As If

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Robin Ince and Brian Cox , which was>co-host of The Infinite monkey cage since 2009

This Week , in the midst of the Corona-Virus-pandemic, The Bbc recorded its first broadcast with a live audience listening At Home . This could be the new normal for radio comedy shows?

"you Can cheer for us, so that we know you're there? This is great! Now you can laugh As If I just said something really hilarious?"

It's Monday evening, and Radio 4 producer Sasha Feachem is Warming Up The Audience before the recording of the science-comedy show

But, The Audience , are in The Bbc radio theatre as we would normally. Instead, we hear a vote on Zoom, a new episode of the program is taken, practical.

For The Next hour or so, it is our job to respond to what the speakers say - starting with a quick sound check, the clap with us see, cheer, and (fake) laughter.

Behaves As If you are a member of a large audience, if you are sitting At Home feels foreign. But there is No Doubt , it brings something we have all missed comedy programs recently - Namely , the atmosphere.

"That was wonderful," presenter Robin Ince says, as the program gets going. "The idea that it applaud a lot of people sitting alone in their house, and all that go in your street" Oh My God , it's 8pm on Thursday already?'"

clockwise from top right: Brian Cox , Alice Roberts , Sarah Parcak , Sara Pascoe and Robin Ince

The Infinite monkey cage is a perfect show, on the test of a virtual audience. is You can imagine, The Show is pleased to be dedicated fans to take part in a recording, which is itself an experiment.

Furthermore, it's not a big disaster, if it works. As the monkey cage is a science program and not only a comedy show, it is not the constant recourse to the laughter, it would be on The Today Show, Dead Ringers , or Only A Minute.

Ince and co-presenter Brian Cox say, the at-home viewers combine the sequence space, the genetics and archeology, in the case of The Guests , such as comedian Sara Pascoe , a biological anthropologist Alice Roberts and archaeologist Sarah Parcak .

And so we are.

The speakers rattle on topics such as Ancient Egypt , undiscovered civilizations in Africa and how much Neanderthal DNA is in humans Today .

All guests will appear on the screen as part of a group, the Zoom meeting with The Audience , appropriately, by a picture of an empty auditorium.

But in all other respects, it is just like a normal episode of The Infinite monkey cage.

As a viewer, we can hear each other's reactions, what the body says, encourages self-to laugh or to clap more.

We can't see each other, so it is not clear how many of us there are. But also a lot with less than 100 people in it is enough to make some much-needed pace and dynamism.

It is unclear when the public will be able to get back in the TV-and radio-recordings

There is only one technical issue to discuss in the whole recording, which comes to Parcak, early erotic Poetry .

"One of my favorite things to do when I teach an archaeology class around Valentine's day is to read ancient Egyptian Love Poetry and you are purple your ears," she laughs.

"It's incredibly erotic, they were extremely expressive of love. They talk about their broken hearts, cheating husbands, the same things that we read Today - it is gorgeous. "

At this point, the producer, Sascha has a fix to stop the recording short, a technical problem with one of The Microphones .

"isn't that typical!", kids Ince. "Just as we get the dirt. Typical BBC, don't you?"

fortunately, the things are back on track and Parcak with a history of some of the earliest recorded pornography.

you can hear The Audience laughs heartily, as she describes, Egyptian papyrus, which featured drawings of dancing lions or cats play on the one hand, and erotic drawings on The Other .

"The Internet is, in essence, Now it is half porn and half of cats that play The Piano ," jokes Pascoe, prompting laughter from the virtual audience.

This recording is The First real attempt by The Bbc to repeat what live uses comedy, how, in front of the Corona-Virus-pandemic.

Some of the comedy programs have struggled to find their usual Momentum recently, including Have I Got news For You and The Graham Norton Show.

While the quality of the writing and the interviews on these past episodes can be as strong as ever, the joke will fall flat when met with The Sound Of Silence .

And so, depending on what is the finished product as once it is edited, Monkey Cage could design one, such as comedy shows will set the tone for The Next couple of months or more.

The episode, which we will visit on Monday will be published as a podcast next week, it will take a little over an hour and will be chopped up to about 30 Minutes .

It is difficult to predict how it will sound in the air. During the recording of the sounds of The Other spectators is relatively quiet in The Mix , in order to drown out the panelists.

But if everything is mixed, the charisma, and The Audience can hear at normal volume, it is likely that The Presence of a lot of, that will make a noticeable difference.

There is No Doubt that the program is better, funnier and more alive with a virtual audience. It's Not Perfect , and certainly not as good as The Real thing. But until some sort of normality again, it works very well, for Now .

As Ince says: "What a strange, Beautiful Thing . We are alone, but we are Together . "

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television, radio, comedy

Source of news: bbc.com