Sideways - Stick to the Script
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
Theme tune by Ioana Selaru
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4
Featuring archive from Abandoman performing on The Al Porter Show, produced by Kite Entertainment for RTÉ2 and broadcast on 24 December 2015; Abandoman performing on The Deirdre O'Kane Show, produced by Kite Entertainment for Sky One and broadcast in November 2022; and Professor Charles Limb’s personal recording of his 2008 functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study on jazz improvisation.
Published on Wednesday, 29th July 2026.
Available Podcasts from Sideways
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