DIGITISER LIVE 2.0 - IT'S HAPPENING!

28/1/2020

We're doing it again! Last year's Digitiser Live was such a success that we're stupidly going to attempt to catch lightning in a bottle a second time. Appropriately, the risk of electrocution is high.

We can't tell you much at the minute - we can't even confirm the date - but what we can tell you is that while there'll be a few changes, it'll once again be themed loosely around retro gaming. We're still awaiting final confirmation from the venue, but we're hoping it'll be held at the same North London arts centre as before, which has decent transport links, and isn't in the scary bit of town.

Whereas the first Digi Live used Digitiser The Show as its springboard, this year's event will take its cue from the current format of the Digitiser YouTube channel. Having learned a lot from last year, Gannon, Sanja and I hope to invite a stellar array of special guests to join us in the chaos, with the aim of topping the first one in terms of scale and absurdity.

We're also talking about holding another Chunky Fringe during the day leading up to the live show, again with the assistance of last year's organisers David Walford and Chris Bell. We also know that for many of you it was a uniquely special social gathering, so we're hoping to make more of that aspect if possible.

Already many of you have volunteered your services, but right now we're not looking for help. We're still putting the show together, so don't even know all the details ourselves. Rest assured, if we need volunteers... we'll ask.

Tickets will be going on sale soon, but, for now, this is a chance for you to discuss the new live show in the comments. Tell us what you want from the event. Who you'd like to see there. What you enjoyed about the first one. And so on and so forth.

35 Comments

Matthew Scott

28/1/2020 10:40:23 am

To be honest Paul, I don't think I could come up with any ideas that wouldn't instantly be bettered by yours! I trust you completely to (over) deliver a night we will not forget in a hurry! I still have nightmares... erm, "fond memories" of the first one! :-)

I think the whole day with the CF and meeting people made for such a lovely atmosphere at the main event; I'm glad that this looks to be on the cards again.

So looking forward to this; the previous was the highlight of my year.

Cheerio squire!
Matt

TheFitcher

28/1/2020 10:49:41 am

The easy answer is "more of the same" really! I know the video sections are probably a massive pain to edit but they were a highlight, especially the Man's Daddy joke-along and the opening Bronk tribute.

The games were fun, no doubt you'll do more of those without any suggestions needed. More general insanity and surprises. Odd little asides like the Even More Beautiful Boy were fun, it obviously takes more organising but as an audience member being kept on your toes was great. I appreciate there have to be some lulls for people to catch their breath, but a barrage of randomness is very digi and I think the weirder bits worked the best.

Mr Biffo

28/1/2020 11:00:13 am

Worry not - we'll be doing more of the video sections (gives us a chance to get ready for the next section, and we get a breather). And yes - there'll be lots more random surprises. LOTS MORE. Having seen what worked, we're going to go all-out with this one!

Wapojif

28/1/2020 10:50:00 am

I got a ticket but couldn't attend the 2019 one, unfortunately, so will deffo aim for it this time. And seeing as I wasn't at the last one I can't offer feedback on the experience. But free sandwiches are a must. On brown bread, with the crusts on. Cheers.

I also feel a red carpet leading into the venue will make me feel pretty smug about myself upon arrival.

Mr.S

28/1/2020 10:53:48 am

You could always attempt to build a new Beanus by soaking Gannon in a bean bath in the hope he transforms

The King of Porridge

28/1/2020 11:29:09 am

Great news! Really loved the first one, i didn't check out the chunky Fringe much, but wish i did so will be great to do it next time.

Make sure the security is tighter and enforced this time to keep the nutters away from you guys :)

28/1/2020 11:35:17 am

We're not so worried about us, but we will do what we can to keep you lot safe. That said, we aim to start and finish earlier and structure the post-show mingling a bit better so we have the chance to meet everyone, and it's less of a free-for-all.

Jim link

28/1/2020 01:18:15 pm

Never got to go to the first one, but saw it all on YouTube, so looking forward to it. But It'll be sad with no Sarah or Larry this time.

28/1/2020 01:23:18 pm

It's early days, but you never know - Larry may pop up on stage. However, Octav1us does want to move on from Digi, but we'll be ensuring plenty of other special guests.

