Back to School

I have a few slightly odd things on my list, but one thing I didn't have on there is "do a stand-up comedy routine."  So how is it that a couple of weeks ago when Belinda asked me if I'd do a course with her, I found myself saying yes?  The surprising thing is that I didn't even really hesitate.   I found it rather an exciting, if slightly daunting prospect!  Maybe it had something to do with the website saying for "bucket-list tickers."  That's me, OK I'm in, where do I sign.

So there we have it.  We've signed up for the 5 day course starting on 21 January 2018 with The School of Hard Knock Knocks.  Yep, 5 days of making fools of ourselves on purpose and paying for the privilege. Some would say I make a fool of myself on a regular basis anyway, so I guess it's not really stretching reality in any way. 

So how does it work?  How do you go to school to learn how to be "funny?" Is it something that can be taught or are you born funny?  Am I funny? I'm crap at telling jokes, so I certainly won't be going down that route. What the fuck will I base my routine on then?  Life.  Life is funny enough. And sometimes if you can't laugh at life, you'll just end up crying.

Now I've got to come up with some material.  Thought about just winging it, but that my fail completely flat.  Might be able to base the whole 5 mins around B's boobs.  I know that sound a bit odd, but let's face it there is a LOT to work with there.

Anyway, this is how the course goes - just in case anyone else reads this and say "yeah I wanna do that!"

Day 1 – The Basics & Finding yourself
Introduction to the basics of stand-up comedy and the jargon of the comedic industry before launching into the deep end with your very own mini set.

Day 2 – Your Audience and Taboos   
Learn to gauge your audience and how to recognise and manage taboo topics while learning confidence building/ fear smashing techniques.

Day 3: The opener
Learn to write a strong open to your comedy set. Tonight students will also have the opportunity to refine some of their own writing with our guest comedian.

Day 4: The Heckler and The Closer 
Practice delivering your set as well as building skills to deal with the dreaded (or welcomed - I actually think I would welcome) heckler before polishing a strong close to your set ready for the graduation ceremony.

Day 5: Graduation Night and Performance