chrishead | Courses

London, Brighton, Bristol, Stroud & Online Classes:

Stand-up, Sitcom & Sketch Comedy

I run stand-up comedy, sketch and sitcom classes in London, Brighton, Bristol, Stroud and online. People often ask: what's it like and who comes? I was going to write an answer but thought pictures would do a better job. In the video and the gallery are photos of a stand-up class at the Old Coffee House pub in Soho (the writing classes are similar just less standing up). Plus there's a video giving a taste of a showcase gig at the end of a stand-up course. And if you DO want some words to read, the BBC Arts editor (then Tate Media director) did the stand-up class 10 years ago and wrote about it in the Guardian and here is an article from 2019 in the London Evening Standard. Below are the courses currently on offer. There are a lot of stand-up classes! New sketch and sitcom classes are coming in 2020 online and in Bristol, with more to follow.

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Jump to: London Brighton Bristol Stroud Online

London/ 10 weeks

Stand-up Course - Monday nights (Level 1)

20th April - 29th June 2020
(Not 25th May)

@ Old Coffee House, Beak Street,

Soho, LONDON, W1F 9SF

LEVEL 1 STAND-UP For nervous newcomers to stand-up (and more confident ones too). Learn how to stand up, be yourself and be funny in front of an audience in the exact same way you're funny with your friends. Just with more punchlines per minute.

Over ten weeks, create and perform a brand new five-minute stand up comedy act. In the experienced hands of Chris Head (comedy director, teacher and author of "A Director's Guide to the Art of Stand-up") you will be guided through developing your persona, creating material and delivering it so it works.
This highly acclaimed stand-up course has been running for over twelve years and hundreds have done it. Why do it? Some do it for the killer public speaking skills (no work presentations or wedding speeches are a problem after this). Some to tick stand-up off their bucket list. Some want to get out onto the stand-up circuit - and they do.

£275 full fee/ £245 concession

Place can be secured with a £50 deposit

Full info & booking (via JokePit)

London/ 10 weeks

Stand-up Course - Tuesday nights (Level 2)

21st April - 23rd June 2020

@ Old Coffee House, Beak Street,

Soho, LONDON, W1F 9SF

Over ten weeks, work on your stand-up and develop your own particular interests whether that's longer club sets, festival shows or a specialism like musical comedy, impressions or one-liners - and perform some brand new material in a 7 minute set on the showcase gig at the end of the course in Soho. In the experienced hands of Chris Head (comedy director, teacher and author of "A Director's Guide to the Art of Stand-up") this inspiring course will stretch your writing and performance, equipping you with new tools, new material and enhanced performance with a stronger sense of your persona. Features a Q&A on corporate gigs and gigging in Europe & the US (plus other industry issues) with Geoff Whiting of Mirth Control.

£225 full fee/ £195 concession

Place can be secured with a £50 deposit

Full info & booking (via JokePit)

Brighton/ Weekend

Stand-up Course - Weekend Intensive (Beginners & Improvers)

1st & 2nd February 2020

@ The Southern Belle
3 Waterloo St, Hove BN3 1AQ

In the experienced hands of Chris Head (comedy director, teacher and author of "A Director's Guide to the Art of Stand-up") you will be guided through developing your persona, creating material and delivering it so it works. All experience levels welcome. The course will meet you where you're at. Newer acts or beginners will grow in confidence and develop their first material. Acts with some experience will find out more about their persona and comic style, will add some tools to their toolkit and will develop new material.

£99 full fee/ £89 concession

Place can be secured with a £50 deposit

Full info & booking (via JokePit)

Stroud/ 5 x Saturdays

Stand-up Course - Saturdays (Beginners & Improvers)

14th, 21st, 28th March, 4th April

with rehearsal/ show on 18th April

@ Stroud Brewery Bar, London Rd, STROUD GL5 2BY

Over five Saturdays create and perform a brand new five-minute stand up comedy act and perform in a special showcase gig, all at Stroud Brewery. In the experienced hands of Chris Head (comedy director, teacher and author of "A Director's Guide to the Art of Stand-up") you will be guided through developing your persona, creating material and delivering it so it works. All experience levels welcome. The course will meet you where you're at. Newer acts or beginners will grow in confidence and develop their first material. Acts with some experience will find out more about their persona and comic style, will add some tools to their toolkit and will develop new material.

£105 full fee/ £95 concession

Place can be secured with a £50 deposit

Full info & booking (via JokePit)

Online/ Coming soon!

Sketch Comedy

& Sitcom Writing

A new online course starting early 2020.

Please contact to express interest.

Bristol/ Weekend

Improv to Sketch & Sitcom

25th/ 26th April 2020

Improv scene work will lead to written sketches. These sketches will then be the springboard into sitcom scenes, all the while drawing on improv to discover more about the world and the characters. Leave the course with three finished sketches, ideas for many more and the tools to write them up. You’ll also collaboratively develop a sitcom on the course! This might even be an idea you do something with beyond the weekend, but at the very least having created one show you will have a greater understanding of how to do it again.

£99

Full info & booking (via BIT)