Channel 4’s new digital channel A Comedy Thing to launch with four fresh shows

Channel 4’s new digital channel A Comedy Thing is to launch with four new unscripted comedies.

The new channel will be managed by Strong Watch Studios, which has produced the first episodes of The Split, The Front Row, Joke Swap, and The Lying Game for it.

Charlie Hyland, digital commissioner at Channel 4, said: “Channel 4 has always been at the forefront of fresh new comedy.

“This new comedy channel is built on a deep understanding of what people love to watch online and where we want to be creatively.

“We’re working with incredible talent, both on and off screen, to create a bold, diverse and brilliantly funny channel and our first shows are an eclectic array of comedy formats.

“From smart, quickfire jokes that grab attention, to longer-form, podcast-style shows where audiences feel part of the conversation, and classic panel shows that continue to resonate, we’re genuinely excited about the range and quality of comedy this new channel will offer.”

The Split will see comedians pair up to decipher what side of a binary line public participants will fall in, while The Front Row will see comedians compete for points by working with a studio audience to find out who they are through a Q&A game.

Joke Swap will see comedians write jokes for ordinary people to deliver, testing whether comedy is all in the delivery, and The Lying Game will see comedians each tell an anecdote about the same randomly selected topic, with their task being to find which two of them are lying.

The shows’ casts will include comedians Vittorio Angelone, Finlay Christie, Olga Koch, Gbemi Oladipo, Micky Overman, Mike Rice and Dan Tiernan.

Thom Gulseven, co-founder of Strong Watch Studios, said: “We couldn’t be happier to be working with Channel 4 and this group of super-talented comedians on this channel, it is a genuinely fresh, exciting approach to how content like this is made.

“We love where digital comedy is at the moment in the UK, and what we’re doing is trying to reflect that brilliant place through a bunch of games that tap into the things that people love on different platforms.

“Part of the joy of the new way we make things is the freedom to respond to the audience, and how ideas evolve, change and grow over time; we’re looking forward to seeing where this channel takes us.”

The new channel comes after the debut of the broadcaster’s food channel Channel 4 Served earlier this year.

A Comedy Thing by Channel 4 will launch on Monday, July 21, on YouTube.