UK comedian Dave Gorman (see link) is looking for Halfbakery-type ideas for a new Radio 4 show called Genius (see link). I stumbled across the site months ago, and submitted a couple of my HB ideas just for the hell of it. Weirdly, they liked one of them – Steel Drum Urinals – and paid all my expenses to get me down to London from my native Dundee and pitch the idea on the show in front of Dave, “special” guest Paul Daniels (rubbish used-to-be-famous UK magician - see link) and a live studio audience. It was a bit nerve-wracking, but a damn good laugh nonetheless, and very much in the spirit of the HB. The best thing was, they’d actually hired a couple of steel drum drummers to play on-stage armed with high-pressure water-pistols instead of tiny hammers. Didn’t quite sound as good as it did in my head, but the audience seemed to like it, and I hear they can do amazing things with sound effects in post-production these days.
Anyway, that was the pilot for the show, and I’ve just found out that they’ve been commissioned to do a full series. So they’re now looking for more ideas. A prime opportunity for more ‘Bakers to find their fifteen minutes of fame, and get an all-expenses paid trip to London as well (as long as they’re from the UK – even flying me down from Scotland stretched their budget a little).
I’ll keep you posted as to when the show’s going to air (Radio 4 is available over the web for non-UK bakers in a handy “listen again” format - see link again - which means you can listen to programmes whenever you want to up to a week after broadcast): I’ll no doubt be wincing at my own performance, but the rest of the show was really funny and very much in the spirit of the HB, so I’d like to hear another few bakers on there as well, if possible.
Best of luck, everyone, and I hope you get a better "celebrity guest" than I did. By the way, he's tiny in real life. Quite a lot.-- lostdog, Jun 20 2005 Paul Daniels http://www.pauldaniels.co.uk/Ha ha this-a-way, ha ha that-a-way, etc. [lostdog, Jun 20 2005] Dave Gorman http://www.davegorman.com/He of "Googlewhack" fame. [lostdog, Jun 20 2005] The Genius Website http://www.bbc.co.u...comedy/genius.shtmlDave "Googlewhack" Gorman. [lostdog, Oct 25 2005] Radio 4 Listen Again http://www.bbc.co.u...s/listenagain.shtmlListen online for up to a week... [lostdog, Oct 26 2005] (?) Exhibit A http://www.penguinattack.com/genius.aspI never liked Paul Daniels anyway... [lostdog, Nov 05 2005] Not the first time the Beebs done this sort of thing! http://blog.modernm...entor-50-years-ago/ [Dub, Mar 20 2006] Armando Iannucci http://www.bbc.co.u...nucci_armando.shtml [calum, Jun 13 2006] Series Three: Submit your ideas http://www.bbc.co.u...comedy/genius.shtml(page references lostdog's "Steel Drum Urinals") [calum, Mar 28 2007] BBC2 TV show - submit your ideas http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/genius/webpage references lostdog's seminal steel drum urinals [calum, Jun 06 2008] (?) "Steel Drum Urinal" audio on YouTube http://www.youtube....watch?v=FUCUUu-fSgMlostdog gives it his best shot [smendler, Mar 20 2009] So, did you win the Genius Trophy?-- FarmerJohn, Jun 20 2005 Let me guess, it's cone-shaped, and you wear it on your head?-- RayfordSteele, Jun 20 2005 No, I didn't win, but it was radio so the trophy was imaginary anyway. And my imaginary trophey cabinet is already full.-- lostdog, Jun 20 2005 Congratulations anyway, [lost]. I'm certainly jealous.-- Worldgineer, Jun 21 2005 super story.-- po, Jun 21 2005 Cool! - I keep half hearing plugs for it on Radio4.Did you use the opportunity to explain your provenance and shamelessly plug the B/2?-- gnomethang, Jun 21 2005 I don't think that this idea should expire. It might be fun to hear from other bakers that get on the show.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jun 21 2005 I think my "Invisibling" idea (shameless plug) would make an ideal candidate for a radio show.-- TolpuddleSartre, Jun 21 2005 Wish I could have, gnome, but I didn't really get the chance.-- lostdog, Jun 21 2005 Bravo! Please leave this up (remove the MFE).
Personally, I think you were probably an ideal choice.-- bristolz, Jun 21 2005 Ah, I remember hearing about this. Glad somebody posted it! Well done, [lost] - I'm off to look through my little ideas catalogue, see if there's anything telegenic (or whatever the radio-equivalent is)... I'm a big Radio 4 listener, so I'll look forward to hearing your fifteen minutes-worth!
I predict, when this show finally gets aired, we're suddenly going to have a lot of enthusiastic newbies...-- moomintroll, Jun 21 2005 Cheers, bristolz. But you haven't heard it yet - they do say that some people have a face for radio - when the show airs, I'm sure I'll cringingly find that I have a voice best suited to mime.
