Stand-up comedy course - week 1

My first week of a stand-up comedy course.

Comedy Course

My first taster

On Wednesday 12th January 2011 I did my first session of an 8-week stand-up comedy course run by Chris Head. It was held in a room above the Clock House pub on Leather Lane, London and I was joined by about 10 other people from completely different walks of life. Some were gifted the course as presents by friends and family. Others did it as something interesting to do, to maybe improve public speaking, but with no intention of doing stand-up after the course. And a few, like me, were using it as a stepping stone to doing stand-up later on.

My most nerve-wracking moment

As well as some intros, a bit of theory and some stand-up/improv games, we had our first taster of being behind the mic. Every week we'd do a set in front of the others in the class. Week 1 wasn't about being funny: it was just about being comfortable talking in front of others with a mic. I was not.

A cure for my fear of public speaking

Up to this point, I'd hated public speaking and I was absolutely terrible at it too. This was probably the most nervous I've been behind the mic to this day, which is weird considering I then went on to do some pretty horrible gigs in front of hundreds of people. But once I'd stood in front of dozens of people trying to make them laugh, doing standard public speaking never felt quite so daunting again.