Time to 'stand-up' and tell your story

We all love to laugh and so many of us find joy in making other people giggle too. This course is not just designed for students who already consider themselves to be absolute jokers, but is inclusive of anyone who wants to learn more about comedy and how we can explore different methods and techniques creatively and practically - all in pursuit of making people smile.

This course will provide students with the opportunity to learn about different types of comedy. Whether you like your stand-up confessional, observational, musical, or surreal we will explore different ways that we can tell our own stories and build our own unique styles and creative voices. We’ll look at different styles of comedy, including character work, physical comedy (slap-stick), sketch comedy, improvisation and even look into the history of clowning. Students will also learn about joke structure and comedy technique, in addition to how to hold the attention of an audience.

This is a chance for students to tell their own stories, and create their own narratives. A chance for them to perhaps share an amazing sense of humour, or even just share in a giggle with a group of supportive peers. This course is also designed to help student to develop public speaking skills, transferrable communication skills and most importantly build confidence and self-esteem. 

There is an option to run termly open mic nights where students would have the chance to perform some of their work and people are able to come and support them. This short showcase is optional but helps students to build their confidence and performance skills as well as giving them a chance to share their work with their communities.

Class Aims:

• To build confidence, and boost self-esteem
• To communicate our stories in creative ways
• To raise our voices and take up space 
• To learn a broad range of theatrical techniques, including improvisation, mime, puppetry and clowning
• To learn about musicality and how to use sound, rhythm and music to communicate, or tell unique stories 
• To work collaboratively as a peer group and build trusting community 
• To have fun and find joy in learning new things