Having developed two hugely successful characters for the stage, Hospital People co-writer Tom Binns found adapting his creations for BBC One something of a challenge.
Describing his stand-up style as "situation comedy", the creator of Ivan Brackenbury and Ian D Montford says: "No-one really does those situations to the extent I do, certainly not on the stand-up comedy circuit. As a result of that, they stand out, they’re different. But when you put a situation comedy on television … it’s suddenly the same as every other situation comedy on television.
"So that was a challenge - taking the situations off stage, where it was different from everyone else, to doing it in an arena where everyone else is doing it.
“That was the biggest challenge for me."
A former presenter on (then Brum-based) Kerrang! Radio and BRMB (where an on-air debacle around the Queen's speech led to a spectacular fall from grace, death threats and international headlines), Binns' inspired hospital radio character, Ivan Brackenbury, has wowed live audiences for over a decade - playing the wrong jingles and grossly inappropriate tunes. He then expanded his repertoire to create New Age psychic Ian D Montford, mastering the skill of cold reading too.
Perfect for television, both took centre stage in BBC One's 2017 Friday night series, Hospital People, along with a range of new Binns characters. Live, Ivan's shows are peppered with a black humour which, clearly, had to be addressed if the character was going to move to BBC One – presenting Binns with another challenge.
"Initially, it might have been a BBC Two thing," says Tom of the series' long gestation from short film to pilot to eventual series. "The taster we did, you wouldn’t know it was a comedy, unless you were paying attention. It’s online somewhere and called still called Hospital People, and it’s directed by a guy called Jason Wingard.
"It’s quite filmic, very realistic, and all the scenes are broken up with real people talking about their lives in a hospital. The line between them and me … you have to concentrate to work it out.
"It won lots of awards and played at film festivals all around the world.
"When BBC One took over, they wanted to make it a broader show, so all that subtlety was axed. They took it, said they loved it, and made a totally different show. But that’s television - you’ve got BBC One on a Friday night, you’ve got to be broad comedy for that audience."
Although the Hospital People hasn't been re-commissioned, it nonetheless pulled in good viewing figures and found new fans for Ivan and company.
"The number of people that really enjoyed it, [who] come up to me ... it’s been really overwhelming."
Now Binns is preparing to take Ivan, his new psychic character, Chris Thomas, and his ventriloquist act, on the road for Everyman - a kind of greatest hits show featuring the “best bits” from his previous live stints. It's the best place to really see Ivan, although the shock of seeing him foul up has been lessened as the character has become better known through Hospital People and guest appearances on 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown.
When Ivan first appeared, audiences were truly shocked!
"One of the most enjoyable things for me in the early days, when no one had seem him or who had a mate who’d seen him, was that first 30 seconds of Ivan on stage, when people look at him and think, ‘Oh for ****sake, what have they put on stage now? I can’t believe this!’ They thought I was him, that he was the act that had been booked - not a character act.
"And that was such a joy ... basically I begin every set I’ve ever done with Ivan with a death … a room full of people going ‘what is this ...?’, then hearing the first gag drop, ‘Oh! Thank god for that!’
"I still get a little bit of that, especially on cruise ships, when people just come along not knowing what they’re seeing. But standards are so high, they wouldn’t really expect a hospital radio DJ on a cruise ship. But if you’re watching comedy in pub somewhere in Sutton Coldfield, or a local comedy club, and a hospital radio DJ comes on … there is a chance that a real hospital radio DJ is trying out a set.
"That was such a pleasure to die every night, but win them back on the first gag."
Tom Binns: Everyman is at The Glee Club, Birmingham, Friday 12 October 2018 as part of Birmingham Comedy Festival. The festival runs from Friday 5 to Sunday 14 October 2018, and features stand-up, improv, theatre, burlesque, sketches, podcasts, music, and much more. Guests include Joanna Lumley, Rich Hall, Robin Ince, Jimeoin, Guz Khan, Scummy Mummies and more. For more information see: www.bhamcomfest.co.uk
Having developed two hugely successful characters for the stage, Hospital People co-writer Tom Binns found adapting his creations for BBC One something of a challenge.
