Well, you are not going to believe the consequences for the podcast when Mr b insists on using a Japanese keyboard to run the show.

Mr b is a great believer in ‘science’ and thinks mathematics is beautiful. This, always, makes Jim a mite peevish.

Jim is also concerned. Just that. Jim is always concerned. This is due to Mr b and his experiments. Mr b is always searching for a new, more thrilling, button.

So, what happens? I’ll tell you. In this episode Jelly Trumpet must survive a most hazardous location, a place full of mystery, a land that time doesn’t know. That’s right! A Japanese computer game. Survival. That’s the game for our Mr b, Jim and Queen Eleanor.

Wil they survive?

Of course, silly. This is a series. BUT will they get back to St Albans…unscathed?

You can listen to the sample of the episode on this page or popover to your streaming platform of choice and search for ‘Jelly Trumpet’.

Time to dive into the silly, surreal and odd world of Jelly Trumpet. It’s not for the feint of heart or those with a closed mind, o’ and we have some great music from the house band ‘We Paint Houses.’

Stuff We’ll Hear in this Episode:

• How Queen Eleanor manages to have a fanfare wherever she visits?
• The crew taking on the dangers of Danganronpa, a Japanese computer game
• Why the Queen likes to ride Nigel, the St Bernard dog sized squirrel
• The Challenge at Home for you to try
• Mary, ‘The Entrepreneur’ explains her latest product range, for babies

The 9 Trumpets of Creativity

Our fourth Trumpet of Creativity is ‘Magnify Minify’.

Two trumpets for the price of one. How to use this simple idea to test and improve your idea creation.

Check out ‘The 9 Trumpets of Creativity’ page (download a PDF, if you like).

In short, in this episode:

00:00 The 9 Trumpets of Creativity
00:00 Challenge at Home
00:00 Micro Sitcom: The Start Up, Mary ‘The Entrepreneur’ in ‘The New Niche’
00:00 Creative Rituals

Plus

00:00 Challenge Jim
00:00 Tony’s Word of the Episode
00:00 House Band – ‘We Paint Houses’

00:00 Ends

Useful Stuff from This Episode:

Support Jelly Trumpet on Patreon:
[Exclusive stuff from Jelly Trumpet]

Our Sponsor:
Conversion Detectives

The Band:
We Paint Houses

Now, off with you and create something,

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About Jelly Trumpet
We’re a podcast all about creativity. Every episode is aimed at stimulating your imagination and making you laugh with silly, surreal bits & bobs.

Sign up to the newsletter for sporadic creativity tips you can use every day, o’ and some rather silly jokes.

Sponsored by Conversion Detectives, the creative digital marketing agency

---

Read the Script

Season 2 Episode 04 – Magnify Minify Part I

RIFF 1

S/FX: JELLY TRUMPET INTRO MUSIC

JIM:
Well Mr b are we ready for another episode of Jelly Trumpet?

MR B:
Ready Mr Jim.

JIM:
It’s good to be back in St Albans after that last episode. I’m looking forward to talking all things creative. Expanding people’s imagination is very fulfilling you know.

MR B:
Yes it is.

JIM:
We don’t want the podcast running out of control again.

MR B:
No. We don’t want that.

JIM:
Shall we get started? The button Mr…

MR B:
Have you seen my new keyboard? It’s Japanese.

JIM:
I’m not sure that’s a good idea and what have you done to the coffee machine?

MR B:
Tinkering, just tinkering Mr Jim.

JIM:
Why have you put tank tracks on our coffee machine?

MR B:
cMac.

JIM:
cMac? What!?

MR B:
It’s called cMac now. Could come in useful. I’ve adapted it.

JIM:
You’ve adapted a coffee machine to do what precisely?

MR B:
Science. And…

S/FX: COFFEE BEING POURED

JIM & MR B:
Aaaah! Coffee!

S/FX: BONGOS PLAYING

JIM:
If only Nigel knew another tune.

MR B:
It’s not easy to teach a squirrel the size of a St Bernard new tunes you know. Especially when his instrument of choice is the bongos.

S/FX: A DOOR BEING OPENED. A SHORT TRUMPET FANFARE

JIM:
Your Majesty.

MR B:
Your Majesty.

S/FX: BONGOS BEING PLAYED

ELEANOR:
Arrête ça Nigel!

JIM:
We’ll have to take her back you know.

MR B:
Yes. We have to take her back. I’ll miss her. She’s the only one Nigel listens to.

JIM:
Right. After the show. Steer a course for medieval France 1150 AD. Queen Eleanor can get back to ruling the Aquitaine.

