Events

Life doesn't try to be funny; it just is. Life is tragedy with embedded comedy, and vice versa. The purpose of this interdisciplinary (but mostly writing/performing) workshop is to develop creative work with an emphasis on discovering and emphasizing the comedic elements; to identify and explore comedic concepts/principles; to integrate comedy into writing and performing; and to develop skills in terms of both writing and publicly presenting your work.

The workshop will introduce participants to a variety of comedic work, including creative nonfiction essays, film, music, standup comedy, sketch comedy, and other genres. Participants will develop a new piece in their chosen genre over the 8-weeks, and much of the workshop time will be devoted towards workshopping individual pieces while also introducing and exploring relevant concepts. The emphasis is not on forcing a particular style on anyone, nor on trying to be funny, but on encouraging workshop participants to find/develop her/his own voice, and on revealing existing comedy in a natural way. The workshop will culminate in a public performance of students' work presented by Kearny Street Workshop. This workshop is geared towards writers and/or performers, but artists in other fields (film, music,visual) and non-artist-identifying individuals are completely welcome.

About the instructor: Samantha Chanse is a writer, performer, and organizer with a bunch of years experience working in community arts, as well as working as a theater writer and performer, including sketch and standup comedy. She's written & performed a couple solo theater pieces, and has done some other stuff. She's also a former KSW staff person and current KSW board member.