The best new comedies to watch online A dancing chicken breast stops one man getting to the pub on time. A food vlogger’s YouTube outtakes slowly reveal […]

A dancing chicken breast stops one man getting to the pub on time. A food vlogger’s YouTube outtakes slowly reveal disgust for her subject matter. A tender friendship grows between a man called Brian and his homemade robot.

These are all scenarios dreamt up by British comedians and brought to life, not by the BBC, Channel 4 or another big broadcaster, but in a DIY fashion that’s becoming the norm.

With a 2017 Ofcom report labelling BBC comedy “too traditional and risk-averse”, these independent projects could be a refuge for alternative comedy fans.

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“Traditional broadcasters have less money, so there’s less risk. The voices who probably 20 years ago would’ve had their own radio shows and TV shows don’t have a platform”

Charlie Perkins, producer

“Traditional broadcasters, through no fault of their own, [have] less money, so there’s less risk,” says Charlie Perkins, a Development Producer at Blink Industries, a creative studio and production company. “The voices who probably 20 years ago would’ve had their own radio shows and TV shows don’t have a platform.”

Perkins seeks out lesser-known comedians and collaborates with them on experimental shorts. Some, including Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared (a musical series starring three puppet friends, that starts as whimsical comedy and quickly descends into horror) and Year Friends (a surreal 12-part sitcom, each episode loosely based on the month of its release, made by six comedians who took it in turns to write and direct) have gained huge followings online.

“It’s amazing to know that comedy in all its different guises is popular,” she says. “Online, comedians have more creative control [to make] more surreal, unique, interesting, odd, alternative comedy.”

Perkins’ upcoming comedies include an animated series about Sting written by Katy Wix, a long-form TV pilot of Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared, a series with writer Arnab Chanda and a short co-starring Jamie Demetriou and a dancing chicken breast. “Whether it’s one episode or a taster, we’re going to use that to open doors for longer form stuff.”

Naida Redgrave and Hattie Harrison met making a Mumsnet podcast. Neither had experience creating comedy videos, but soon wrote The PTA Page – a glimpse inside the claustrophobic world of a primary school PTA’s Facebook page.

“We weren’t having to second guess what would go down well with audiences, it was more free. In the past few years stuff on TV has been invigorated by the internet”

Liam Williams, comedian/ writer

Redgrave has had scripts developed before, but she and Harrison wanted to be involved with every stage of The PTA Page. “There’s a lot of stuff that started as a web series and then made it to the mainstream, like Insecure and People Just Do Nothing,” says Redgrave. “I’m quite inspired.”

They called in favours to assemble a cast and crew. “The fact that it’s not going to be tweaked at all because we’re going to see it through to the end is exciting,” says Harrison. The series will be released next month.

Liam Williams started making online shorts with sketch group Sheeps in 2011. “There was a growing sense around then that online stuff was a good or necessary route to TV commissions,” he says.

In 2016, a pilot that didn’t work out prompted Williams to create the aforementioned independent series Year Friends. “We [weren’t] having to second guess what would go down well with audiences, it was more free,” he says.

Williams had success in 2017 with Pls Like, which premiered on BBCThree’s YouTube channel and Radio 4 series Ladhood, but is still creating online comedy.

He recently collaborated on a new podcast series Capital – about the civil servants reviving capital punishment following a close-fought referendum – with Charlotte Ritchie (Fresh Meat) and co-writer of Bad Education, Freddy Syborn. Harry Enfield guest starred. Now he and his co-creators are considering how to develop it in 2018.

“In the past few years stuff on TV has been invigorated by the internet,” he says.

Williams’ Year Friends collaborator Jamie Demetriou – who played a toothy lover in Fleabag – started making online comedy at university. He says videos allow him to test ideas, explore characters and stay productive. “It’s a good feeling to know you’ve been proactive and you can keep yourself in people’s periphery through online,” he says.

By 2013, Channel 4 had commissioned Jamie for a series of online comedy shorts or Blaps. One episode, Stath, the story of a hapless estate agent, charmed the broadcaster: “We got the commission to write a pilot script straight after they came out.”

“There isn’t really anywhere for talent to play. The beauty of online stuff is that you can go off and do your own thing [with a] quick turnaround that traditional broadcasters can’t offer”

Rupert Majendie, producer

The full series will air later this year on E4 and, despite five years of development, maintains the vibe of the original online short. “The voice of the character has very much stayed in tact,” he says.

“He’s a very spicy character… [so] it was learning how to surround him with characters that allow him to do what he does best.”

Stand-up and writer Phoebe Walsh also uses the DIY approach to develop ideas. “The first one I did was just me and a friend with a camera,” she says. “It’s like an extension of stand-up, but instead of doing it to a room of 30 people, you can do it to the whole world! You put it out and see if it gets a good reaction.”

Walsh made the web series Furniture (charting a break-up in three scenes on a sofa, table and chair) in 2017 and is about to release Behind the Filter, a project exploring the mechanics of Instagram fame. She has also worked with some of a growing number of small companies that provide the skills and equipment to help comedians make professional-standard productions.

“There are a few companies or groups out there who we feel an affinity with,” says Stuart Laws, a stand-up, who also runs Turtle Canyon Comedy. “That has really kicked off in the past few years, these independent companies, and that’s quite exciting to us.”

Turtle Canyon releases videos in batches every six months, encouraging viewers to settle in and watch the lot. Just released, the winter collection features sketches and short films, alongside two mini-series parodying YouTube reaction videos and ghost hunters. The writers and stars include Ed Gamble, Lou Sanders, Evelyn Mok, Annie McGrath, Suzi Ruffell, James Acaster and Jess Fosteskew.

“The comedians we’re drawn to are the ones who are interested in pushing their comedy in new directions,” Law says. “That independent spirit is exciting.”

While working in traditional comedy broadcasting, Rupert Majendie saw a gap for comedians with this attitude. He set up an online platform, Mr Box. “There isn’t really anywhere for talent to play,” says Majendie. “The beauty of online stuff is that you can go off and do your own thing [with a] quick turnaround that traditional broadcasters can’t offer.”

Mr Box is relaunching with fresh projects in early 2018. Majendie is currently working on episodes of a new series of Overheard – in which comedy duo The Pin provide hysterical fantasy voiceovers to real-life street scenes. He is also developing a short film with Gavin and Stacey’s Mat Horne, a sketch show with duo Tash Demetriou and Ellie White, and videos with Jordan Brookes, Totally Tom and others.

Increasingly, these videos act like pilots, leading to conversations and even commissions for ideas traditional broadcasters were initially reluctant to invest in. Mr Box just released Brian and Charles, about the emotional relationship between a robot and his creator, after the idea had been rejected for a pilot.

“We tried to pitch that to people and they were like: ‘You’re too weird’,” says Majendie. “Now everyone loves it.”