The Sitcom Trials
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The Sitcom Trials is a stage and TV show devised, produced, and presented by Kev F. Sutherland. Beginning in Bristol in 1999, it showcases new sitcoms and comedy items in a head-to-head format. The audience then vote for the one they like best and only see the ending of the winner.
The Sitcom Trials took place regularly at The Comedy Pub in London from 1999 to 2006. The show was revived in South London in 2007, with a grand final at the Soho Theatre, and will be beginning its new season at the Arts Theatre in Soho in autumn 2008. The Sitcom Trials appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2001, 2002, and 2004. The first TV series was a Carlton production for ITV1/HTV, broadcast live from Bristol over eight weeks in 2003. The first Hollywood Sitcom Trials took place in 2005. The 2007 season of The Sitcom Trials was produced by Declan Hill and Simon Wright.
Performers who have appeared in The Sitcom Trials over the years include Miranda Hart, Gerard Foster, Charity Trimm, Dominic Frisby, Waen Shepherd, Tony Robinson (Baldrick), Laura Solon, James Holmes, Russell Howard, Mark Olver, Aaron Barschak, Emily Lloyd, Danny Robins, Dan Tetsell, Lucy Porter, Nick Ewans, Louisa Gummer, Anne-Marie Draycott, Dan March, Rich Johnston and hundreds more.
Reviews for the show have ranged from the Leicester Mercury's "We were screaming with laughter... move over Friends", through the London Evening Standard's "We're not watching stand-up, we're watching comedy history", to Metro's notorious review of the 2002 Edinburgh Fringe show: "I would happily have voted to have my own eyes gouged out with hot spoons rather than endure another moment."
