Welcome to Glamour's new weekly column, How I Got My Job, featuring one woman with an amazing job, and the real route to get it. Looking for career inspo? For this week's instalment, comedy writer Christine Rose shares her CV...
Who? Christine Rose, 35.
What? Freelance comedy writer who has written scripts for the UK's top comedians, including Alan Carr, Graham Norton, Jonathan Ross and Jimmy Carr.
The CV:
Education: Sociology and Media, City University LondonMy degree is so unrelated to my career that I may as well have studied potpourri! At the time I didn't know there was such a thing as a 'comedy writer' - I knew people did stand-up, but that was it. My plan was to work in TV.
1999: Runner, Static 2358This was the reality of getting a TV job: apply for loads and get a 10% response rate, all no. So I had to find a different route in. I managed to get a runner job at a company that made idents (moving logos) for C4. I got very good at making tea.
2000-2005: Production assistant, rising to channel editor, PlayJamPlayJam is an interactive channel where people play games on their TV using a remote control. I rose from production assistant to channel editor, where my role was to think of names for the games and write on-screen text. It had to be funny, but we had hardly any text, so I learnt to be amusing in about 12 words.
2006: Part-time writer, 8 Out Of 10 CatsRedundancies were being made at PlayJam, so I took a pay-off - but had no idea where to go. A friend at a TV production company tipped me off that they were doing try-outs for writers on 8 Out Of 10 Cats. They liked my stuff, and one day a week they'd send me questions to write comebacks to.
2007: Freelance comedy writer, 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Never Mind The BuzzcocksI decided to give freelance writing a go: I had some redundancy money left and wanted to say I'd tried. I remember the first time I got invited into Jimmy Carr's writing room. Jimmy, Frankie Boyle and Charlie Brooker were brainstorming: I plucked up the courage to suggest a joke and it got a nob. A nod is good. The worst thing is to stay quiet and let fear creep in. If a joke bombs, just move on.
The longer I did 8 Out Of 10 Cats, the more people noticed 'that girl'. It wasn't meant in a derogatory way, people just assumed I'd be male. But being a woman doesn't mean you can't write jokes for a man - if a joke is funny, it's funny. My highlight was writing forHave I Got News For You. It seemed so out of reach, but I did it.
2012-present: Freelance comedy writer, Alan Carr: Chatty Man, The Graham Norton Show, The Sarah Millican Show, Have I Got News For You, 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does CountdownPeople are still surprised that comics don't write all of their own jokes on TV, but a show like Chatty Man takes over two hours to record - so that's an hour's worth of jokes you don't see on TV. There'll always be a need for good comedy writers - male and female.
Christine's Life LessonsJust because more men do it, doesn't mean you can't. Comedy is very male, but it's an industry that wants fresh voices.
Be brave. I turned down a great role at Sony when I was only writing comedy one day a week. But that one day was enough to know I had to follow that career.
Ask for feedback. I did this with the serious producer at 8 Out Of 10 Cats: they looked at my material and said, yes, no or never. Brutal but helful.
Practise. Give yourself challenges - for example, today I'll write ten topical jokes.
Send your jokes in to TV shows. People do get jobs that way: no TV show has ever had too many jokes.
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