Course for cadet comics

ARE you the funny friend wanting to take your humour to the next level?

Do jokes come easily to you, but you’re completely devoid of any type of outlet?

If you’re 18 years of age or over, an upcoming in-person introduction to comedy workshop series, Make ‘Em Laugh, might just be what you need.

Taking place at the award-winning Props Theatre in Mitchell Street every Wednesday evening from 6 May to 3 June, participants will be furnished with tips on writing, performing and producing comedy, finishing with the opportunity to perform in front of a live audience in week five.

According to the budget-friendly course’s convenor and 15-year industry practitioner, Comedy Victoria’s Luke Morris, the idea for the program came from his perceived dearth of active Bendigo comedians and a desire to do something about it.

“As part of a project to try and reach out to more locals who might be interested in doing comedy, I got in contact with Props Theatre,” he said.

“We thought, let’s make it an easy barrier to entry,

“People are afraid of getting on stage without any backing, support or education, so we decided to see if we could break down the barriers and make it less difficult for more people to get involved.”

Morris said the course won’t dwell on teaching a simple structure of joke telling. “I’m in the camp that you can be funny in lots of different ways,” he said.

“You might be funny in a completely different way to stand-up comedy, you might bring something completely new and that should be encouraged.

“I think it’s less about teaching how to be funny and more about providing a format to express one’s humour.”

Registrations for the course, which will cost $100, can be made at Humanitix.