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Here at ´óÏó´«Ã½ Comedy we don't just make programmes for radio and TV. For the last 18 months or so we've also been producing original content exclusively for the web.

We've been working with a wide variety of people from familiar faces - like Adam Buxton and Simon Day - to emerging comedy talent - like Jason Lewis and Idiots of Ants - and putting the results up on the website as Web Exclusives.

That's not going to stop, but we've also started doing something new, under the name Spout.

Spout is a new initiative to create more original comedy reacting to what's happening in the real world and also what's "trending" on the internet at large.

We'll be playing it fast and loose, producing material on a quick turnaround basis with help from a whole bunch of up-and-coming writers and performers. Every week there will be fresh Spout content - stuff to watch, stuff to read, and maybe even stuff to smell (though we're having some technical problems with that at the moment).

Each week we'll challenge our writers to come up with ideas and sketches inspired by a list of topics and stories that seem to be red hot right now.

We're already at it

I've recently joined the team as Spout's script editor (I previously worked with Comedy Online as co-writer of Henry 8.0) to whip the most promising ideas into shape before they get made - either by our in-house production team or by the authors themselves, some of whom are self-contained web production ninjas.

For instance, we recently made this sketch to coincide with the national release of The Social Network, based on a script sent in by one of the writers:

And we fuelled the FIFA 11 vs PES 2011 debate with this blog entry the week the latest versions of these footie console games were released.

As well as working with our writer's list, we've also given pocket-sized digital video cameras to some of our favourite comedians, who we can call on at a moment's notice to make a video about pretty much anything that takes our fancy.

For instance, Holly Walsh made this for us as the first Chilean miners emerged blinking into the sunlight:

We hope you'll enjoy a lot of what comes out of Spout, but you might hate a few things too, and we're okay with that. Producing topical comedy is like trying to hit a moving target and we won't always hit the bull. But we're very excited about the possibilities, and things will probably mutate along the way anyway, just like a good meme*.

If things are ever getting too raw and unpredictable for you, we have created the following Safety Button which will immediately return you to a calm and more familiar place:

[ESCAPE TO SAFETY]

We love getting your feedback, so please let us know what you think of Spout, and if you've made - or just spotted - something on the web you think we should see, please get in touch. Part of the Spout spirit is about opening ourselves up to contributions from a wide variety of people so who knows, if you send us something we like, you might well end up on our list of go-to writers…

See you again soon!

* for the uninitiated, a meme is an idea that catches the imagination of the internet at large and spawns many copies and variations. Classic examples include: Lolcats, Rickrolling and Star Wars Kid.