The Stand up Workshop is an 8 week course designed to teach the fundamentals of writing and performing your original act.  At the end of the course there will be a showcase performance in the Four Day Weekend Theater.  This workshop will not help you skip any steps but it will show you which steps to take.  Having the blueprint for stand up laid out for you will make everything easier and put you far ahead of everybody else who is just guessing.  Your first time onstage should not be spent filled with anxiety and hoping for the best.  Your first time onstage will be structured and built upon knowledge of the techniques used by the pros.  

 

Here is a partial list of what the workshop will cover:

 

What is stand up comedy? (It is not about standing onstage and telling jokes)

Why getting all the laughs you planned on doesn’t mean you are successful?  (Learn how you should evaluate your act without fooling yourself)

What do most beginning comics need to know to get started? (95% of all comics make the least productive choices and they spend years never correcting these career killers.)

What to focus on when creating material? (Forget about jokes and trying to be funny! There is a much more important place to start.)

Why "writing" to create material is a big mistake?  (Being a good joke writer has little to do with your success in front of an audience.)

How to create material?  (You will be taught productive ways to create fresh material everyday without staring at a blank sheet of paper)

What is the single most important skill needed when creating material? (Master this and you will be ahead of all the others just getting started and even a lot of headliners!)

How to set your self and your act apart?  (This is the elusive ingredient missing from most comedians act…you will learn how to uncover it for yourself.)

How to structure your act in the strongest way possible?  (It’s a lot more than just deciding which order to place your jokes)

What is the secret to making your material and your act relatable? (It is not about trying to please the audience. That is actually the worst mistake!)

The myths about being heckled?  (Why it is not the audiences fault and what you can do to keep it from happening)

How to avoid being nervous onstage?  (and what to do if you forget your material)

How to read an audience?  (Audiences decide if they love or hate you within seconds; what to look for before you go onstage to help you win them over)

How to perform?  (Own the stage even before you get in front of the audience)

 

The price for the 8 classes plus the workbook is $400. The date of the first workshop is Saturday, September 19 at the Four Day Weekend Training Center from 2 am until 5 pm. The Workshop will meet twice a month on every other Saturday.   

 

 

Instructor Dean Lewis is a 20 year veteran of stand up comedy.  He has been seen on Last Comic Standing and Ellen. He won an Emmy for Writing and he has sold material to Jay Leno.  Dean also contributed material to The Comedy Bible, by Judy Carter.  Dean has been teaching this workshop since 2000 at various comedy clubs and for corporate clients. When not performing he can be heard mornings on 105.3 The Fan on The Jagger show.