Stand up comedy courses, waste of time/money?

I have seen a few posts on here recently inviting people to spend their hard earned cash on stand up courses or comedy systems.

As a gigging stand up comic I will say now don't waste your money or time.
I recently saw two people do their second ever gigs (their first was the end of course gig night) both of them bombed horribly. One of them said he would probably never do it again and this is after forking out a fair amount of cash to learn. I told him not to give up that everyone bombs at the start. They both said their first gig had gone well, of course it did, it was set up by the people who run the course to make them feel that they had got something out of it. When they came to perform in front of a real audience what they had "learnt" didn't help them at all.

There is 1 place you learn to do stand up and it's on a stage in front of a real audience, I got the tube home with 1 of the people fresh off their course, I had had a really good gig but was cursing myself for forgetting my call back at the end, she asked me what a call back was, now if a course has not even taught you one of the most basic things in stand up I'm sorry but you may as well have thrown your money down the drain. I learnt about call backs from wikihow.

My advice to anyone thinking of doing a course is don't waste your money, have you ever heard of the comedians running these courses? Never I would guess is the answer.

If you really want to waste money learning something that is only possible by stage time and practice then send me £50 and I will mentor you and come to your first gig and promise to laugh at everything you say.

Otherwise leave the courses well alone, write some material practice it in the mirror and then book as many open mic spots as you can.

Anyone have any different opinions? I would love to hear them.

There's courses and there's courses.

Some are counter productive which teach you to write a rigid script, over structure your jokes and scare you. Some that teach you nothing of any practical use what's so ever. And yet others where you get to look at how jokes work, timing, engaging with the audience which are really good.

If you're not naturally funny or just a bit shy. Then learning to do comedy by standing in front of a disinterested audience is horrible.

So my advice find a good course or mentor and go for it.

Also if you need a good routine written, why not hire a professional....

As sootyj says there are good courses and bad courses.

I did a comedy course run by Logan Murray (a well respected figure in the comedy industry) as did people such as Rhod Gilbert, Greg Davies, Josh Widdicombe, Holly Walsh and may other successful comics, as well as other people who've gone on to be successful in other non-performing roles in the comedy industry (directors, writers, etc).

Several of the other comedy courses are also run by successful gigging comics (just Google the names and you can immediately find out whether they have decent credentials).

You don't NEED to do a comedy course to be a stand up comedian but they can be a great way of motivating yourself, gaining an instant support network, getting feedback and generally fast-tracking yourself.

Thanks for the feedback guys, networking was not something I had not considered from the courses, and I understand some people do these courses just as a confidence building exercise and may have no intention of ever trying to make a proper go of stand up.

Can I ask how much you guys paid for the courses and do you think the return you got was worth it?

I still don't think I would do one as I am progressing nicely now, but perhaps my view was some what biased by the lady who told me she had just finished a course but didn't know what a call back was.

Certainly in regards to writing rather than performing, I would consider that although I think really what I need is just someone to tell me to sit down and write and stop procrastinating.

Julio,

Sit down start writing and leave the procrastinating for another day.

I'm doing the funny business course in liverpool starting October, anyone got experience of this one?

A while ago I did two different courses, several months apart, both of them ended with a "graduation" gig. So here's my insight.

The first was run by a gigging comedian (Tutor A) of 20yrs who was very strict with us, gave us some awfully rigid rules and in some ways seemed like an unlikable and humourless teacher. More than one person dropped out before the end. The main advantage at the time seemed to be the large amount of "stage time" you got - although the audience was entirely the other course attendees. The course tutor was blunt with you when he thought a particular joke or theme wasn't funny and told us we had to be brutal and ditch anything that wasn't absolutely brilliant. At the showcase everyone did from average to OK. This was at a regular open mic night and the audience was kind but not totally forgiving.

The second was also run by a gigging comedian (Tutor B). She was very friendly and positive. There wasn't a huge amount of structure, but we did get plenty of mock stage time as well. The tutor was ALWAYS positive about whatever the students came up with, telling us all we were well on our way to finding our comedy voices. Everyone felt semi-confident going into the graduation gig. And the good news was that our tutor was going to be the opener... she died horribly. Shockingly poor. It then dawned on us that we were the blind being led by the blind! As for the students... ALL of them died. All of them except me anyway. I rocked the joint.

