Week-long Intensive Beginner's Stand Up Comedy Course (day 4)

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This course is for people who have never done stand up comedy or new comedians looking to sharpen their act. We will look at the very basics of stand up comedy, from learning how to write a simple "pull back and reveal" joke to how to apply for gigs on the London circuit.

The intensive comedy course covers everything in our usual courses and allows participants to spend a significantly larger amount of time on stage. The classes will cover detailed joke writing, performance and developing your stand up persona.

Previous alumni of our intensive comedy course have won Britain's Got Talent, So You Think You’re Funny & the NATYS, and were finalists in Funny Women, the Musical Comedy Awards, British Comedian of The Year, BBC New Comedian of the Year, Not So New Comedian of the Year, and the West End New Act of the Year. 8 of our alumni won Beat the Gong at the Comedy Store and one won Beat the Frog at the Frog and Bucket in Manchester. This could be you after you take the course!

Who is teaching?

Dec Munro is a co-founder of the Bill Murray pub. He has directed shows that have won awards at the Edinburgh Festival and Leicester Comedy Festival and been seen around the world. He has worked on writing stand-up sets that have been on Live at the Apollo, Conan, Netflix, Mock the Week and Radio 4. More importantly, he loves comedy and he is excited to work with comedians at all stages of their careers.

Dec has directed stand up shows by Mawaan Rizwan, Sofie Hagen, Angela Barnes, Lara Ricote, Alasdair Beckett-King, Ellie Taylor, Andrew Hunter Murray, Stuart Goldsmith, Michael Akadiri, and Zach Zimmerman, amongst others. He has also given Outside Eyes (show notes) to acts including Viggo Venn, Jordan Brookes, Alexandra Haddow, Jonny Pelham, Shenoah Allen, Ted Hill, Joshua Bethania, Fiona Ridgewell, Steve Bugeja, Jacob Hawley, Kuan-Wen Huang and many more.

Dec's testimonials:

"I cannot recommend Dec Munro highly enough. His feedback is measured, insightful, never superfluous and ALWAYS useful." Angela Barnes

"He will make you into the best version of yourself. I am never funnier or more productive than when I am in the company of Dec." Sofie Hagen

"Definitely recommend Dec's course for anyone who wants to start in comedy and is unsure where to begin. It definitely helped me go from a local comedy club to the BBC in a very short time" Joshua Bethania (Winner of So You Think You're Funny and finalist of BBC New Comedian 2022)

"Dec Munro, award-winning director and comedic hero is our (genius) teacher. Yes, comedy, but not a sense of humour, can be taught. Just do the course —it’s brilliant." The Times, article by Caroline Phillips about Dec's intensive course, January 2024.

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Feedback from recent intensive courses:

"If you’re thinking about doing this course, just go for it. Dec knows funny. I’ve been running workshops for more than a decade and the way he handles a room is masterful. Each person is heard, supported and challenged to discover their own unique voice. We learned a lot, laughed a lot - it’s the best thing I’ve done." Ella Simms

"Dec is a genius. So incredibly generous, knowledgeable and nurturing. He helps you find your voice and creates a very encouraging atmosphere to try stuff out... everyone in the group was super kind and helped each other.. I absolutely loved this course.. Highly recommend!" Ritu Arya, Actor (Red Notice, The Barbie Movie, Umbrella Academy)

"This course was one of the best weeks of my life" Luciana Berger, Former MP & Senior Advisor inHouse Communications

"Anyone that's thinking of trying stand up comedy for the first time.. I really enjoyed it! I loved the kindness, the preparation and delicateness and first timers coming in and being excited for the ride of their life. Anyone who's thinking about doing this - I'd highly recommend it. Do it! (if you want)" David Casteneda, Actor (Sicario 2, Umbrella Academy, Most Dangerous Game)

‘I have ADHD so I really hate homework – but I actually did some for Dec! Feedback forms usually feel like a very boring chore that make my brain start to dribble out of ears while I cry and I did mostly fill this out while high but then this question made me stop and realise just how much I got out of the course and that I should finish in the morning. Morning: Dec is incredible – I was feeling lost in my own overthinking and self-doubt but the supportive and nurturing atmosphere he curated allowed me to confront vulnerabilities, actually enjoy myself, let go a bit and this helped me solve some approach and persona inner battles that I’d trying to figure out alone for 6 months – in just 5 days.’ Scarlett Kefford

“If you’re thinking of doing Dec’s comedy course, could I encourage you to do just that. It honestly might very easily be one of the best decisions of your life. Dec is encouraging, supportive, clever and insightful but above all, a wonderful human. This is hard to find in any walk of life. But what he’s got in addition to that, is a touch of magic. He somehow got our group of completely diverse newbies of totally varying abilities to get up and do a standup showcase, which was AMAZING. And to be a kind soul AND have magic powers must surely be one of the most rare things in the world. And by the way - I didn’t just learn how to write a joke, you weirdly find out who you are via the back door, and how to play against or with it for comedic effect - and you could save yourself years of therapy fees, religious conversions or gap years and find yourself here instead. If this was a theatre show I’d say JUST GO. BOOK NOW. But because it’s a comedy course, I’ll say SELL YOUR SISTER. AUCTION YOUR WIFE. You won’t regret it. Thanks Dec. You are a legend.” Jonathan Stadlen, Managing Director, Knickerbockerglory

“Feels like gaining superpowers. Dec has created a doorway into the wonderful world of comedy and I am forever thankful to him and the Bill Murray. A truly transformative experience.” Alex Bache, Creative Director

"A life changing experience that made me a better, funnier person at work and at home." Sharath Jeevan OBE (Founder, Intrinsic Labs and Lecturer at Oxford & Cambridge Universities on Leadership)

For any questions about the course or to be added to the course mailing list please email [email protected]

Tickets: £450/£325 NHS, student and unemployment discounts available - just ask

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Presented by Angel Comedy

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