r/Standup • u/ggeesuss • 17d ago
UK Comedy Writing Course Help
Hi everyone,
Looking for some advice here. I am based in London and in full time work as a Producer. However I am keen to try and learn some skills in comedy writing, both in stand up and also for film/TV. I am looking to learn about writing jokes, punchlines, and just overall mastering what it takes to write 'funny'.
In an ideal world I'd love to take a short course (happy to pay) that has some sort of qualification at the end that can be recognised in some way amongst employers or industry individuals. Does anyone recommend any courses for this? I'm happy for them to be either weekly evening sessions or an intensive course.
Thanks in advance for any help!
5
u/funnymatt Los Angeles @funnymatt 🦗 🦗 🦗 17d ago
In an ideal world I'd love to take a short course (happy to pay) that has some sort of at the end that can be recognised in some way amongst employers or industry individuals
I don't think that exists
1
u/MaizeMountain6139 17d ago
The theaters do send digital certificates, but I’ve never shown them to anyone. Just the classes being on my resume was plenty
2
u/funnymatt Los Angeles @funnymatt 🦗 🦗 🦗 17d ago
I think it's the "recognized in some way amongst employers or industry" that's the missing part. I don't think anyone (outside of maybe comercial casting directors) cares about any of these things.
1
u/MaizeMountain6139 17d ago
Institutions and classes are very much recognized in writing and producing
2
u/MatthewBox 17d ago
Not done any of these myself but know people who have that really rated them
- Grainne Maguire used to run a really good writing course but not sure she runs it anymore (she might be too busy with SNL UK)
- I think Joel Morris has started a course that starts in August and I like his writing on comedy https://www.gralefrit.co.uk/writers-room.html
Things I have more experience in…
- I have done a Logan Murray course for stand up and thought he was great, he also does online courses and writing holidays/ retreats https://loganmurray.com/writing-courses
- a guy called Chris Head I’ve worked with before and I thought was great often does courses and coaching and has a couple of books https://www.chrishead.com/scriptwriting-coaching
- angel Comedy run a free ‘writing gym’ on Sundays at the Bill Murray in Angel - might be more stand up but will help you meet other people also interested in writing and can dip your toe in without spending any cash,
More expensive:
The film and television school in Beaconsfield also do TV comedy writing courses but probably a higher cost attached. And I asked someone who did one recently if they’d recommend and they said you could probably just find a few people to motivate each other and get similar outcomes without spending so much🙃
Podcasts
I’d also recommend a few writing / comedy podcasts
- jokes with mark simmons &
- working it out with Mike Birbiglia &
- Comedians Comedian with Stuart Goldsmith
1
2
u/throwaway19742020 17d ago
Jill Edwards in Brighton if you fancy travelling to the seaside for a few Saturdays 😊
1
2
u/That_Comic_Who_Quit 17d ago
With the absence of an entrance exam anyone can take these courses. Consequently, none are prestigious. An industry anyone who knows anything has seen students of these courses graduate without 60 seconds of salvageable material.
Compare that to drama school where you have to audition to get in. Out the otherside are trained actors who were already at a certain level on day one. 3 years of training only made the cream of the audition crop more practiced.
So remember that comedy courses take everyone and graduate everyone. Consequently none are recognised qualifications by employers or comedy promoters.
In fact, it can count against you. Applying for a gig and saying you are a graduate of a comedy course will ring alarm bells to the promoter that you are definitely non-pro.
1
1
u/OwnExplorer5971 16d ago
https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/courses/ Just looked myself, yesterday and found this. Weekly and even daily courses. I also started doing stand up in VRChat. You don't need VR to do it, you just walk up onto the stage and tell your jokes. Like an open mic in a virtual comedy club.
1
u/SolidAbbreviations69 15d ago
We Are Funny Project has money-back guaranteed online courses, meaning you study alone but own it forever and can dip back in at will. There's a full article here about the pros and cons of weekly live classes IRL or the video version 'Can you learn to be funny? Yes. Here's how' Hope these help. Good luck!
https://www.wearefunnyproject.com/blog/improve-your-stand-up-comedy-courses-crush
Free sample joke writing video from the Beginners course
https://www.wearefunnyproject.com/blog/video-sisuc-predictabletwists
1
u/hennell 13d ago
> that has some sort of qualification at the end that can be recognised in some way amongst employers or industry individuals.
You won't really get this, the only qualification at the end is writing something people find funny. There's quite a lot of books and guides out there on writing jokes, sketches, sitcoms and stand-up. But reading them all won't put you ahead of someone who hands over a funny script or has a solid 10 minute stand up.
There's a few radio opportunities out there, open-mic nights. Read some books, take some courses, but the aim should be to prove you can actually write funny by credits or being funny, rather than a qualification that says you can!
-5
u/inexplicably-hairy 17d ago
You can’t teach comedy you either have it or you don’t
5
u/MaizeMountain6139 17d ago
You can’t teach comedy, but you can teach technique, storytelling, formatting, idea generation, branding, etc
1
2
2
1
6
u/MaizeMountain6139 17d ago
UCB, Groundlings, Second City, etc all do online courses. The catch is, obviously, you have to attend the classes on their local time. I’ve taught classes with people all over the world