A Guide To Stand Up Comedy In The South Bay

How did the man with a million facial expressions (Jim Carrey) get his start? How did Will Ferrell feel the first time he stepped foot onstage to crack some laughs? Even the great Groucho Marx had to be nervous when he was still a novice in the industry of laughter. Consider learning from the best of the best in the South Bay by taking a class or joining a group dedicated to learning the higher art of being funny.

While headquartered in San Francisco, BATS Improv Bayfront Theater offers an off-site training program which is customized to each unique need based on the group or company hiring its services. BATS brings the training to your company, organization or off-site facility. All training programs can be structured as half-day, full-day or fit to a specific schedule. These extremely engaging and customized courses will teach people within your group or organization how to build teamwork and collaborate, spark creativity and innovation, strengthen communication, role play and practice improv for the workplace. Pricing for workshops include half-day rates plus mileage per diem and additional accommodation costs. To see a complete list of pricing options, click here. To learn more or to book an On-The-Go team, contact chris@improv.org. While it's headquartered in San Francisco, this training seminar travels to South Bay regularly.

Picturing the audience in their underwear might not be one of the class pointers you'll learn from SFCC during this free workshop.  Instead, SFCC founder Kurtis Matthews will brief you with a thorough understanding of the 'what you can expects' if you do decide to embark on the five-week beginner courses offered. SFCC will help you get a taste of what is involved in becoming a side-splitting jokester. This class is limited to 15 students and also allows you to test your chops on stage at the San Jose Improv. Check the website for upcoming workshops.

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Rooster T Feathers
157 W El Camino Real
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
(408) 736-0921
www.roostertfeathers.com

If you want to discover the tricks to the trade of laughter, studying comedy at Rooster T. Feathers is a great way to get started. Classes cover topics on joke development, ways to get stage time, performance style, microphone techniques, emceeing and how to use social media to market your funniness. Regardless of your goal or level, Rooster T Feathers is the place to get started. Sessions are taught by Rooster's owner Heather Barbieri, Rooster's marketing manager Beth Schumann and San Francisco's own stand-up comedian Joe Klocek. Email roosterbookings@yahoo.com for more information and to confirm class dates and times.

If you're not one to drive to a comedy club or to hire out a comedic coach for yourself, consider joining this online group comprised of almost 330 members who share the same desire: to learn how to improvise and want to improve the art of comedy. Through Meetup.com, the South Bay Improv Fun group meets every week for two hours of exercises and games in hopes of teaching and inspiring others to learn spontaneity, explore disparate personalities and train yourself to become more imaginative with stand-up comedy. The group organizers ask that you give a voluntary donation of $5-$10. You will first need to join the group before attending a meet-up session.

For adults and high-school students, ComedySportz offers training sessions for those who want a fun and supportive team to teach improvisational thinking and good conversational skills. From beginner level to advanced, learn the basics during an eight-week course of your choosing. Sign up online for any of the adult courses by clicking here and sign up for high-school courses by clicking here.

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