Free Comedy Course – Introduction

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12 Week Free Comedy Course – Introduction

Enjoy this free 12 week course with assignments, exercises & comedy coursework all for FREE! 

This is an adaptation of the free 12 week course Jon Roy offers HERE We have given it a bit of a UK slant, tweaking, updating and editing to be the best course available online for FREE! 

Introduction Blurb

Look, In every city, you’ll find someone teaching a stand-up comedy class. These classes may provide some help in building confidence and stage comfort, but they can’t replace the countless hours you need to spend at Open Mics if you want to make a living out of telling jokes.

The best way to get good at stand-up comedy, is to actually do stand-up comedy. There are no shortcuts or homework assignments that can substitute for the experience of facing a live audience and learning from their reactions.

Comedy classes can often create an artificially supportive environment, where fellow students and teachers often give biased feedback for the sake of positive reviews.

You can’t get the honest reactions you need to develop an act from these settings.The only way to truly learn is by performing in real “game time” conditions. For beginners in comedy, there’s no substitute for the open mic. No one is saying that teaching stand-up is impossible or that new comics should go out without a plan and hope for the best.

So this course is more of a roadmap to guide you and provide essential advice at the beginning your comedy journey. Designed to catalyse you to progress quicker by providing the necessary knowledge at the right time.

The Free 12 week stand-up comedy class:

This course will serve as the textbook, and your city’s open mics will be the classroom. Additionally, thanks to the magic of YouTube, you’ll have the opportunity to learn from the best comedians of all time through guest speaker videos.

Here’s how the class will work:

• Each week, read one chapter, watch the featured video clips, and answer the study questions.
• Then, put the instructions into practice by performing at local open mics.
• After you’ve gone up on stage at least three times, implementing the lessons from that week, move on to the next chapter.
• Repeat this process for twelve weeks.

The class has 2 main goals:

• FIRST, by the end, you should have a five-minute set that you can confidently perform at any comedy show.
• SECOND, and most importantly, you’ll develop an effective process for improving your act that you can use throughout your stand-up comedy career. This process is the one I still use to this day.

The course focuses on teaching basic fundamentals rather than dictating what you should write or talk about. There are hundreds of books & courses about stand-up presented as a “right way” to write jokes, but the sheer variety of modern comedians proves that there isn’t just one correct approach.

This process will help you with any style you choose. As long as the essential elements of comedy are present, you can make people laugh in your own unique way.

• Free Comedy Course – Week 1

Stage time / Writing material / Learning Material / Perform Your Material / Review Material / Analysis of a Pro special

• Free Comedy Course – Week 2

Review Week 1 / Recording Your Sets / Refresh material / Become Comfortable in awkwardness / Edit Your Material / Bits to work on / Another Pro Set Review

• Free Comedy Course – Week 3

Review Week 2 / Find Your Best Joke / Identify the bad ones / The Sh*t Sandwich / Incorporting Emotion / Watch More Stand Up

• Free Comedy Course – Week 4

Review Week 3 / Refine Your Process / Organising Your Bits / Preparing Your Set List / Watch More Stand Up

• Free Comedy Course – Week 5

Review Week 4 / Keep Refining Your Set / Sit Down Stand Up Comedy / Watch More Stand Up

• Free Comedy Course – Week 6

Comedy Refinement Process / Prep For The Week / Set A Performance Goal / Start Taking Note / Watch More Stand Up

• Free Comedy Course – Week 7

The Art Of Performance / Recording Your Sets / Judge Others / Positive Affirmations / Watch More Comedy

• Free Comedy Course – Week 8

Keep It Casual / Get Riffing / Joke About The Room / Revisit Your Affirmation / Spread Some Love / Get Clear On Your Bits / Watch More Comedy

• Free Comedy Course – Week 9

The Crowd Work Week / Be Honest / Be Positive / The Socratic Method / Less Is More / Crowd Work Vs Material

• Free Comedy Course – Week 10

Keeping The Audience Engaged / Dealing With Hecklers / Slowing Things Down / Making It Concise / Watch More Standup

• Free Comedy Course – Week 11

Revisit Your Group 1 Material / Keep Refining / Refresh Your Joke Writing / Give Hosting A Go / Watch More Standup

• Free Comedy Course – Week 12

Set Up Your Own Night / Find Your Voice / Get Networking / Keep Recording / Stop Comparing Yourself To Others

This is an adaptation of the free 12week course Jon Roy offers HERE

Learn more about the Comedy Basics here

COMEDY BASICS