Behind the Mic: Story Platform

Tell me about Story Platform...

It’s a monthly TV and film comedy writing development initiative which runs at Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre. Inspired by the legendary SNL model, 10+ writers (a mix of comedians and playwrights) meet on a Monday, decide on a theme, then create a 60 minute show from scratch to perform live on the Friday. 

The show is a mix of music, sketch, monologues, physical comedy and everything in-between! It aims to be a safe space to experiment and see what works in front of an audience. The live show element, providing the adrenaline and immediate feedback, is missing from most screen comedy development. 

Our core team includes: Amelia Bayler, Amanda Dwyer, Kim Blythe, Isla Fairfield, Mirren Wilson, Eleanor Morton, Chris Thorburn, Chris Weir, Nat McCleary, Mikey Burnett, Joe McCann and Craig-James Moncur. 

How did it come about?

Since my time back as Head of Comedy at BBC Scotland, I have been consistently blown away by the incredible comedy talent in Scotland – not just comedians, but across all forms of writing: plays, novels, graphic novels, and the rest. It felt like there should be a way to combine these brilliant voices and styles in a more collaborative space. 

I’ve been incredibly lucky to have produced sketch comedy legends including The League of Gentlemen and Victoria Wood, so have a real understanding of how important the rehearsal/writers room and live audience experience is to the essence of comedy. As sketch has pretty much died on TV, that experience hasn’t been available to a new generation who have found their voices on social media.

I created a previous version of the event called Alchemy when I left the BBC. It worked really well. Richard Gadd and Ashley Storrie were alumni, alongside most of the cast of Scot Squad, but unfortunately it finished after a few shows. Last year, on my return to Edinburgh, I was surprised to find that things hadn’t moved on much and that space was still needed, so with the support and encouragement of Screen Scotland’s Kieran Hannigan and Bella Barber-Fleming, Story Platform was born.

What was the first Story Platform like?

In preparation, I’d seen most of the group (unbeknownst to them) doing their shows live, or watched them online. It was really critical to me that the writers' room was full of both very funny people and people likely to be generous with one another – a good indicator was how they behaved with audience members at their own gigs. 

The first event was at Summerhall in January, the Monday after Storm Eowyn. Although we felt like we’d survived a zombie apocalypse, it proved fantastic inspiration for the group! It really brought everyone together faster than I had hoped. Quite a few of the comedians knew one another but the playwrights were new in the mix and the dynamic they brought was really interesting.

The originality and teamwork has been incredible since show one and everyone is thriving on having this new community to work with and a space to experiment without worrying about it failing. The ability to fail is the vital part of any truly creative process.

What would be your dream Story Platform event and why?

I feel really lucky with the team and the people we can now start feeding into the group. I’d love to run more parallel events across Scotland to give opportunities to writers beyond the central belt.

What's been your best takeaway from running Story Platform?

My experience working with lots of famous comedy people over the years is that if you need to be funny and seek audience validation either live or via social media, you should be given a space where you can do that safely but with enough risk to get the adrenaline going.

Who's the funniest comedian you've seen and why?

It’s the wonderful and hugely missed Victoria Wood, who I had the great honour of working with. Obviously she was brilliant live and on screen, but every hour of every day behind the scenes, we laughed constantly. 

How do we make the Scottish Comedy Scene better?

I’d say: think bigger. Think beyond Scotland to the world. The voices are here but there needs to be more collective confidence in the work.

What's next for Story Platform?

We have one more event in the run – 27 June at the Traverse, and we’ll be doing two Best Ofs over the Festival (keep your eyes peeled for dates).

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Story Platform, 27 Jun, Traverse Theatre Edinburgh, 7pm, Free