But I'm not going to be too cocky here. The reason I did well was because of the great training I got from that FIRST course. The unpleasant, humourless, blunt tutor who was straight with us from the start was doing us a huge favour. If your routine sucked, Tutor A would tell you straight and give you ideas for doing better. Tutor B was unhelpful and told everyone how great they were, even though it was obvious to any third party that wasn't the case. But how would she know what great comedy is when she bombed so spectacularly herself??

Ultimately, I don't think anyone can make you funny. (A message we received loud and clear from Tutor A during the course.) However, having an experienced and successful comedian or two advising you can certainly make you much FUNNIER. Sure you can learn more quickly from performing than you can from any classroom, but a good comedy course can give you a decent foundation to build from.

Quote: Jay Islaam @ September 11 2013, 12:19 AM BST

Anyone who wants to know which course was A and which one was B can massage me and get the details.

View original

I've heard a lot of good things about stand up courses. Even just teaching you the basics of how to walk on stage and start is a useful skill to learn.

You may not have heard of the tutor before, but what does that mean? A professional standup comedian who's featured on all the panel shows doesn't necessarily make a good teacher. A whole different skill set is involved with teaching.

I think a safer bet would be taking up an acting course. It teaches you how to project, breathe and the basics of line delivery. Furthermore, it's easier to verify whether or not the course is legit. Here's a link to one I hear doesn't suck: http://www.cssd.ac.uk/study/short-courses/courses/acting-tv-comedy-0

Before I finish up there is another thing to consider when looking at comedy schools and that's to be mindful that what you learn doesn't drown out your own voice. Which is why echo earlier advice given that you take time to sit down write maybe even hold a small local show yourself (if you're trying to go standup). The latter bit of advice though terrifying can be really effective, as getting to grips with your own show not only helps establish your own voice but allows you to understand all the variables involved in performance such as venue, promotion and audience psychology. I don't know where you live so I can't help you on venue hire (though a small community hall is a great starting off point) but you can get free promotional materials here: http://print24.com/uk/product/flyers-free/

I'd also advise that if you do conduct a tester show, run it for free as it's mostly a chance for you to try it materials.

OK I just realised I got carried away here, blame it on my excitable nature...uhm yeah so...I hope I helped anyway.

Things I learnt on a comedy course that you wouldn't necessarily learn on an acting
Course;

Mic technique, dealing with mic stand, bantering with an audience, dealing with hecklers, writing material, meeting other wannabe stand up comics, networking with comedy people,how to approach comedy promoters, selling yourself as a comedian, running a comedy night, and probably tens, if not hundreds of other little bits and pieces which help you to become a decent working comedian.

Also, I'm assuming that all these people who run acting classes have won Oscars, Baftas, Tonys and Oliviers?

Whilst an acting course might help to become a comedian I would suggest that doing so would be like someone wanting to learn how to fix their car by doing a course on boat maintenance.

There's an interesting sounding Stand Up course running near me soon and I'm wondering whether to book up. The thing is, I don't have any real desire to be a stand-up! (shyness being one and the ability to remember jokes at will another hindering factor) but at the same time would like to see what the process is and it's tempting for the writing experience alone...anyone else done a course without really wanting to be a stand up as such, is it worth it?

May as well go for it then

It's different for everyone. In my case, the course a gift from someone else, so technically I didn't waste any money. But what has motivated me to keep going back to the open mics and to keep working on new material is the knowledge that I will have wasted that person's gift if I don't.

The teacher was Amy Tee and I did my research long before the first class, checking out her YouTube presence, etc. And the fact that she had been doing this for ten years and that she made me laugh in those videos was enough to make me feel like she could really teach me something.

She's really gone above and beyond and I think it helped that there were only two other students by the third week of the class. She impressed upon us how much hard work went into stand up comedy. How there was a difference between "Someone whose funny at a family barbecue" and "Someone who could do comedy for a living". She also impressed upon us the importance of not allowing the "graduation night" to cloud our judgment by assuming that every night would be like that.

It's all down to personal experience. At the moment, I'm the only one from that class actively working on my writing. Will that lead to something? Who knows.

Last man standing as it were?

That's a very interesting perspective Nate, and telling that so many people dropped out, I guess it was proven as the course went on that it's not at all as easy as it looks. I know it's hard work from reading threads on here and the very idea terrifies me...are you going to concentrate on stand-up now?