Jim

28/1/2020 02:29:20 pm

That's terrible to hear about Octavius, But I hope that happens with Larry, He got some of the biggest laughs there last time. Totally miss them from the weekly episodes. The trio episodes were my favorites.

28/1/2020 02:53:57 pm

Calm yourself, Jim! There nothing terrible about it! No bad blood or anything with Octav1us at all. She's open to coming on and doing guest spots, and she wants me over on her channel at some point.

At the same time, I'm keen to put some distance between Digi The Show and the channel as a whole, for a variety of reasons (some of which I've outlined in the updated FAQ, link above). The series seemed to cast a long shadow, even though it was only six eps, and in some eyes it sort of started to overshadow the quarter-of-a-decade of Digi that came before, if that makes sense.

As your reaction to Larry and Octav1us being less involved rather reaffirms! I kinda need to reclaim it as mine, even if that means we lose a few pairs of eyes.

I think for some people the line was becoming blurred between whether Digitiser meant Mr Biffo and Digi's long history of absurd characters... or whether it meant Larry and Octav1us - plus others. They'll be back, but I need to send a clear signal that there's not an automatic guarantee they'll be involved.

Candidly, the more personalities involved, the more complex and headache-inducing - and, for that matter, expensive (putting people up in hotels, paying for travel etc.) - making the weekly episodes becomes. For live events multiply that by five..

But rest assured, we will pull out all stops to make this live show one that people will never forget.

28/1/2020 03:25:29 pm

"As your reaction to Larry and Octav1us being less involved rather reaffirms! I kinda need to reclaim it as mine, even if that means we lose a few pairs of eyes. "

How does that work? Gannon is the main host of the show and you're second fiddle to your own creation as a result. So to actually reclaim the show you'd need to go solo, it just comes across as nepoticious and hypocritical.

Not getting at you or bashing anyone's great work. But it feels unfair.

28/1/2020 03:27:30 pm

"I think for some people the line was becoming blurred between whether Digitiser meant Mr Biffo and Digi's long history of absurd characters... or whether it meant Larry and Octav1us - plus others."

Why can't it be both? You have the opportunity to make two big things here. Things evolve. not devolve.

28/1/2020 04:15:03 pm

Well, uh... Gannon isn't the main host, Jim. There isn't a main host, though generally... I'll be in every vid, and Gannon will be in most vids. He's just got a bigger gob than me, which I'm more than happy about! If he overshadows me... fine. I'm not, by trade, a performer like he is. But surely adding more people back into the mix risks overshadowing me even more? Not sure what your point is.

Thing is, regardless of what happens on-screen... anything that appears on my channel I'll still be the creative force behind because... it's my channel. I literally own the Digitiser trademark. And I edit every episode, I decide what's going to be in them, etc. etc. I'm just not as much of an on-screen show-off as Gannon is!

Not sure how any of that equates to it being nepotistic or where hypocrisy comes into it. I mean, would it be fair to call you nepotistic or a hypocrite if I wanted to come and, I dunno, play in your garage, and you wouldn't let me?

As for it being unfair... not sure who you mean it's unfair towards, given that Octav1us doesn't want to do it anymore (which we completely understand), and neither does Jenny.

As as for anything or anyone else, we have good reasons for moving forwards this way, not all of which I'm going to speak about, and some of which I have already spoken about.

What it boils down to is six episodes of Digitiser The Show versus 10 years of Digitiser, versus 10 episodes of Mr Biffo's Found Footage, versus a year of the Digitiser Minis, mostly with me and Gannon - and those Minis will continue to evolve over the coming year with more ambitious episodes, location filming, and the like.

We've more guests coming on, who I want to make space for, I want my wife Sanja more involved on-screen... and so on. We learned on Digitiser the Show that the more hosts you have the more complicated it becomes.

And as for you asking how it works with your statement reaffirming our decision is this: you seem to think that certain people are entitled to be involved with Digitiser when their actual involvement in it, over the entirety of Digi's lifespan, is pretty much limited to a handful of eps.

As brilliant as they might have been, and as appreciative as I am of their involvement in that series, and the Minis they appeared in.

The way the channel is going - and what we have planned - is, in every sense, the evolution you speak of, just not in a way that's to your liking, clearly.

Which is fine, and I'm sorry about that, but as I say... and putting it delicately, we've got extremely good reasons for doing things this way, some of which are out of our control, and some of which are decisions we kind of had our hand forced over. You're not party to everything that has happened behind the scenes, and never will you be.

