I took a class in stand-up comedy in New York a couple of weeks ago run by the American Comedy Institute who offer a 1-year version, a 3-week version and (the one I did) a 5-day intensive version for non-New York natives.
The concept for the intensive version is simple: The class starts on a Tuesday and runs daily until Saturday. You get to develop a five minute set and perform your material in front of the rest of the class AND you get private one on one writing sessions with Stephen Rosenfeld (who teaches the class) to go over and refine your material. For your graduation you perform live on stage at a New York comedy club in front of a paying audience.
I love to challenge myself to do activities that let me learn new skills and scare me silly, and few activities have accomplished this as thoroughly as this class :o)
So without further ado, here’s my stand-up comedy debut, filmed on June 21 2008 at The Gotham Comedy Club in New York. It may not be entirely safe to watch at work.
I’m thinking this was so scary and so much fun that I need to do it some more. There are open mike nights every Wednesday at The Comedy Zoo here in Copenhagen. I may have to create a set in Danish and try it out there.
I highly recommend the class that The American Comedy Institute offers – you can read all about it here.
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