Free laughs and celeb spotting

I feel like I have discovered a secret place. One where you can spot celebrities you might actually like, have a good laugh and spend nothing. The wonderful world of which I speak is that of the studio audience member. Despite it being one of the easiest ways to be entertained for nothing, very few people seem to know where to get tickets. Allow me to help.

Since moving to London I have seen a variety of TV shows and radio recordings (generally comedy based) and even saw a Radio recording for BBC Scotland at the Edinburgh Festival this year. The most well known things I have been to are shows like Stand up for the Week and 10 o'clock Live, but some of the best have been lesser known radio recordings for BBC 4 and BBC 7.

I went to see a recording of a show called The Verb for BBC 3, which discusses and debates literary topics. Despite knowing nothing about it I was thoroughly entertained and would highly recommend it. Apart from anything else it was just completely different to anything I had been to. It was also in the beautiful radio theatre at Portland Place, just down the road from Oxford Circus.

One of the best recordings I have been to was So Wrong it’s Right for Radio 4, presented by Charlie Brooker, in an odd little studio near Goodge Street. This was amazing because it featured Sarah Millican, Graham Lineham and Shappi Khorsandi. It was bloody hilarious and the venue had a good bar.

The only thing I would say is that you have to get to these venues early. The studios give out a greater number of tickets than the place can hold meaning you are not guaranteed entry. There is also always a bit of hanging around before you are directed in to your seat. However, it is a really good way to see old and new comedians.

My best advice would be to read the descriptions of shows you haven't heard of because you are more likely to get tickets for them and you might just find the next big thing. I have been on the waiting list for QI for over a year. Sigh.

I am however (hopefully) going to try and see Never Mind the Buzzcocks again tomorrow night. I tried to go a few weeks ago but they forgot to tell us that they had already given 100 tickets away to friends of the production team, severely reducing the number of people they could allow in. I was extremely agitate by this and very ready to shout at people down the phone to get more tickets. None of this was needed however becasue when I explained what had happened, they instantly offered me more tickets for another date. Damn their good manners.

Here are a few of the sites I use and have the best shows (in my opinion)

Applause Store- for a whole host of random shows from Buzzcocks to X Factor to Celebrity Juice.

BBC Audience- This has most of the BBC shows especially radio recordings.

SRO Audiences- This has a lot of chat shows like the Graham Norton show as well as 10 o'clock Live and Countdown.

These are all reliable but there are loads out there such as TVRecordings.com, Lost in TV and Clappers (although on the website it only appears to have tickets for Loose Women but that's your call).

Hope to see you at a recording soon! Although, if I run onto the stage tomorrow night to try and hug Noel Fielding would I be banned? Totally worth it though.