Something funny's going on at Langara

Page 9

Do you think you're funny?

If you think you have a talent for making people laugh, you might want to hone your skills by enrolling in one of the comedy classes offered at Langara College.

The college offers three programs as part of its Continuing Studies programming: Comedy Writing-An Introduction, the Stand-up Comedy Clinic and, new this year, a Comedy Improv program.

David Granirer has been teaching the Stand-Up Comedy Clinic at Langara for four years.

"I get people from all walks of life," he said. "I've had a judge in my classes. I've had longshoremen, truck drivers, lawyers, accountants, stay-at-home moms. Just the whole gamut. And all ages. I've had people as young as 18, and I've had a couple of women who were 66."

And the reasons why people take the course are as varied as the people themselves, he explained.

"There are some people who take the course because they want to be stand-up comics. And there are certainly some people who have taken the course and they're out there now, doing shows and touring and stuff like that. And then some people just like the idea of having it as a hobby. Other people are doing it because it's something they've always wanted to try. Or it's a confidence thing, you know. It's like their version of rock climbing. Just all sorts of different reasons."

During the eight-week program, Granirer helps his students find the humor in the stuff their lives are made of, and helps them turn that stuff into a comedy act, with the help of their fellow budding comedians.

"There's sort of some techniques for writing stand-up comedy. So we start by looking at what those techniques are. And each week I give them homework. They go home and they do some more writing, and they come back to class and try their stuff out in front of the class the next week. We also do a lot of work in small groups. So we brainstorm each other's acts. So there's lots of people helping each other," he said.

"I basically tell them, you know, your act is yourself . . . your act is your pain. People like to hear about your pain. So if you're a loser, if you've been fired from your job, if you can't get a date, people love hearing about that kind of stuff. They don't want to hear that you're happy and well adjusted. And everyone's been through that stuff. And I also tell them . . . don't try and be funny when you write. It's more about looking at something, and writing about something that you have strong feelings about. And if you start to explore, 'Why do I have these strong feelings?' and use some of the techniques I'm talking about, you'll find the humor."

What the Stand-up Comedy program offers is a safe place to try stand-up, as well as a quick and relatively painless way to avoid bombing when students finally take their act to a comedy club audience for the first time.

"The usual format is you just basically go down to a club or you call up and you try to get on for an amateur night. And usually, when you start out, you don't know what you're doing, and you have to sort of bomb for a while before you get it. Whereas if you take this course, you learn how to do it, so by the time you go up there for the first time, you're prepared. You're ready for it. So I would say it speeds up the learning curve. So what you might have to learn in a year of bombing, you can get in eight weeks out of this course. And comedy clubs are not the most supportive places. It's really nice to start out with a group of people who are really supportive, and everyone's pulling for each other. It makes a huge difference."

While the aim of the students in the program is to have gained some stand-up skills by the time the program ends, that isn't all they usually end up taking away from the course, Granirer said.

"Sometimes what they get out of it is quite surprising to them. Because I think that it's not only stand-up comedy that they're getting. A lot of times, what they're getting is, it changes them, because they have to write abut themselves. They have to take huge risks. They get lots of affirmation for taking those risks. And the last night of the class, we do a showcase at a club, and they usually rock the place. And there's just something really affirming about standing up in front of a room full of about 200 people and talking about all your stuff that you never told anyone before, and having them laugh and cheer and applaud. It's just incredibly affirming."

All three comedy courses will be offered again when the next term begins in the New Year. For more information about the comedy courses, call Langara College Continuing Studies at 604-323-5322.