo show)

Danielle Krage interviews actor, writer and comedian Holly Hall about the process of making her live solo show, ‘You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.’ Holly was first on the...

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20: Ryan North (comic books and graphic novels)

Danielle Krage interviews Ryan North - writer of games, comic books, non-fiction books and more. They dig into considerations for comedy, including Ryan’s experience of writing The Unbeatable Squirrel...

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19: Summer Break – Back Aug 2nd

Danielle Krage will be back with regular weekly episodes on Wednesday 2nd August.

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18: Steve Kaplan (The Comic Hero’s Journey)

Danielle Krage interviews comedy expert Steve Kaplan about tools from his most recent book, ‘The Comic Hero’s Journey’. The conversation covers: ways to create your main character and supporting cast;...

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17: Leslie Lehr (memoir)

Danielle Krage interviews Leslie Lehr (prize-winning author, Novel Consultant for Truby’s Writers Studio, and essayist) about her memoir, A Boob’s Life. A Boob’s Life has a fascinating structure, interweaving personal...

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16: Pilar Alessandra (screenwriting fundamentals)

Danielle Krage interviews Pilar Alessandra, who is a Hollywood script consultant, author of the top-selling screenwriting book, The Coffee Break Screenwriter, and host of the On the Page Podcast...

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15: Lucy Lumsden (getting comedy commissioned and produced)

Danielle Krage interviews Lucy Lumsden about commissioning and producing comedy. Lucy was the first Controller of Comedy Commissioning for the BBC and was then Head of Comedy for Sky for...

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14: John Truby (story code and beats)

Danielle Krage interviews John Truby, the founder and director of Truby’s Writers Studio. The conversation is a deep dive into the comedy chapter in John’s most recent book, ‘The...

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13: Andrew Kaufman (allegory and absurdity)

Danielle Krage interviews the writer, Andrew Kaufman, whose books include All My Friends Are Superheroes, The Waterproof Bible, and The Ticking Heart. Andrew’s work is known for being both incredibly...

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12: Zanandi Botes (comedy horror and twisting tropes)

Danielle Krage interviews Zanandi Botes, who has so much fun experience writing for theatre, TV, comics and her own film. She has written articles for cracked.com since 2016, with...

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11: Juliet & Keith Giglio (co-writing comedy)

Danielle Krage interviews Juliet Giglio and Keith Giglio about their co-writing process. This includes for their delightful rom-com novel, The Summer of Christmas. Plus their next book, The Trouble...

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10: Aalex Mandel-Dallal (using your truth)

Danielle Krage interviews comedian Aalex Mandel-Dallal, about the process of creating and developing her solo comedy Edinburgh show. This includes how Aalex works with the audio recording of her...

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9: Kyle Mazer (musical comedy)

Danielle Krage interviews Kyle Mazer about music, comedy and collaboration. Kyle is a playwright, composer, stand-up comic and web3 creative strategist. They explore the practical example of his comedic musical,...

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8: Kelly Pantaleoni (comedy characters to Web3)

Danielle Krage interviews Australian actress, filmmaker, and philanthropist Kelly Pantaleoni. They dig into self-generating comedy characters and projects - from developing your own short film in lockdown, to new...

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7: Stuart Laws (surreality, satire and stand-up)

Danielle Krage interviews Stuart Laws.   Stuart is a writer, director, actor and stand-up comedian. He also runs a production company, Turtle Canyon Comedy. He brings all these sensibilities to his...

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6: Sherice Griffiths (mockumentary and more)

Danielle Krage interviews writer and director Sherice Griffiths about writing and making her short film, a mockumentary featuring a household of assassins, called Killing for a Living. She shares...

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5: John Vorhaus (a comic toolbox)

Danielle Krage interviews John Vorhaus about his fun and practical approach to creating comedy. John is the author of The Comic Toolbox, The Little Book of Sitcom, and more....

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4: Holly Hall (from online sketch to short film)

Danielle Krage interviews actor, writer and comedian Holly Hall about her comedy creation process. Holly won BBC New Comedy Award’s Digital Comedian of the Year award in 2021, with her...

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3: Suchandrika Chakrabarti (personal storytelling)

  Danielle Krage interviews comedian Suchandrika Chakrabarti about her Edinburgh show, ‘I Miss Amy Winehouse’ and her new WIP, ‘Doomscrolling’. With her background in journalism, and expertise in personal essay,...

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2: Chris Head (comedy tools and frameworks)

Danielle Krage interviews comedy expert, Chris Head. Chris shares so many practical ways of creating comedy characters and worlds, and helps us to see these tools at work in...

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Comedy Masterclass, coming to you soon!

Hey comedy friends. Here's what I've been cooking up for you. If you love comedy - breaking it down, and building it back up - you're going to want...

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