I can coach you in COMEDY WRITING and SPEAKING and I have over 25 years experience. Every week I do multiple one-to-one sessions via Zoom on comedy scripts and stand-up. I am friendly, patient and approachable and I will inspire you.
I teach comedy writing for BBC Writersroom, Bath Spa University and the British Library, and mentor writers and develop scripts with a TV production company.
I run online Zoom and in person comedy courses that anyone can join. I coach sitcom, comedy drama, sketch and stand-up writing. And if you are performing your work, I can coach you in the delivery and performance.
My speaking training also has an unusual focus on getting the content and the words right before looking at the delivery. Speaking coaching clients include PwC, Allen & Overy and Superheroes ad agency (Amsterdam). I also work with individuals.
And I direct shows of original material, from stand-up to comedy plays, for the stage. I work with original material as again I have a sharp focus on the writing as well as the performance. My live directing work has been seen at Soho Theatre, Bloomsbury Theatre (London), Pleasance, Assembly and Underbelly (Edinburgh) as well as internationally including Melbourne Comedy Festival.
I am the author of Creating Comedy Narratives for Stage and Screen and A Director's Guide to the Art of Stand-up both published by Bloomsbury Methuen.
R E V I E W S (Directing & Coaching)
“Head’s style is refreshingly breezy and simultaneously substantial. He offers practical insights: for example, audiences do not laugh at material, they laugh with or at the performer who discovers a compelling comedic self. In this remarkable manual, Head demonstrates what Horace Walpole once observed, namely that life is a comedy to those who think. And Head helps each comedic persona think.”
CHOICE (USA) on "A Director's Guide to the Art of Stand-up"
"There are poignant moments in Chris Head’s production... but any threatened earnestness is undercut with wit or absurdity... The most entertaining elements here are the meta-theatrical interludes, in which Dunn and Metcalf step out of the action to talk about their creative process. The rivalry that characterises their double act is brilliantly sustained with faultless comic timing".
The Times (on "You Only Live Forever", Edinburgh Fringe 2018)
"It’s beautifully directed - the drama of the play develops alongside the comedy of the between-scene interludes: ingenious & compelling."
Gyles Brandreth (on "You Only Live Forever", Edinburgh Fringe 2018)
"For the next 10 weeks, every Wednesday evening, in a room above a pub in central London, I learned how to be funny. My tutor was called Chris... His understanding of comedy was captivating, encyclopaedic."
Will Gompertz, BBC Arts Editor (writing in the Guardian) on Chris Head's stand-up course
"Everyone who attended [the stand-up course] managed to craft five minutes of comedy delivered with surprising confidence and pizazz on the night [of the end-of-course show]. The performances I saw were incredibly polished and (thankfully) very funny. While naturally some were funnier than others, I would never have guessed they were a bunch of first timers. "
London Evening Standard
"Having brought his stand-up course into 180 Amsterdam, Lida and The Mill, Chris Head is an advocate for the fact that many of the skills needed to perform comedy on stage can translate into other creative spheres."
Mark Sinclair, Creative Review
"I've been on several comedy courses and there's only ever been lip-service paid to the writing element. Chris actually makes sure we produce something and he's very good at giving supportive, technical feedback."
Mary McKenna, Marketing Consultant (quoted in The Guardian)
“Chris has a magical way of gently extracting your best, then making you feel like it was all your idea....”
Craig Leggo, Comic
“The ideal person to nurture new talent.”
John Crace, The Guardian