MR B:
Right o’!

JIM:
And Mr b, did you furnish her majesty with a fanfare?

MR B:
No. It’s an app on her iPad.

JIM:
She’s going to miss it.

MR B:
The iPad?

JIM:
Nigel.

MR B:
The show is ready!

JIM:
Hurrah!

S/FX: JELLY TRUMPET TUNE

TRAILER

TONY:
Welcome to Jelly Trumpet. The world’s only comedy show about creativity.

Jelly Trumpet makes you more creative with tips, tricks and ideas for expanding your imagination. Especially good for business people wanting to be creative online!

In this episode:

• A checklist for being more creative called ‘The Nine Trumpets of Creativity’, our fourth Trumpet is: ‘Magnify / Minify.

• Challenge at Home. A creative exercise for you to try at home

• Challenge Jim, where Mr b challenges Jim with an exercise in creativity

Plus

• A brand-new micro sitcom called ‘The Start up’ with our hero Mary ‘The Entrepreneur’ starring in an episode titled: ‘The New Niche’, Part 1. Part 2 later.

S/FX: JELLLY TRUMPET JINGLE

9 TRUMPETS OF CREATIVITY

JIM:
This season on Jelly Trumpet we’re talking about the ‘9 Trumpets of Creativity’.

It’s a list of nine different tools that can help you be more creative. Last episode we talked about the third trumpet: Modify

This episode: Trumpet 4, ‘Magnify, Minify’.

There’s a PDF of all ‘9 Trumpets of Creativity’ which you can DOWNLOAD from the Jelly Trumpet website.

We adapted this list of creative tools from Osbourne’s Checklist also known as SCAMPER.

Why’ve we adapted the list? Because we like changing things to make them better.

If you’ve listened to season one you’ll remember we talked a lot about keeping a journal of what helps you to be creative. We called this journal ‘Your Medicine’. The idea is you build up your own tool chest of ideas, the journal becoming your creative coach.

So, here we go with No. 4 in our ‘9 Trumpets of Creativity’.

Magnify, Minify
Make things bigger, make things smaller. What could be simpler, in this episode we descend into…well, you’ll see and things, well, certain things get bigger and certain things go smaller?

The 9 Trumpets is a list to use for any idea, and you add your own tools. It’s a checklist to help your creative thinking, principally about asking the right questions.

So, take your idea. Is it a character, is it a product? Whatever, how big can you make it? How does that change it? What consequences would there be? If you’re an actor, how big can you make this character you’re playing, gestures, ways of speaking, of moving. If you’re a digital marketing person how big can you make your idea, can it take on Facebook? Instagram. The same goes for minification, for ideas, writing, characters, pictures.

The Takeaway
Make your creative idea as big as possible, as small as possible. What does that suggest? If the answer is ‘not much’ then move on to the other ‘Trumpets of Creativity’ BUT give it some time before dismissing.

RIFF 2

S/FX: JAPANESE COMPUTER GAME MUSIC

JIM:
Mr b, what’s that outside the window? You’ve done it again haven’t you? Landed the podcast somewhere alien. You and your Japanese keyboard.

MR B:
Isn’t it pretty?

S/FX: BONGOS PLAYING.

MR B & JIM:
Not now Nigel!

JIM:
O’ my god!

MR B:
What?

JIM:
I believe I know where you’ve landed us. That red sky, the city scape, that remote controlled bear. It’s Danganronpa. A Japanese game loved by my anime -loving daughter.

MR B:
This will be fun then. I love computer games.

ELEANOR:
Monsieur Jim! Tu es le mot homme. You are the word man. Write us out of this place.

MR B:
Mot homme! That’s you alright. The Word Man! Yes, why don’t you write us out of this Japanese game and into a nice snug pub in St Albans. I fancy Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in the park.

ELEANOR:
Well, Mot Homme?

JIM:
You don’t understand. I need, I need, I need the clouds to part, a beam of light hits and merges with my aura and…

ELEANOR:
The inspiration. Ha, ha…merde!

MR B:
Here’s an idea. Why don’t you listen to your podcast? Pick up some ideas, you know make you more creative…

JIM:
Well…why are you riding Nigel your Majesty?

MR B:
Don’t change the subject.

ELEANOR:
He is comfortable and I am a Queen.

JIM:
Fair point.

A BEAT

JIM:
[CONT.] [UNDER HIS BREATH] It’s a first draft you know.

MR B:
Well, let us know when you’ve got to the second draft. I’ll buy you a cake.