Plus Larry and Octav1us and Jenny all have channels where they release their own content, so it's not like Digi was the only place you have access to them. Why am I the only one being told I who I should have on my channel?

Ultimately, Digitiser is mine to do with what I want, and I have to be enjoying it otherwise there's no point, even though I know we could be doing things that would get us more views. It's not my job, so stress-free creative fulfilment comes first over anything else.

B3tan_Tyronne

28/1/2020 02:30:11 pm

Like others have said, more of the same as I was fortunate to be there for the whole day at the last Digi live and loved it.
Dunno how you are going to top The Braben song but I am sure yow will...Maybe some new Goujon John? :)

PixelGuff

28/1/2020 03:50:20 pm

All I can ask is that it's fully bonkers and I get to raid all the ale from Morrisons and drink it in the sun in the car park.

Sedric-and-Charlie

28/1/2020 04:11:54 pm

If I could make one suggestion...

GUNPLAY WITH GUNPEI: Using a ouija board, the Digitiser team summon the spirit of the late Gunpei Yokoi, then challenge him at a selection of classic lightgun games and/or duelling with actual live firearms

Treacle

28/1/2020 04:28:10 pm

If you want to charge a couple of quid more for tickets I wouldn't object as I feel bad thinking that you could end up out of pocket.

28/1/2020 04:37:33 pm

Thanks, Treac. Much appreciated. We won't take the piss, but we are going to charge a little more this time, because we did lose a ton last time. Plus we want to help pay for Chunky Fringe, which last time all came out of David Walford's pocket. We'll plough it all back into the production but try carefully not to go over budget! We also hope to have some special one-off march on sale too.

King of Sass

28/1/2020 04:42:20 pm

Same, so there'll be at least the two of us there if the price goes up. Ten pounds for an all-day event last time really was the sweetest of deals.

28/1/2020 04:35:53 pm

Very much looking forward to this, thank you for putting it on again. Do you think the panels will be happening again, at the earlier event? I found those really interesting, and found it quite amazing that an entire room was filled with people who had the same obscure interest as me. The speakers were truly legends of the Teletext scene so I am grateful for the opportunity to have heard them share their experiences.

Come to think of it, what happened to the Mega-Zine people? I always thought that page was sort-of-vaguely-similar-in-tone to Digitiser.

28/1/2020 04:55:16 pm

Yup - panels are being planned as we speak, Sass. Hoping I'll have time to be on at least one of them now!

NIkki

28/1/2020 05:14:53 pm

If you own the digi trademark, you could release a series of action figures based on digi people and characters. The Man's Daddy could have a button you press to make him tell a comedy joke, and the Mr Biffo figure could lay a variety of coloured eggs.

This has nothing to do with digi live. I just wanted to say it.

Alex

28/1/2020 05:31:15 pm

I'm most looking forward to seeing Beanus and him hopefully signing my girlfriends Beanus tattoo.

It's going to be a wild night!

Starbuck

28/1/2020 09:37:49 pm

I want there to be a blue wall. And barrels. And a Roaming Thomas. And Stuart N Hardy.

Adam

28/1/2020 09:56:32 pm

Delighted this is happening. It was genuinely the best day I had last year.

Sad to read about Octav1us choosing to step back, her song last year was really quite touching. Good luck to her though, I know she has her own thing going on.

Regarding tickets, when I was in the queue to get in last year, the whole system of checking everyone's name off on clipboards was taking so long that the decision was taken at a certain point (I literally heard the staff say it) just to 'let everyone in'. Bearing in mind that there are some 'elements' that you hope to keep out this time around, you might need to ensure the ticketing is done rather differently to last year!

As for the price, I'm pleased to see that some of the ticket cost will go towards Chunky Fringe. I told David Walford's (splendid) dad last year that they should do some sort of fund-raising to pay for it if it happened again, as David was paying for the whole thing and it really was an event I would have happily coughed up money for. It complemented Digi Live perfectly, and was a real highlight. In the year that broadcast text services are finally (disgracefully, in my opinion) ending (this Friday, no less), a celebration of the medium is always welcome. If David's reading this, a panel with Hairs and other ex-Digi writers would be interesting, as would one with Peter Kwan talking about his Teefax service, which I may have to look into setting up myself after the BBC shuts it all down on Friday. I didn't vote for Textit, etc...