MFE removed on the condition that other bakers give it a shot and tell us all about it.
One wee word of advice - they're not really looking for the best ideas, more something that's absurdly sensible that Dave can get a bit of comic mileage out of. It is his show, after all.
If I don't hear another baker on there when the series finally airs, I'll be dissapointed.-- lostdog, Jun 21 2005 hey, pick some ideas!-- po, Jun 21 2005 As an american, I shant be participating, but I'll donate my Tourist Bopper and Ocean Sex Suit...
Hey, s'all I got!-- daseva, Jun 21 2005 Go, [dog], go. Nope, just looked at my ideas and there's nothing suitable for this (or for anything else). But, I'm going to stick with the "US resident" excuse anyway.-- half, Jun 21 2005 I don't know, [half], Keyboard Mint Launcher seems juuuuust right. Maybe adjust it so it shoots fluids too...-- daseva, Jun 21 2005 I'd quite like to pit [benfrost] against Humphrey Littleton, but "Points of View" probably couldn't handle the complaints...-- lostdog, Jun 21 2005 Congratulations on your stardom, [dog]. It seems to me that the idea must have a good audible component to work on radio - no doubt why they liked your steel drums. If any UK bakers would like to represent "Tire Whistlepig" or "Hair Tug of War" I would be honored. I think either would be good radio. "Pop Rocks of Love" might also, if the show were a Howard Stern sort of deal.-- bungston, Jun 21 2005 If we can have a prank call trying to talk someone at Oxford at opening an Anatomically Correct College Campus, I'll spring for the tickets to the UK :)-- theircompetitor, Jun 21 2005 Let him invent his own bloomin' ideas instead of leeching them off of other people. I hate these 15 minutes of fame type programs where everyone else does all the legwork and the presenter takes all the credit.-- DrBob, Jun 22 2005 My understanding is that Mr Gonflable may be upon the show.That is, if they can intice him down from the studio ceiling.-- skinflaps, Jun 22 2005 At last, finally, the show's about to air. I was beginning to think I'd dreamt the entire thing. It's going to be on Radio 4 this Thursday at 6.30pm. See link above. Non-UK peeps can listen to it over the net at the other link above.
Now if you'll excuse me, fame and fortune awaits. Unless my contribution ended up on the cutting room floor...-- lostdog, Oct 25 2005 Just heard the first episode. Disappointed to note the presence of Richard 'Complete Arse' Madeley - relieved to realize he's only guesting the one show. Sat through an entire episode - too many genetically engineered elephants, not enough Cat Pinball.
Looking forward to your contribution, [dog] - it'll certainly raise the tone!-- moomintroll, Nov 03 2005 [moomintroll] - that was actually the second episode. I was in the first one. My fifteen minutes of fame were edited down to about five seconds in the final cut, but there were a couple of contributors who were edited out entirely, so, as my "witty banter" wasn't up to much anyway, I'm actually quite grateful. My wee brother recorded the show and posted it on his website (me, I forgot to press "record" on my tape deck) so check the link above if you want to hear it.-- lostdog, Nov 05 2005 I heard it - well done +-- xenzag, Nov 08 2005 Update: got an email today from one of the guys from the radio show. A second series has been commissioned, and they're looking for contributors again. As I said before, I had a bloody good time doing it, Dave's a really good bloke, and the green room was full of free beer and fruit. Well worth a shot for the last point alone.
Short, self-contained ideas that get a laugh in the telling of them and that Dave & mystery "chum" can pick up and run with are probably the best ones to submit.
I presume you can just use the link above to contribute stuff, but I'll check that out and let you know. Honestly, it's well worth giving it a try - the doing of it was great fun (if a bit nerve-wracking), but sitting expectantly around the wireless with a few mates (and a good few beers) when it finally aired was a truly surreal experience which I'd recommend to anyone.-- lostdog, Feb 20 2006 Damn - I wished I'd heard some more of those - I think you're a genius.-- Dub, Feb 20 2006 I gave it a shot - nothing to lose, except my IP.-- calum, Feb 21 2006 Man. I wish I could go. I could probably get a good laugh out of some of my ideas. But I live in the middle of the US. <sadness>-- DesertFox, Feb 21 2006 *** Spoilers ***
I had one of my ideas - Contrarian Party - accepted for the show and am just back from my BBC-funded jaunt to That London for the recording of the last episode of the second series. Not much more to report other than that I did have a better guest than lostdog, as it was Armando Iannucci, who is responsible for some of the very best comedy on television in the last 18 years and, if I'm honest, is a bit of a hero of mine. The whole thing was very good fun (free beer!) and, no, I didn't win the genius trophy (which is, now that the show is in its second series, a real trophy). Anyway, it'll be on Radio Four in the autumn sometime.-- calum, Jun 13 2006 Nice one, Calum! It's nice to get some of that license money back, isn't it?
