Half Term: Intro to Comedy (ages 10-16)

In this half-term Comedy course, students will explore a range of comedic styles, from stand up to clowning. You’ll learn the basics on writing sketches, sets, character monologues, and the differences when performing in improv, slapstick and double acts. It’ll be a week of generating material and performing to each other in class. Don’t worry if you think you haven’t got funny bones, if you’ve got bones at all you’ve got this! Come laugh and enjoy a week of silliness, including: 

● Stand up: jokes and sets. Point of view, comparisons, subversion of expectations and delivery are the starting point to writing jokes. They’ll improvise monologues to generate ideas and be taught joke structures to start writing their own material.

● Improv: Game. In these two person scenes, we’ll focus on finding the game and playing it. We’ll work on grounding the scene, finding the ‘shiny’ thing and framing it.

● Sketches:  Write and perform. Based on previous improv game exercises. Students will write two formats of sketches, including the classic ‘voice of reason and unusual point of view’ and ‘two peas in a pod’

● Drag: lip sync. Lip sync to excerpts of famous movie scenes or songs in class. A few costumes and wigs will be provided so students can better explore the art of drag.

● Character work: Monologue. Students will create characters based on Chekhov, Laban and improv tools, and write and perform a monologue in the voice of their character.

● Physical comedy/Clowning: Students will workshop a short comedic scene without any speech in the style of a clown. It will involve discovering something. They will be shown some examples from familiar physical comedians such as Mr Bean and then explore their own examples. They will communicate with the audience through their body and facial expressions and give the audience a “pay off”.

● Slapstick/Miming: The students will learn how to further the “pay off” with slapstick. How to fall over safely, how to use mine on stage to push their performance with imagination. Some stage combat techniques will be practiced to create a chaotic scene much like the style of Mischief Theatre.

● Comedy double acts: The students will work in a pair in the form of a double act with a “straight character” and a “funny character”. They will be able to use speech and be shown examples such as Ant & Dec, writing themselves a short script.

Age: 10-16yrs

When: 10.30am - 5pm each day

Cost: £230/£195 concessions