Well, what a year it has been – it has definitely been our biggest and best one yet and I feel like we have come so far since I wrote a birthday message this time last year!! Just to give you an understanding of how big we have actually got in the past year – this time last year I was surprised that I had written nearly 1,000 articles in 2 years – well push forward to now and I have written just under a 1,000 IN A YEAR!! That is not even including the articles written by our other contributors!

Yes this year we have really grown as a site – we have been lucky enough to interview some of the greatest improv acts around the UK and even some of the most interesting ones in different countries as well. We have even changed from a WordPress website address to a .com! Yes this yeah really has been one that has seen us rise from strength to strength. Along the way this year we have gained some fantastic writers as well – Mariana from C3?, Karam our film Critic, Jay who gives us an insight into the Oxford comedy scene and Kieran who wrote a Sci Fi story for us. We have also created partnerships with Hoopla, John Egan and Spontaneous Wrecks.

This year really has been so much fun and I am so thankful to you readers for reading our articles and continuing to stick with us! We are hoping year 3 will be Bigger and Better and provide you with even more great interviews and content!

So in ‘True Phoenix Remix Tradition” here is a run down of 10 of our favourite articles from the past year!

1  INTERVIEW: John Egan, Milwaukee Comedy Festival

Date Posted: 2nd August 2017

Link To Blog Post: https://thephoenixremix.com/2017/08/02/interview-john-egan-milwaukee-comedy-festival/

Reason for blog post: Back in summer last year, I decided to take The Phoenix Remix Internationally and approach an American comedy festival to see if I could get some interviews from Comedians and Improvisers. This lead to a lot of great interviews and the collaboration project between us and John Egan – who is not only a comedian but also has a great YouTube Channel where he tries all the weird and wonderful snacks of the USA (The Taste of States) Here is the initial interview.

2 INTERVIEW: A WEEK OF STEVE – short films, Virtual Reality and conquering the U.K….

Date Posted: 8th September 2017 

Link To Blog Post: https://thephoenixremix.com/2017/09/08/interview-a-week-of-steve-short-films-virtual-reality-and-conquering-the-u-k/

Reason for blog post: One of my favourite Improvisers to interview is Steve Roe because he is always up for a laugh and always loves answering any sort of question you throw at him. In September, before the new Improv season started, I sat down with the Head of Hoopla Impro, Steve Roe for a trio of interviews.

3 Comedy Book Corner – Classic Scrapes, James Acaster

Date Posted: 31st October 2017 

Link To Blog Post: https://thephoenixremix.com/2017/10/31/comedy-book-corner-classic-scrapes-james-acaster-%EF%BB%BF/

Reason for blog post: One thing I really enjoy doing for this site is writing about books. I love reading and having the opportunity and space to write about how I found a book was. This I found was one of my favourite books to write about as it is definitely one of the funniest I have read in a while.

4  Improv Diaries – Lots of arms and new members [Case Study Lee Simpson]

Date Posted: 27th November 2017

Link To Blog Post: https://thephoenixremix.com/2017/11/27/improv-diaries-lots-of-arms-and-new-members-case-study-lee-simpson/

Reason for blog post: Out of all of the artciles I have written in the past year, I must admit, this probably isn’t the most exciting in regards to what I have learnt as an improviser through rehearsals or lessons. HOWEVER, saying that, it is a moment in my life that marks a change and a huge inspiration. It was the first time that I saw improviser Lee Simpson perform live and it completely opened my mind up in to how and what can be done in the word of improvising. He is a phenominal Improviser and seeing him perform a whole 10 minute soloprov piece in poetry was truly outstanding.

5 Taste Of States With John Egan – This Week – Burger King Mac n’ Cheetos

Date Posted: 26th December 2017

Link To Blog Post: https://thephoenixremix.com/2017/12/26/taste-of-states-with-john-egan-this-week-burger-king-mac-n-cheetos/

Reason for blog post: If there is one article I really enjoy writing then it is Taste Of States With John Egan. There is so many wonderful weird and wacky foods and snacks in America that we do no have in the UK that it is fun to actually write and research about and John is so good at doing reviews of everything that it makes it very fun to write about when you have a persons first hand review to go with it as well. This article about the Burger King Mac N Cheetos reall made an impact over here and I have had a few conversations with people about this product. They never knew it existed until they read The Phoenix Remix and that was the aim of the segment!

6  Lost In Music – A Song That Makes You Happy

Date Posted: 1st January 2018

Link To Blog Post: https://thephoenixremix.com/2018/01/01/lost-in-music-a-song-that-makes-you-happy/

Reason for blog post: At the beginning of the year, we always like to start it with something new and different for a feature and this time around we decided to write about 31 different songs that have had an impact on my life. I came across a month music challenge on Pinterest and felt it would make a great excuse for an article so that is exactly what I did. I felt it was a really fun article to write as music is really important to me and also it was a way for people to explore new music song by song instead of just one at a time. If you want to listen or see all the music chosen then you can by clicking here

7  INTERVIEW/ SHOW OF THE WEEK: The Da Vinci Toad, Damp Knight Comedy, The Maltings, Berwick-upon-Tweed

Date Posted: 12th February 2018

Link To Blog Post: https://thephoenixremix.com/2018/02/12/interview-show-of-the-week-the-da-vinci-toad-damp-knight-comedy-the-maltings-berwick-upon-tweed/

Reason for blog post: One of the main aims that I had going into 2018 was to expand on our improv promotion and reach out to different areas of the UK to give them some air time to promote the shows that they have going on. There are so many places in the UK that do improv – both shows and training that I felt it was important to reach out to some different troupes and to find out more about the shows they are performing and what styles and formats they have to offer. Damp Knight Comedy are always fun to interview and they were one of the first groups we interviewed in a new location. It is great to learn more about the improv scene in Berwick Upon Tweed because before this interview I did not know it existed which is also true to many others as well!

8 INTERVIEW – Forgotton Pop Special – The Moffatts

Date Posted: 2nd February 2018

Link To Blog Post: https://thephoenixremix.com/2018/02/02/interview-forgotton-pop-special-the-moffatts/

Reason for blog post: One of the most satisfying and exciting things to happen this year was an interview that happened off the back of our regular article Forgotten Pop! I never thought that a band I wrote about would read an article and then ask me for an interview! It was great to have an interview with a band we had written about to promote their new music.

9 Podcast Month – INTERVIEW – Two In The Think Tank

Date Posted: 18th March 2018 

Link To Blog Post: https://thephoenixremix.com/2018/03/18/podcast-month-interview-two-in-the-think-tank/

Reason for blog post: This year we interviewed a number of different comedy based podcasts and they ranged from improv to sketch. We also went international as well interviewing podcasts in countries such as United State of America. It also lead to our first ever Australian interview with this sketch group and they were great fun and interesting to talk to.

10  The Travel Book – The Fun With Signs

Date Posted: 12th April 2018 

Link To Blog Post: https://thephoenixremix.com/2018/04/12/the-travel-book-the-fun-with-signs/

Reason for blog post: This year has been the year of travel and the articles under the name The Travel Book have been some of our most popular articles. I really enjoy writing them and it looks like you guys really enjoy reading them so thats always great to read comments and things. This article in particular I loved writing because to me road signs really make up a place and it was fun to share my adventures.