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Shy Baby

A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation

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Shy Baby

By: Gary Ogin
Narrated by: Alex Tregear, Polly Barsby, Stuart McLoughlin
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A BBC Radio 4 comedy exploring the crippling effects of acute social anxiety on work, hopes and relationships, starring Stuart McLoughlin. 'Shy Baby' was originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 17 Mar 2011. Lionel Stillman has a new job, a girlfriend he thinks he loves, and a secret ambition - to be a stand-up comic. But he also has a problem. People make him nervous. As Lionel stumbles from bad date with Emma to bad first day at a call centre, he struggles with an inner voice telling him he's boring and useless – 'or just plain weird'. At first, Emma thinks he's attractively shy. Then she decides he's a drinker. But Lionel does have friends. At a weekly support group his fellow sufferers Simon, Max and Rosie uncover his ambition to be a comic and encourage him to take it further by setting a challenge: to perform in a comedy club. As the night approaches, the idea seems ludicrous. How can a man who can't bring himself to meet his girlfriend's parents stand up and perform in front of a raucous pub crowd? Rosie holds the key. 'Shy Baby' features Stuart McLoughlin as Lionel, Alex Tregear as Rosie, and Polly Barsby as Emma. The play was researched with the help of Social Anxiety support groups in London and Bristol. Entertainment & Performing Arts Literature & Fiction
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That this place should be used as a source of breaking down stigma to people who struggle in social situations There is nothing I dislike about this title in fact it describes how I feel in social circles with being blind it's hard to know whether people are joking with me or being serious and I find that really hard and when people tell me that they are joking I have taken them seriously I feel that I have failed in their rise each time I feel that I have failed, I feel that I am stupid, and think that who wants to be either my girlfriend, wife, or otherwise. This isn't that to seek pity, this is about being honest about how I feel and when listening to this play, it makes me feel but I am in a similar situation to Lionel, only Lionel being cited and I am being blind. I'd like to express that whoever reads this review, but no offence has been taken and I would like you to understand

Social struggle due to blindness

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An entertaining mix of laughs and insight that made me smile and think simultaneously. Great stuff. More please.

Thoughtful Comedy Comes To Audible

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