Serious Comedy: Humor for a Purpose

​For millennia, clowns, jesters, and fools have existed at the fringes of society, not only to grace us all with their one-line witticisms, but also to reveal truths others could not. In Serious Comedy, we'll explore the unique way humor can reveal truth. You'll learn to use humor as a powerful tool to convey ideas and connect with audiences.

​​🗓 6 classes + Final Showcase from Jan 15 – Feb 26

​​🕰️ Wednesday | 6:30pm- 9pm

​​📍 Brooklyn, 5 minute walk from Morgan Ave L stop

​You can read the full course description here, and apply here.

​This class is equal parts philosophy and practice. We’ll split class time to:

​🔎 Explore how humor can be used for truth-telling, guided by our weekly reading.

​🏃🏽‍♀️ Practice conveying ideas humorously in visual, spoken, and written form.

​We’ll ask questions like:

• ​Was Jesus funny?

  • ​According to one priest… “Well the idea that someone has a plank in their eye and another person has a speck of dust in theirs would have been funny to somebody. The problem is that because we’re so far away from that culture and that time, we don’t get some of the humor. But for people in first century Palestine the parables would have been laugh-out-loud funny.”

• ​How can we use math to write better punchlines?

• ​How can I tell a holy fool apart from a run-of-the-mill fool?

• ​How can I land a role as royal jester and get away with things like roasting a king?

  • ​“Karim Shir'ei would ridicule the whole court, including the shah. Once the shah asked whether there was a shortage of food, and the jester said ‘Yes, I see Your Majesty is eating only five times a day.’” [link]

• ​Why did Kierkegaard call humor “the incognito faith,” and how does that relate to humor’s ability to delve into existential themes?

• ​How has humor been used by the likes of George Carlin and Doestoevsky to illuminate society’s darkest corners? And can we do the same?