Happy Thanksgiving: Here's Some Free Online Comedy Resources!
Think of it as the Ultimate Black Friday Sale, without that pesky trampling.
Happy Thanksgiving! And to show how thankful I am for my new subscribers, I put together a list of other free online sites/courses that I thought you might find useful. Enjoy!
If you’re at all interested in sketch comedy, subscribe to Mike Trapp’s newsletter Chuffah. It’s essentially an online workshop where Trapp gives lessons on sketch writing, dissects sketches and writes essays on comedy and sketch theory. Trapp knows what he’s talking about - he’s the former head writer of CollegeHumor and a former writer/teacher with the Upright Citizens Brigade. There’s also a paid subscription that gives you access to even more in-depth content (including notes on reader sketches), but the free version is definitely worth your time.
John Roy’s Free Stand Up Comedy Class
If you’re thinking of starting stand up, definitely check out John Roy’s free online course. It’s a 12-week course, designed to give you all the information you’d get from taking a stand up class at a comedy club. The emphasis isn’t on how to write jokes, but more about giving you a framework on how to start out and slowly work through open mics towards your first showcase set. I’m particularly a fan of his “comedy refinement process,” a straight-forward method of keeping track of and refining your jokes to constantly improve your set. (As someone who spent several years teching open mics, I can tell you there’s nothing sadder than watching someone do the same routine week after week with no thought towards actually improving it.)
Gary Gulman’s Comedy Writing Tips
I’m sure many of you have seen these, but comedian Gary Gulman spent 2019 tweeting out daily comedy writing tips. Some are focused on joke writing, while some are on stand up performance or how to prepare for a late night set, but they’re all definitely worth a read.
If you’re looking to write for Late Night shows, comedy writer Georgia Shenk curates this guide to late night writing packets, including samples and packets for most on-air late night shows.
To me, Blaine Capatch is simply one of the greatest comedy writers in the world. And his twitter feed is not only hilarious, but also a constant showcase of every different kind of joke writing you can imagine.
Honestly, one of the main reasons I made this list was just to share this thread where Blaine answered Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time with his own list. Here’s just the first nine tweets:
And that’s just the beginning of a hundred tweets. (You can see the whole thread here.)
When I read this thread, I was in awe. It has callbacks, reversals, character games, subtext jokes, pauses to build tension... It plays with form, dips into sketch territory and even tells several complete stories. I could probably use parts of this list as an example for every entry on this newsletter.
So, if you ever need some inspiration on what you can do with just one or two lines of comedy, check out Blaine’s twitter feed. (He averages 2-3 jokes a day.)
Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving weekend. See you soon!