Describing his stand-up style as "situation comedy", the creator of Ivan Brackenbury and Ian D Montford says: "No-one really does those situations to the extent I do, certainly not on the stand-up comedy circuit. As a result of that, they stand out, they’re different. But when you put a situation comedy on television … it’s suddenly the same as every other situation comedy on television.
"So that was a challenge - taking the situations off stage, where it was different from everyone else, to doing it in an arena where everyone else is doing it.
“That was the biggest challenge for me."
A former presenter on (then Brum-based) Kerrang! Radio and BRMB (where an on-air debacle around the Queen's speech led to a spectacular fall from grace, death threats and international headlines), Binns' inspired hospital radio character, Ivan Brackenbury, has wowed live audiences for over a decade - playing the wrong jingles and grossly inappropriate tunes. He then expanded his repertoire to create New Age psychic Ian D Montford, mastering the skill of cold reading too.
Perfect for television, both took centre stage in BBC One's 2017 Friday night series, Hospital People, along with a range of new Binns characters. Live, Ivan's shows are peppered with a black humour which, clearly, had to be addressed if the character was going to move to BBC One – presenting Binns with another challenge.
"Initially, it might have been a BBC Two thing," says Tom of the series' long gestation from short film to pilot to eventual series. "The taster we did, you wouldn’t know it was a comedy, unless you were paying attention. It’s online somewhere and called still called Hospital People, and it’s directed by a guy called Jason Wingard.
"It’s quite filmic, very realistic, and all the scenes are broken up with real people talking about their lives in a hospital. The line between them and me … you have to concentrate to work it out.
"It won lots of awards and played at film festivals all around the world.
"When BBC One took over, they wanted to make it a broader show, so all that subtlety was axed. They took it, said they loved it, and made a totally different show. But that’s television - you’ve got BBC One on a Friday night, you’ve got to be broad comedy for that audience."
Although the Hospital People hasn't been re-commissioned, it nonetheless pulled in good viewing figures and found new fans for Ivan and company.
"The number of people that really enjoyed it, [who] come up to me ... it’s been really overwhelming."
Now Binns is preparing to take Ivan, his new psychic character, Chris Thomas, and his ventriloquist act, on the road for Everyman - a kind of greatest hits show featuring the “best bits” from his previous live stints. It's the best place to really see Ivan, although the shock of seeing him foul up has been lessened as the character has become better known through Hospital People and guest appearances on 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown.
When Ivan first appeared, audiences were truly shocked!
"One of the most enjoyable things for me in the early days, when no one had seem him or who had a mate who’d seen him, was that first 30 seconds of Ivan on stage, when people look at him and think, ‘Oh for ****sake, what have they put on stage now? I can’t believe this!’ They thought I was him, that he was the act that had been booked - not a character act.
"And that was such a joy ... basically I begin every set I’ve ever done with Ivan with a death … a room full of people going ‘what is this ...?’, then hearing the first gag drop, ‘Oh! Thank god for that!’
"I still get a little bit of that, especially on cruise ships, when people just come along not knowing what they’re seeing. But standards are so high, they wouldn’t really expect a hospital radio DJ on a cruise ship. But if you’re watching comedy in pub somewhere in Sutton Coldfield, or a local comedy club, and a hospital radio DJ comes on … there is a chance that a real hospital radio DJ is trying out a set.
"That was such a pleasure to die every night, but win them back on the first gag."
Tom Binns: Everyman is at The Glee Club, Birmingham, Friday 12 October 2018 as part of Birmingham Comedy Festival. The festival runs from Friday 5 to Sunday 14 October 2018, and features stand-up, improv, theatre, burlesque, sketches, podcasts, music, and much more. Guests include Joanna Lumley, Rich Hall, Robin Ince, Jimeoin, Guz Khan, Scummy Mummies and more. For more information see: www.bhamcomfest.co.uk