So what happens in a Stand Out workshop?

Our intern Nicola Ryan headed down to one of our Stand Out workshops at Broadgreen International school and took to our blog to write about her experience:

Stand Out Workshop: Week 5

Yesterday was the penultimate week of the Stand Out course at Broadgreen International School. Between the 17 participants with an age range of 11-17, there was a wide variety of topics explored, ensuring that the show held next week will have something for everyone and providing non-stop entertainment.

The Stand Out course aims to help children aged between 11-18 grow in confidence and communication through the medium of stand-up comedy. Now in week 5, the kids have got to grips with how to come up with ideas and stories as well as performing a routine within the time restrictions. They all delivered their stand-up with ease and confidence. Their ability to invent new jokes was clear as some of them even came up with new stories whilst in the session.

The jokes themselves were incredible and I even found myself crying with laughter at several points (insert joke about an extremely expensive water bottle here). One minute, I was laughing about awkward television shows and then howling over a hatred of bees. There was always something new and unexpected from each person. They were all able to link the stories together in a way where their routines felt like a conversation rather than rehearsed. It was great to see some of them moving around the stage and incorporating physicality into their routines. There was also a heavy emphasis on facial expressions and the importance of voice in the routines as some routines required different characters and it was great to see the kids experiment with different kinds of comedy.

Next week’s show will no doubt have everyone falling off their seats in laughter and no doubt the Stand Out course has built up the kids’ confidence and maybe even encourage them to pursue comedy.

We hope your last few rehearsals go well and in the famous words of showbiz: BREAK A LEG!