Point Loma Playhouse has resumed hosting an intensive, six-week stand-up comedy workshop and showcase taught by professional comedian Tony Calabrese.
The class will be held Wednesdays from 7 to 10 p.m. in the playhouse theater at 3035 Talbot St. from April 19 to May 24. Class size is limited.
The stand-up comedy workshop can benefit those wishing to improve their humorous speaking, offering all the tools and skills needed for personal improvement.
“It’s for all skill levels, beginners to working comics,” said banker-turned-comedian Calabrese, who’s had students who’ve “taken it as many as eight times.”
A discipline for people looking to improve their communication skills, Calabrese noted the stand-up workshop can benefit any public speakers who want to interject more humor into their presentations. He noted it’s especially helpful for salespeople.
Calabrese said it’s also important for prospective students to note that none of the humor taught in his class is off-color.
“I really work clean,” he said. “Clean is green.”
A fan of comedy since childhood, Calabrese was president of Point Loma Community Bank before he had an epiphany and became a stand-up comedian. He pointed out it’s easy for a comic to tell whether they’re succeeding or not.
“The audience votes,” he said. “If they’re not laughing – it’s not funny.”
Calabrese said humor can be taught.
“I can teach anyone to craft a five-minute set that’s funny,” he said adding, “I can’t make ‘them’ funny. But I can help them craft their jokes. Taking this class will help them to be able to look at anything in life and make it funny.”
There’s one other thing students will learn in Calabrese’s stand-up comedy class.
“My class is about writing, speaking and editing,” the comic said. “Stand-up is as much about writing as it us about the spoken word.”
If you’re interested in perfecting your speaking style by interjecting humor, or polishing your overall presentation, Calabrese said his workshop may be for you.
“It’s for people who want to lighten up their presentation and get people people to laugh and pay more attention to you,” he said.
Engagement is critical to capturing an audience, no matter what the speaker’s purpose, said Calabrese.
“The audience doesn’t care about you,” he cautioned. “You’re nothing to them – until you make them laugh. When you do that, they’re connected. By making them laugh you’re getting them engaged. This class really helps with that.”
If you have a knack for it, there’s nothing like being a comic, confessed Calabrese.
“It’s quite an adrenaline rush,” he said. “Nothing comes close. I’m on stage for 45 minutes to an hour, and when you come off, the feeling you get is on top of the world. It’s addictive.” Stand-up comedy workshop Where: Point Loma Playhouse, 3035 Talbot St. When: Wednesdays, 7 to 10 p.m., April 19 to May 24 Info: [email protected], www.pointlomaplayhouse.com.