ELEANOR:
What is that thing? It looks like un ours, er, a bear, only it doesn’t look real. Half black, half white with a un gros ventre!

JIM:
O’ god! That’s Monokuma.

Mr B:
He’s not dangerous though.

JIM:
No. He’s not dangerous.

S/FX: LASER THEN AN EXPLOSION

ELEANOR:
He’s blown up that flower shop.

JIM:
Mr b. The button!

MR B:
Which one?

JIM:
Any button! Any BUTTON! Get us out of here quick.

MR B:
Very well.

S/FX: AN ENGINE TURNING OVER AND STALLING

ELEANOR:
Merde.

JIM:
Yes. Mud. What’s going on?

MR B:
I think it’s the starter motor. I’ll have to go outside. While I’m doing that you can do Challenge at Home, you know, keep the podcast ticking over…

JIM:
Wait!

S/FX: AN AIRLOCK OPENING

JIM:
[Cont.] And now challenge at home.

CHALLENGE AT HOME

JIM:
Listening is a very real skill. How often do you listen? Sit in a straight backed chair, close your eyes and relax for 2 – 3 minutes. Without moving listen. What do you hear? How many different sounds? What does each sound suggest?

If you are a creative writer. Write a scene. Now listen to the setting? What sounds would be in this place? Can you use them for creating atmosphere?

If you are in marketing and you’ve got feedback then listen. It may be recorded voice which is easy. If its written feedback say it out loud. Listen to the words you read? Does this suggest something further for your marketing? What is unsaid? Does this suggest some content that promotes your business or clients?

The Takeaway
We don’t take time often enough to listen around us. Practice and you’ll be surprised how active listening can aid your striving for greater creativity.

RIFF 3

S/FX: JAPANESE COMPUTER GAME MUSIC

S/FX: AIRLOCK OPENING

JIM:
Mr b! Are you alright?

MR B:
All good, however the starter motor isn’t.

JIM:
How do you know that?

MR B:
Because it’s not there.

ELEANOR:
Nigel ici!

JIM:
Where’s it gone?

MR B:
[VERY SARCASTIC] Well, that’s the problem Jim. That’s the problem when you do a show that is a first draft.

S/FX: LOUD SNIFFING

JIM:
We’ll have to find it.

MR B:
How do you suggest? Put an ad on Facebook?

JIM:
It can’t have just dropped off?

MR B:
Yes It can.

JIM:
Why do you say that?

MR B:
BECAUSE IT HAS!

JIM:
[TO HIMSELF] Well, this is getting out of hand! It’s like someone else is writing Jelly Trumpet.

ELEANOR:
Le Mot Homme mon cul!

JIM:
Nothing for it. I bet one of those characters in the game has swiped it. We’ll have to track it down.

MR B:
Yes. We’ll also have to be careful.

JIM:
Why? Animations can’t harm…

S/FX: MULTIPLE LASER SOUNDS FOLLOWED BY MULTIPLE EXPLOSIONS

MR B:
You were saying ‘Mot Homme?’

JIM:
Well…

ELEARNOR:
Come now. I have trained Nigel to be a sniffer squirrel.

MR B & JIM:
What?

ELEANOR:
Nigel will sniff out the motor. We come back. We leave. Facile.

JIM:
Well…

ELEANOR:
How difficult can it be? Now. What does a motor smell of?

MR B:
[SARCASTIC] O’ that’s easy. It smells of motor! You know, a bit of oil, some stardust and a hint of cherry jam.

S/FX: LOUD SNIFFING

ELEANOR:
Bon! Nigel! Nigel. Chercher!

JIM:
I’ll be with you in a minute. Don’t look at me like that. We still have a show to do even if we are trapped in a Japanese computer game from 2010. The show must go on.

S/FX: AIRLOCK OPENING

JIM:
[cont.] Now I think all I have to do is click on the play button.

S/FX: THE STARTUP THEME TUNE

THE STARTUP: THE NEW NICHE
PART 1

TONY:
The Start up! A micro sitcom.

Meet Mary ‘The Entrepreneur’ going about creating her online business.

The Scene:

Mary’s home office, the spare bedroom

This Episode; Mary, ‘The Entrepreneur’ chats with her best friend, Bev over Zoom about her new business idea.

SCENE 1:

MARY:
[READING] ‘Beverley is connecting to sound’

Hi Bev! Bev, Bev can you hear me? Bev, can’t see you. Bev! Switch the video on. That button. Looks like a lozenge with a funnel on it.

BEV:
You mean the camera icon.

