Stand-up
Courses
Course details
STAND UP COMEDY: TECHNIQUES & INSPIRATION
Mondays
6.45pm-9.30pm
3rd September - 5th November 2012
213 Strand
London WC2R 1AP
10 evenings
Show on the last night
* Write and perform stand-up.
* Be inspired to create material.
* Uncover comedy devices and approaches to being funny.
* Write jokes, deal with hecklers and learn how to get gigs.
* Put it all into practice in a live show.
* Expert career advice.
* Open spots for every student at the nationwide Mirth Control comedy clubs.
You will create a stand-up act. Complete and near beginners welcome, as well as those wishing to refresh their technical skills or create new material.
The course has a balance of theory and practice. Exploring and analysing stand-up comedy, then putting it into practice with performances at the microphone in the sessions. Feedback from the tutor and your peers will guide you in honing and enhancing your act.
We'll uncover all sorts of techniques and approaches to being funny - as well as gaining inspiration for writing material. We develop the skills needed for joke writing and honing and crafting material. We'll explore your persona and you will learn the practical skills needed for a stand-up performance from microphone technique to dealing with hecklers.
You’ll work on being responsive to the audience, so they are then responsive to you - and on how to work a crowd and own the stage. There is a lot of work on the live conversational nature of stand up, creating a feeling of spontaneity and intimacy.
There will also be advice and guidance on getting gigs, working the circuit and building a career from Geoff Whiting who books acts for 100 comedy clubs all over the country and internationally. He will answer all your questions about working the circuit, and will give all participants open spots at his clubs.
All of this is leading up to a live stand-up show on the last night.
What topics will we cover?
* Stand-up performance and delivery .
* Microphone technique.
* Comedic techniques: e.g. misdirection, call-backs, act-outs, rule-of-three, bathos etc.
* Remembering your material
* Developing a persona: attitude, status etc
* Joke writing.
* Dealing with heckling and other audience interactions.
* Ways to recover when something falls flat.
* Using questions: both in the set and to generate material.
* Starting, ending and structuring a set.
* Getting gigs and working the circuit.
Read all about the course in The Guardian and listen to a BBC radio report on it, in the Media Coveragesection.
Fee: £180
(£50 deposit will secure the place)
To enrol and for more course info email:
chris@chris-head.com
And you can phone with queries 07814 962687
Payment is by:
BANK TRANSFER
CHEQUE
(e for details)
Please agree a place with me before making a payment
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