Stick to the Script

About this episode

Rob Broderick aka ‘Abandoman’ grew up surrounded by classic comedies like Laurel and Hardy, and with a teacher mother who inspired his fascination with wordplay. When Rob discovers freestyle rap as a teenager, all these influences coalesce to inspire him to step into the world of stand up comedy. Only Rob doesn’t want to hone a rigid ‘tight ten’ of material. In fact, Rob doesn’t want to prepare anything at all - he steps out on stage and improvises everything - no script whatsoever. Matthew Syed uncovers the remarkable neurological processes that take place when we improvise and allow our inner critic to take a back seat. With contributions from hip-hop musical comedian Rob Broderick (Abandoman); Professor Charles Limb, Chief of Otology, Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco; Professor Keith Sawyer, creativity researcher based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and George Lewis, composer, technologist, musicologist and professor of music at Columbia University. Presenter: Matthew Syed Producer: Vishva Samani Editor: Katherine Godfrey Production Manager: Joe Savage Sound Design and Engineering: Nicholas Alexander Th