The Art of Comedy - 6 Week Workshop Series

Comedy isn't just entertainment - it's a form of intelligence that changes how you see the world. This series draws on universal comedic principles to unlock creativity, joy, and and the emotional and spiritual fortitude that gets us through dark times.

Culled from over 40 years of experience, this class teaches comedy as a life skill, a tool for connection and a spiritual practice by deepening and developing the "sense" in sense of humor — what Viktor Frankl called one of the "soul's greatest weapons in the fight for Self-Preservation."

We'll explore comedy as a deep and essential part of our nature and an urgently necessary remedy for the stress of our times.

"When the usual patterns of life are disrupted, the comic spirit strives for a return to normalcy. The comic vision is not polarized, but complex: comedy sees many aspects simultaneously, and seeks for a strategy that will resolve problems with a minimum of pain and confrontation. The comic way is not heroic or idealistic; rather, it is a strategy for survival."

- Josep W. Meeker, 'The Comedy of Survival'

No prior stage or performance experience is required, just a willingness to play and experiment with radically different ways of seeing.

When: Tuesdays, 6 - 8pm, Nov 3 - Dec 15 (no class Nov 24, for Thanksgiving)
Where: In-person in Seattle - exact venue confirmed closer to the start date, based on class size
Cost: $550 (including fees) for the full series
Class size: Capped at 12

The Cadence

Week 1 - The Comic Spirit
We'll explore comedy from all sides. What makes something funny? What is a "sense" of humor, and what function does it serve? We'll trace comedy through history, from the Shakespearean Fool to comedy as political protest, and begin uncovering your own comedic style.

Week 2 - Improv
We'll use improv as a frame for creating comedy — mining its principles for the universal rules creativity relies on. Learn to let go, get stupid, find flow, collaborate, and create in the moment from what's already there.

Week 3 - Storytelling
We enter the realm of story — the most powerful, most human tool for connection. We'll look at structure, mining comedy from personal stories, building personal myths, and how story shapes your worldview and comic lens.

- Thanksgiving Break, no class Nov 24 -

Week 4 - Characters
Building on everything so far, we dig into character exploration and the joy of borrowing from others for comedic enrichment. We'll begin refining performance skills — voice, physicality, detail.

Week 5 - Clown
Our final class together enters the sacred space of the clown — the archetype that holds everything at once. The clown teaches us to problem-solve, to be vulnerable and fearless, and to move forward by thinking backward. We'll also talk act creation, in preparation for our Class Comedy Show.

Week 6 - Class Comedy Show
We close the series together, sharing what we've built in a low-key, supportive room. This isn't a performance to nail — it's a celebration of the work.

Cancellation policy: Full refund available up to 6 weeks before the series starts (by September 22, 2026).