Workshop Brief - NOTE: This is a 5 day workshop.
Comedy is universal, the penchant for laughter a fundamental aspect of human nature. Though embedded in every language and culture, humor has been of particular importance in America’s pluralistic society -- and more recently, due to globalization, in the world. Because of the ability of jokes to quickly forge intimate bonds between people of different races, ethnicities, religions, genders, etc. -- and most importantly, between those who vehemently disagree with each other -- its effective use is invaluable in establishing and nurturing relationships of all kinds, enabling us to sympathize, inform, persuade, and caution in a nonthreatening manner.
Because stand-up comedy is the art form that most closely resembles real-life conversation -- it’s interactive, can be performed anywhere, and requires no more equipment than a human voice -- exploring the creative process of writing and delivering jokes can benefit us in every arena, personal or professional, including public speaking, sales, customer service, advertising, public relations, management, teaching, writing, debating, acting, socializing, parenting, dating, and even sex.
In this workshop, students:
- Identify potential sources of material -- written, visual, and situational
- Study the work of a diverse group of groundbreaking comedians
- Analyze the emotional components of humor
- Learn to select the most effective emotional subtext and embed it into a joke.
- Explore creative exercises to increase the quantity of ideas they’re able to generate.
- Write for the listener, instead of the reader.
- Identify the universal in their individual experiences.
- Adapt those experiences to make them accessible to a wider -- or specific -- audience.
- Develop a unique comic voice.
- Improve timing, delivery, and presentation skills.
- Hone their skills further through instructor critique and audience response.
Ideal Workshop Candidate
Since improved comedic competency means improved relationships in so many areas, this course is recommended for everyone with the exception of Trappist monks, prisoners in solitary confinement, hermits, and the comatose. Aside from those seeking to more effectively wield their comic powers in their public or private lives, this course may prove particularly valuable to kooks, curmudgeons, eccentrics, smart-asses, class clowns, wise guys, loudmouths, neurotics, and know-it-alls.
