Act Your Age (radio series)
| Genre | Panel game |
|---|---|
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
| Starring |
Simon Mayo Jon Richardson Lucy Porter Roy Walker (Series 1) Adrian Walsh (Series 2) |
| Created by | Ashley Blaker Bill Matthews |
| Produced by | Ashley Blaker Bill Matthews |
| Recording studio | BBC Radio Theatre |
| Original release | 27 November 2008 – 23 February 2010 |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 18 |
| Website | Official website |
Act Your Age is a panel game on BBC Radio 4 hosted by Simon Mayo. The series, created by Ashley Blaker (the original radio producer of Little Britain) and Bill Matthews (co-deviser of They Think It's All Over), was first broadcast on 27 November 2008. The show features three teams of stand-up comedians from different generations: "The Up-And-Comers", featuring younger comedians, captained by Jon Richardson; "The Current Crop", featuring comedians popular at the moment, captained by Lucy Porter; and "The Old Guard", featuring older, veteran comics, captained by Roy Walker, (although in the second series, Adrian Walsh and Johnnie Casson took over for two shows each when Walker was unavailable). Most critics disliked the show. The readers of the British Comedy Guide went as far as voting it the "Worst British Radio Panel Show / Satire 2008".
Each episode begins with each of the contestants telling a joke as a warm-up before the first round. The rounds vary between each episode, but the main rounds consist of the panel on buzzers trying to give the best jokes, with Mayo giving points to whoever he feels gave the best material. Between each of the rounds are a selection of "Head-to-Head" rounds, with two members of different teams trying to tell as many jokes within the shortest time. The winner is the person who talks the least. The final round of the show consists of Mayo giving rapid-fire topics for the panel to make jokes on the spot.
The first series of Act Your Age was disliked by most critics. Chris Campling in The Times wrote of the show that: "Mayo spent more time describing the categories than each comedian had in which to be funny. Luckily the studio audience was in the mood to laugh at everything so proceedings proceeded hastily enough, if confusingly. Away from the studio, though, and stone-cold sober, I can remember laughing only once, and even that was spitefully. It was when Stephen K. Amos said: "If we don't win I'm going to play the race card," and someone else said: "As usual."
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