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Improve Your Comedic Skills with Comedy Classes at ArtsQuest this Winter Season
Bethlehem, Lehigh Valley, PA., December 6, 2024 – ArtsQuest is excited to present its winter comedy class schedule. Each class will provide attendees with useful tips and a supportive environment to help beginners and those looking to strengthen their comedic skills. Classes are offered January through March and will conclude with a graduation show for participants to perform their material and demonstrate what they have learned.
Comedy classes will be in different locations due to the upcoming construction of the Banana Factory. Thanks to community partners like Bethlehem Area School District and the Bethlehem Area Public Library, classes can continue throughout the construction of the new Cultural Center. Within the new Cultural Center will be a 125-seat black box theater! With this designated space, ArtsQuest’s comedy programming can continue to grow and strengthen the comedic skills of Lehigh Valley comedians, both beginner and seasoned comics.
See if you are eligible for one of ArtsQuest’s scholarship opportunities! ArtsQuest scholarships are designed for individuals and families that demonstrate a financial need and interest in the visual and/or comedy performance arts. Learn more about eligibility, the application process and more when you visit https://fest.formstack.com/forms/scholarship_application.
Are you a business looking to incorporate a fun team building event for your employees? ArtsQuest offers team building improv workshops! These workshops are great for businesses and corporations looking to improve their team’s communication skills, encourage creative thinking and provide an environment for team bonding and fun. Teams will be guided by professional improvisers to learn lively exercises that teach the fundamentals of improv comedy, bolstering confidence while sparking your team’s sense of humor. Group pre-registration is required. Please contact Addyson Young, ArtsQuest Programming Specialist, at ayoung@artsquest.org to learn more.
For more information and to sign up for comedy classes, visit www.steelstacks.org. Please note that all classes require the participant to be aged 18 or older on or before the day of the first class in the session.
Comedy Classes Offered Include:
Intro to Standup with Glen Tickle
Sundays, February 2 – March 9 | Iron Conference Room – Second Floor of Visitor Center presented by Lehigh Valley Health Network from 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Grad Show: Monday, March 10 at 6:30 p.m. in the Frank Banko Alehouse Blue Cinema
Price: $154 | $140 ArtsQuest Member
This class is an introduction to standup comedy from both a creative and practical approach. Attendees will learn and apply the basics of joke construction, acquire useful tips for beginners and receive individualized feedback with the goal of producing 5 minutes of material. The class will culminate with a graduation show where participants will perform their material.
Sketch Comedy Writing 101 with Jeremiah Peck
Mondays, January 27 – March 17 (Skip February 17) | Iron Conference Room – Second Floor of the Visitor Center presented by Lehigh Valley Health Network from 7 – 9 p.m.
Grad Show: Monday, March 24 at 6:30 p.m. in the Frank Banko Alehouse Blue Cinema
Price: $179 | $160 ArtsQuest Member
This class is a weekly writer’s room designed around producing sketch comedy scripts for the stage and/or video; each week you’ll be writing new material, participating in table reads and engaging in feedback sessions with fellow students.
Highly recommended to bring a laptop computer to class each week.
- Week 1 – Sketch Comedy Basics & Script Formatting
- Week 2 – Commercial Parodies
- Week 3 – Character Spotlights
- Week 4 – Genre Parodies & Pastiches
- Week 5 – Topical Sketches
- Week 6 – Blackout Gags
- Week 7 – Rewrites Round 1
- Week 8 – Rewrites Round 2 & Grad Show Prep
Improv 101 with Laurie Wagner Storlie
Tuesdays, January 21 – March 11 | Lincoln Elementary School* from 7 – 9 p.m.
Grad Show: Monday, March 17 at 6:30 p.m. in the Frank Banko Alehouse Blue Cinema
Price: $179 | $160 ArtsQuest Member
Improv 101 focuses on the 3 core principles of comedic improvisation: agreement, being active and justification. We designed our classes to create an energetic and supportive environment for play. Whether you’ve never taken the stage before, you’re a seasoned improviser or you’re simply looking to help yourself in your career and/or life, you’ll get a lot from this class.
Tuesdays, January 21 – March 11 | Lincoln Elementary School* from 7 – 9 p.m.
Grad Show: Tuesday, March 18 at 6:30 p.m. in the Frank Banko Alehouse Blue Cinema
Price: $179 | $160 ArtsQuest Member
Improv 201 builds on the basic principles of improv and helps develop you improv skills to make strong comedic choices. By finding and exploring Game you will expand you ‘Yes, and’ abilities while also discovering all avenues that Game can play in scenes.
Must have completed Improv 101 at ArtsQuest or have equivalent experience.
Improv 301 with Justin Passino
Wednesdays, January 22 – March 12 | Bethlehem Area Public Library Recording Studio** from 7 – 9 p.m.
Grad Show: Monday, March 17 at 6:30 in the Frank Banko Alehouse Blue Cinema
Price: $179 | $160 ArtsQuest Member
Now that you’ve mastered the basic improv principles of “yes, and” and Game, Improv 301 shows you how to put these skills into action in an Improv form of your instructors choosing. Each 301 showcases a different improv form.
Students must have graduated from Improv 101 and 201 at ArtsQuest or have equivalent experience.
*Lincoln Elementary School is located at 1260 Gresham St. Bethlehem, PA 18018.
**The Bethlehem Area Public Library is located at 11 W. Church St. Bethlehem, PA 18018. The Recording Studio is in the basement.
About ArtsQuest
ArtsQuest’s mission is to provide access to exceptional artistic, cultural and educational experiences using arts and culture as key elements of economic development for our urban communities. ArtsQuest™ supports this mission via the presentation of performing and visual arts, film, arts education classes and outreach, youth programming and cultural events. Through festivals such as its flagship event, Musikfest; the Banana Factory Arts Center; and the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks arts and cultural campus, ArtsQuest’s programming reaches more than 1.9 million people annually. The organization’s programs and events, of which nearly 50% are free to attend, have a combined economic impact of more than $136 million annually in the region.
Information provided to TVL by:
Bryn Keeney
