Description
In this 6-week course, you’ll take your skills to the next level by working on your stand-up comedy joke writing and performing skills. Build a routine using the Greg Dean Method of stand-up comedy, work out the bugs, manage and master stage fright. Learn how to read the audience and work with them to get every last laugh you can! Get feedback from fellow comedians, and get personal one-on-one time with Greg or Gayla!
- Prerequisites: You must complete the Level 1 – How to Build a Stand-Up Comedy Routine class.
- 6-week course including a showcase
- Checkout the optional showcase video review
- Learn in person with Greg Dean at the Santa Monica Playhouse
- Learn live over Zoom (remote) with Gayla Johnson
Course Details
People of all experience levels complete the Level 1 course prior to moving onto the Level 2 course. Other students have repeated the Level 2 course to continue to refine their sets and performance skills.
Advanced specialties you can choose to work on
- Becoming an opener – First up every class to build the best 5 Minutes for the showcase.
- Crowd work – Practice crowd work in every class to build the best 5 minutes for the showcase.
- MC training – Intro 3 comedians for the showcase and MC for the students in every class.
- Handling hecklers – Practice 5 minute set with crowd work that leads to getting heckled. Build the best 5 minutes for the showcase.
What you’ll learn
- Writing Jokes, Tags, and Punching Up Your Routine
- Editing, Cutting, Rewriting Jokes
- Adding Funny Stories to your Routines
- Adding Jokes to Your Funny Stories
- Defining & Mastering a joke premise
- Pulling the Audience into Your Comedy “Movie”
- Being Yourself on Stage
- Reading & Interacting with the Audience in Front of You
- Tags & Tag timing
- What to Do When You Go Blank
Two ways to learn
- In-person – Greg Dean teaches at the Santa Monica Playhouse on Wednesday nights from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm PST.
- Zoom – Gayla Johnson teaches over Zoom on Monday afternoon from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm PST. Zoom links and documentation will be sent to you prior to your first class. Please look for this email from us 1 to 3 days before your class starts.
Performance on week 6
- In-person – On Sunday at the Hollywood Improv on 8162 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046, students arrive at 3:00 pm, showcase is 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm. The Hollywood Improv will sell tickets to the show and each student is expected to bring 3 or more paying guests.
- Zoom – Online performance with Gayla Johnson, tickets required and each student is expected to bring guests to the show. Students are expected to arrive an hour before the showcase. Showcase time to be announced. Tickets for the showcase can be purchased here.
Your instructors
The Professor of Stand Up Comedy
Greg Dean
Greg Dean, the Professor of Stand-Up Comedy, is the author of the international bestseller, Step-by-Step to Stand Up Comedy. It’s now sold in six different languages. Creator of the original Joke Structure technique. Greg Dean has been teaching stand up comedy for over 40 years and is a true innovator in the field of stand-up comedy education, having launched the first stand-up comedy school in the world.
Certified Greg Dean Instructor
Gayla Johnson
Gayla Johnson is a well-known talented actress and Stand-up Comedian, appearing on Comedy Central, Comics Unleashed, and Showtime Special, “Fierce Funny Women, Headlining at the comedy store Improv, Ice House Comedy Club and Laugh Factory. She toured London and Montreal comedy clubs. She’s also toured many west coast comedy clubs, such as Laugh Out Loud, Rooster T. Feathers, Laughs Unlimited, and Santa Barbara Comedy Club.