Give us a shout when you know when you're show's going to be aired.
By the way, I was reading Dave's blog, and he mentions that he had a few overseas contributors - anything to do with the HB?-- lostdog, Jun 13 2006 Congrats to our *famous* halfbakers!! Please keep us posted, even if some of us are across the oceans, it's so nice to hear of these things.-- xandram, Jun 13 2006 Dave mentioned that there had been an overseas contributor but I don't think that she was halfbakery related. The way she was described made her sound far too serious for here.
I didn't have the nerve to mention the hb as I had already stunned the primarily middle-aged green room to silence by reeling off the names (with brief appraisals) of every movie made of a video game.-- calum, Jun 13 2006 I was invited to this as a finalist along with the venerable Wagster, in response to one of my submisssions, but have heard nothing since :-(-- xenzag, Jun 13 2006 [calum]: Which ones? Super Mario Brothers - poor; Street Fighter - diabolical; Mortal Kombat - *Fatality*.
Plus Doom, Resident Evil... em any more?-- Jinbish, Jun 13 2006 Missed Doom but I got Tomb Raider. Oh and Mortal Komat II: Electric Boogaloo.
[xenzag], just email whoever it was emailed you in the first place and ask 'whits the scriptoid?' or similar. They'll let you know what happened/will happen.-- calum, Jun 13 2006 Nice work. I'm sure you kicked Gorman's ass.-- Jinbish, Jun 13 2006 //Plus Doom, Resident Evil... em any more?// Final Fantasy of course.-- DrBob, Aug 30 2006 There was a Wing Commander movie, too.-- wiml, Sep 04 2006 In case anyone's interested, my contribution will be in the final show, on 12 October, at half six at night.-- calum, Oct 10 2006 Nicely played, Calum!. I just got it on the listen again feature.-- gnomethang, Oct 13 2006 A third round of Genius is scheduled. Submit your ideas (link) and you could get a lovely free trip to London in the this summer. Visit the Natural History Museum, it's a beautiful building.-- calum, Mar 28 2007 Made it to their short list and then I never heard back from them.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jul 14 2007 Scoop! TV pilot on the way. Sadly not featuring me, but there you go.-- calum, Aug 31 2007 Genius TV Programme starts on Friday, BBC2-- Dub, Mar 18 2009 You know, it could still feature us, and for all i know it does. You just have to go to the BBC website and submit a few of our ideas from here, and some of you would probably get through.-- nineteenthly, Mar 18 2009 They invited me twice, then never sent for me... grrrrr. I always wanted to be a Genius - hangs head in shameful trophy lust.-- xenzag, Mar 18 2009 Congrats all!!
I hereby grant any UK Halfbakers permission to submit any of my own ideas that they might take a hankering to. As if. ;*)-- smendler, Mar 20 2009 Pom-poms of Fury anyone?-- jtp, Mar 20 2009 To be mysterious for a moment, i actually did end up on national telly as a result of an idea posted on here which was neither mine nor mentioned in the programme concerned, but as a consequence of it being put on here. I shall say no more on this subject, except that if you like watching trashy documentaries, you may have seen me without even knowing it.-- nineteenthly, Mar 20 2009 Did you have a corporate tattoo on your bosom? I did see that one. Your dance was sweeeeet! My wife made me delete it from the DVR, though.-- bungston, Mar 20 2009 No, but i _do_ know someone who has a large sunflower tattoo on one breast, so it'd be interesting to see if her breastfed children grow up to buy stuff associated with the appropriate logo.-- nineteenthly, Mar 21 2009 Accidentally watched an episode of the 'Genius' TV show last week. Rather depressingly, the winner was an 'energy from gymnasium' idea. Why do we bother eh?-- DrBob, Feb 15 2010 It's the trickle-down effect. The day will come when dog orreries are mainstream too.-- nineteenthly, Feb 18 2010 It's gone off the boil. There's far better stuff here.-- xenzag, Feb 19 2010 //The day will come when dog orreries are mainstream too.//
And it can't be too far off either, I saw two cups of coffee the other day.-- zen_tom, Feb 19 2010 And wasn't there a conveyer-belt-continuous-duvet idea on here? That's on Genius too.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 20 2010 They had the swimming lanes thing too.-- nineteenthly, Feb 21 2010 I got an email from a client today saying that they were listening to Radio 4 and heard [calum's government name] and recognised my voice from the Genius radio show! A cross between a nice surprise and a near-miss on collision of real and virtual worlds...-- calum, May 09 2024 Can we hear this somewhere C? Do you have a link?-- doctorremulac3, May 10 2024 random, halfbakery