Thanks UT, looks like fun.
Back when I went to watch
Have I Got News For You being taped I had no idea that 90+ minutes filming was condensed to 30 minutes (at the time). Or that the audience were asked to laugh at a joke again if a line was fluffed or there was a technical issue. We were only asked to respond as we had done previously, but now in the extended version they do show massive rounds of applause if something has had more than one take. It made me see the show as more clever and funny, not less.
The one I went to see was a Christmas edition and Kelvin MacKenzie - then editor of the
The Sun - was a contestant. Some sparks flew between him & Ian Hislop, but he was thoroughly trounced of course. MacKenzie is a smart journalist but Ian is quicker with his wit. He also whinged on more than one occasion about his low fee for appearing. £70. Back then I earned £1.50 an hour as a barmaid. Someone actually heckled him (no idea how usual this was as it was cut out of our programme) "Yeah, well we came here for free, mate!"