A Lil' Laughing Color

A Lil' Laughing Color: An introduction to writing and performing life-affirming stand up comedy Workshop Instructor: Chelsea Shorte So often as trans and queer people we come together to process the macro- and micro-aggressions affecting our lives. Rarely, do we discuss them in such a way as to bring us comfort in their ridicule, but laughter is a vital resource for our communities' healing and survival. Life affirming comedy includes performances that bring us joy and affirm our lives and the lives of those we love. Life affirming comedy is funny without making fun of people, especially marginalized people or experiences. In this workshop we will conquer our fear of standing alone on stage and attempting to make an audience laugh; learn some basic structure for writing stand up comedy and practice these writing structures with solo, partner, and group exercises. We will use instructor, partner and group feedback to mold funny ideas into anti-oppressive comedy.