Anyway, roll on Digi Live 2020! Someone save me a seat!

28/1/2020 10:36:12 pm

Cheers, Adam. We're going to be issuing tickets, hopefully, this time, because of what happened on the door before. Having never done an event of that size we had no idea it'd be such chaos. Suffice to say, lesson's learned!

As for Octav1us... we've spoken this afternoon, and we're all hoping she'll be a part of the show in some capacity. Stay tuned. But stay optimistic.

28/1/2020 11:12:31 pm

Hooray!

David W

29/1/2020 10:04:24 am

Hi Adam,

Thanks for the kind words about Chunky Fringe. Chris Bell was the one who arranged the excellent teletext and Digitiser panels, so there will be more this year. Probably only one combined panel this time though, because we don't want to cover too much old ground, which also leaves a slot free for something a little different...

Mr Hairs did indeed join the Digitiser panel last year. It would be great to have him back again, together with any other former Digi staff and contributors who are available. I hope Peter Kwan will be back too, but in the meantime, he's very approachable on Twitter and such places, as are the rest of the teletext scene. Peter has also confirmed his attendance at Block Party 2020 in Cheltenham - details below if you're interested:

https://www.arbitraryfiles.com/events/bp20/index.html

I'm happy to sponsor the room hire for Chunky Fringe again this year, so money isn't an issue at the moment. However, many people like yourself were kind enough to offer donations last time, so I will have a chat with Mr Biffo to see if we can funnel such generosity into more community events in the longer term.

Without wanting to downplay the distress caused by one person last year, they were one out of hundreds, many of whom were alert and ready if that person's behaviour ever turned from sad to dangerous. It didn't, thankfully, though that possibility is why I fully support any plans that Mr Biffo has for official security this year. However, I have personally felt far more comfortable at Digitiser gatherings than most public events of a similar size, for what it's worth.

Thank you again for the feedback - it's all good for making Chunky Fringe an even better shambles this year!

Sanja Rose

29/1/2020 11:19:35 am

Hi Adam, yes the ticketing system is one thing that we are thinking about very carefully this time.

Last time, most of the attendees were Kickstarter backers who didn't need a ticket, as their name was on a massive guest list (their Kickstarter pledge was a seat or two at the show and the original plan was to only have Kickstarter backer there).

But then when we changed plans, booked a bigger venue and opened up seats to everyone, it meant we also had people mixed in who had purchased a ticket, so it all got a bit chaotic!

This time, without Kickstarter involved, the event shall be 100% ticketed, so hopefully this will be mean a faster system of entry!

Sam

28/1/2020 10:07:44 pm

Big hype! We love your nonsense!

Steve

29/1/2020 05:14:32 am

As long as Beanus appears and Gannon somehow gets blasted with baked beans, i'm sure the show will be fantastic.

29/1/2020 09:12:59 pm

Further to my comments above, the BBC has decided to keep its text services running for a while longer, postponing this Friday's shutdown! Hooray!

If there are other Digi readers who still use this service as much as I do, maybe drop a line to the Beeb and tell them how much you value it - they just might keep it running!

Robin

29/1/2020 09:22:57 pm

The only thing I would say is that it would be great to keep the timing more under control, and maybe start the whole thing earlier. I don't want to come off as negative as it was a great day last time and far be it from me to complain about more of it, but the problem was that I was one of the people who had to get a late train home after, and the show itself ran SO much later than was scheduled. It meant I spent the last 30 minutes or so only half watching it and half looking at my watch to calculate whether I was going to have to run before it ended. In the end I caught the finale but had to dash out straight after, thus missing the social stuff at the end which was a big part of what I had been looking forward to. I had my copy of "Confessions of a Chatroom Freak" with me which I had been hoping to get Mr B to sign but never got the chance. Much as I enjoyed the day I left feeling that it ended on a slightly sour note.

Birch Vand

1/2/2020 03:30:53 pm

Can't wait for this, I can definitely make 25th July! Regarding who's going to be in the show, it'll be great whoever is in it; to paraphrase Mark E Smith: "If it's Mr Biffo and your gran on bongos, it's Digitiser!"

DIGITISER LIVE 2.0 - IT'S HAPPENING!

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