MARY:
That’s right. A camera…wait, what’s that?

BEV:
My breakfast Prosecco.

MARY:
And pancakes?

BEV:
They are vegan.

MARY:
I’ve got something to show you.

MARY HOLDS UP A SMALL LEATHER EFFECT BOX AND OPENS IT

BEV:
What’s that you’re holding up? Is this another ‘on-the-go’ cake mix for your bodybuilders cake brand?

MARY:
Murder Cake, for the bodybuilder who likes cake? Packed with protein you can murder.

BEV:
Yes.

MARY:
No. Look closely.

S/FX: BEV TAKES TWO LARGE GULPS OF HER PROSECCO

BEV:
Is that a miniature makeup kit?

MARY:
Yes. It’s my new business…

BEV:
Is it makeup for a particular niche?

MARY:
Yes. Babies.

BEV:
Babies?

MARY:
Yes. It’s called BabyMaker.

S/FX: BEV SNORTS PROSECCO THROUGH HER NOSE

BEV:
WAIT…WHAT?

MARY:
BabyMaker, combining ‘baby’ and ‘makeup’

BEV:
Wouldn’t that be BabyMakeup?

MARY:
BabyMaker is a more active term, more in your face, more a niche defining brand.

BEV:
Mary, Mary darling…erm…erm…why baby make up?

MARY:
Have you seen what babies look like when they exit the womb?

BEV:
Well, yes, twice…o’ I see your point.

THE START UP: THE ENTREPRENEUR’S NEW NICHE
END OF PART 1

S/FX: THE STARTUP THEME TUNE

TONY:
Join us in Episode 4, Part II for the conclusion of The Startup’s New Niche.

[SOTTO VOCE] If I can’t get a kitten, I’d like some bacon.

RIFF 4

S/FX: AIRLOCK OPENING

MR B:
There you are.

JIM:
I had to play ‘The Start Up’, the micro sitcom.

MR B:
Right. Do you know who those animated characters are?

S/FX: SNIFFING

ELEANOR:
Shhhh Nigel!

JIM:
I believe they are called ‘The Warriors of Hope.’

MR B:
They look sweet.

ELEANOR:
Oui. Sweet girls.

MR B:
What are they?

JIM:
O’, they’re murderers.

MR B:
Right. Well, we’ll avoid them. [SARCASTIC] If only, if only you could write us an armoured car…

JIM:
A question Mr b.

MR B:
Yes?

JIM:
Why was the starter motor on the outside of the podcast?

MR B:
Well, er…I can explain. It was an…

JIM:
…experiment.

MR B:
Science. Science and maths.

JIM:
‘Maths is beautiful…’

MR B:
Maths is beautiful.

JIM:
Weirdo.

cMAC:
Cue Jim in thirty seconds.

JIM:
Is that the coffee machine?

MR B:
cMac! Yes.

JIM:
Have you built in a timer?

MR B:
Better than that. I’ve programmed cMac with the podcast running order. See the display? cMac is cueing up ‘Creative Rituals’ followed by the ‘Coming up’ insert.

JIM:
I haven’t got the ‘Creative Rituals’ book with me.

MR B:
No problem.

S/FX: A SHOOSH SOUND OF A DRAWER OPENING.

JIM:
Well, I never.

MR B:
One of cMac’s features is a built-in library.

CREATIVE RITUALS

TONY:
Creative Rituals!

JIM:
In season 2 we’re highlighting a book called ‘Daily Rituals’ by Mason Currey. It’s full of short essays about the rituals creative people have used in their lives.

‘Today from seven o’clock in the morning till six at night I worked without stirring except to take some food a step or two away.’ So wrote Vincent van Gogh to his brother in 1888.

Well, that’s extreme but the work he produced? Well, genius. So, do you work that hard? Are the hours important? Do you just throw yourself in and work long hours? For me this is far too long. I work in hour bursts, three to four in a row. I try very hard not to get distracted by social media and that works if the project means something to me.

How long do you work for and is it productive? Try extending your hours bit by bit. Do you get more productive or does it tire you of creativity?

S/FX: COMING UP JINGLE/MUSIC

COMING UP

TONY:
Coming up!

• Interview Countdown
• Challenge Jim, Mr b will issue Jim a challenge
• And List of the week

TONY:
Sponsored by Conversion Detectives, the really creative digital marketing agency. Search Conversion Detectives.

[SOTTO VOCE] I’m a trained artist you know. Sharon!

RIFF 5

S/FX: LOUD MUNCHING NOISES

JIM:
What’s that noise?

