May 8, 2009 Back from a slightly bizare recording of Have I Got News for You, hosted by Jack Dee along with Clare Balding and Fred Macaulay.
I was in a bad mood as one of my own guests turned up late, so despite being right at the head of the queue, we ended up with indifferent seating – but at least with a clear view of the stage.
The recording was also about average, although as I have been spoilt by watching the incredible recordings with Tom Baker and Brian Blessed, maybe I am a tad jaded now?
However, the ending was utterly bizare, and it’ll be interesting to see how much is included in the final program.
Without giving too much of a spoiler, there was a standing ovation towards the end as an ironic response to a comment that one set of clapping was indifferent – leading to a round of clapping that, not unlike a Soviet era applause, went on for ages – then lead to the aforementioned standing ovation. Quite weird, and apparently the first time in the entire history of the program that such a thing has happened.
As usual, the recording session at the end was actually the best bit of the show, although they only show a few bits from that on the longer Saturday night version. A comment about Alan Johnson had me nearly scream in delight – although the lawyers also required a comment to be recorded about a certain celeb who presumably would object to something said during the main quiz about his Scottishness.
I’ll look forward to watching the final version to see how the editing was done.
7 Comments 
have i got news for you, hignfy, Ian Hislop, paul merton
As you’ve obviously been to recordings of this before, perhaps you should let people who wanted tickets but couldnt get them because people like you snapped them all up have a chance of going?
Ooooh, have they ever done an episode with both Baker AND Blessed? I’ll bet there’s not a recording studio in London which would survive that.
@Capability: calm down, everyone knows the ticket system sucks. You apply, you *might* get tickets, then when you get there you *might* get in.
@ John – I agree that Tom Baker and Brian Blessed in the same room would be almost dangerous to experience!
@Capability – I have exactly the same chance as anyone else at getting tickets – and indeed have made it easier for other people to get tickets by writing a “Dummies Guide” to how to reserve a place (a posting that gets a lot of traffic from people googling for advice on how to get tickets).
I know. But you’ve been at least twice before. So perhaps let others have the chance?
Over a series, I’d guestimate that something like 15,000 people get to watch the show being recorded live.
I can’t really see how choosing not to go would make any practical difference to anyone else’s chance of getting a ticket.
Can you advise as the length of the recording? Doors open at 6:45 for this series, and we’re wondering when we might get out…
Thanks
It varies depending on the guests – but expect to leave between 10-10:30pm.
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