"Bob Shivery, come on down!"

I know how hard it is to make comedy look easy -- the reliance on and toying with convention, the meticulous set up, the split-second timing behind a good larf. Comedy is pretty darn tricky. In the end, you write what amuses you and hope that the audience comes along for the ride.

The Bob Shivery Show has no shortage of over-the-top antics, crazy adventures, sight gags, corny puns, throwaway lines, and quirky situations (yes, "quirky" is a word I've gotten used to; I hear it a lot). But I've tried to give the play a heart, the essence of the story being, as Frank says in an earlier version, "dream big, risk big."

As a lifelong student of comedy, I've thrown a good few shout-outs to my comic influences into the Shivery mix: Loony Tunes, Popeye, Walt Disney (the irascible Donald Duck was always a favourite), Ethel Merman, Billy Wilder, Batman, Get Smart, etc.

So there you have it, The Bob Shivery Show is, as a colleague described it, "a fantasy adventure romantic comedy." Oh, and don't forget quiz shows - they're good for a few yuks for sure.