MR B:
What are these pink puddles?

ELEANOR:
Pistachios.

MR B:
Don’t be silly pistachios are green and are not liquid, well, they could be with some science…

JIM:
Blood. The Danganronpa game uses pink to represent the red of blood.

ELEANOR:
Manger Nigel.

JIM:
Why are you feeding Nigel pistachios?

ELEANOR:
He didn’t like the Bagels. They were wretched bagels anyway.

MR B:
We must find the starter motor chaps. Now I’ve got Pink all over my lab coat. Tut!

JIM:
Lucky you.

S/FX: LOUD MUNCHING NOISE

JIM:
[Cont.] Why are you feeding him anyway?

ELEANOR:
He has to keep his strength up if he is to…quest.

MR B:
This stain will never come out.

JIM:
Use some science then!

ELEANOR:
We must continue our search for the starter motor. Return to the podcast and exit.

JIM:
Quite right. Wait! Bagels? Reminds me of something.

ELEANOR:
Marcher en avant Nigel.

JIM:
Bagels, bagels, bagels, bagels?

S/FX: FIVE SECOND BURST OF JAPANESE COMPUTER GAME MUSIC

JIM:
[Cont.] Bagels…No. Can’t remember.

MR B:
And volia! The stain is gone.

ELEARNOR:
How did you do that?

MR B:
Simple. I rubbed it with a stale Bagel.

S/FX: SNIFFING SOUNDS

ELEANOR:
Nigel is pointing that way.

MR B:
O’ he’s a pointer squirrel, is he? Why doesn’t Nigel talk anymore?

ELEANOR:
I’ve given him a vow of silence.

MR B:
I see.

JIM:
There’s something about Bagels you know. Keeps ringing a bell. Well, we need to have some caution in this place.

MR B:
It’s very colourful. I think it’s like walking through a pop art painting.

JIM:
OK. Yeah. Very pretty. So, I can’t remember the thing about Bagels. But! What I do remember is characters have to have an ultimate talent to survive in this game. We’ll all need an ultimate talent. Mr b what is your ultimate talent?

MR B:
Hindsight!

JIM:
That’s not much good.

MR B:
I know that now. Didn’t we use this gag before Mr Writer?

JIM:
It’s called recycling. Your majesty what is your ultimate talent?

ELEANOR:
Queen.

JIM:
Fair enough. I shall be the ultimate word man, le mot homme!

S/FX: THE WHISTLING OF TUMBLEWEED OVER AN EMPTY DESERT

cMAC:
Obtaining ultimate gizmo status.

MR B:
OK. I’ll be Ultimate Scientist.

JIM:
OK. Ultimate, er writer….your majesty?

ELEANOR:
Still.

JIM:
Sorry?

ELEANOR:
Still Queen.

MR B:
I think another talent would suit you better Jim.

JIM:
I can’t do anything else.

MR B:
How about cooking? You like cooking.

JIM:
Alright. I’m the Ultimate Cook.

ELEANOR:
NIGEL! Arrêtez!

JIM:
Why’s he run off like that?

MR B:
O no!

ELEANOR:
Nigel! Pistachios!

JIM:
What?

MR B:
Look!

cMAC:
Time for Challenge at Home.

S/FX: CHALLENGE JIM THEME

CHALLENGE JIM

MR B:
It’s challenge Jim time. This episode you have one minute and eight seconds to come up with a story idea for a computer game, not Japanese and introduce the three main characters, name them and tell us a short bio.

[MR B THROWS IN DIFFERENT IDEAS / DISTRACTIONS AND COUNTS JIM DOWN]

MR B:
Moving on.

TONY’S WORD OF THE EPISODE

TONY:
Tony’s Word of the Episode!

TONY:
Antidisestablishmentarianism! Antidisestablishmentarianism!

JIM:
Thank you, Tony. The definition of which is: anyone that disagrees with Facebook.

Mr B:
This really isn’t working Jim.

RIFF 6

S/FX: MULTIPLE LASERS SMALL EXPLOSIONS AND DISTANT SCREAMS

K:
[JAPANESE GIRL VOICE]

TONY:
Who is the mystery Japanese girl? Will Nigel find the podcast starter motor? Will Queen Eleanor still be a queen? Will Mr b commit another experiment and will Jim manage a draft of Jelly Trumpet that makes sense?

Listen to Jelly Trumpet Episode 4, Part II to find out.

JIM:
I will you know…one day.

S/FX: TUMBLEWEED BEING BLOWN ACROSS A DESERT LANDSCAPE

END OF PART I