Comedy craft: Building literacy and confidence through stand-up comedy
Improving literacy among the homeless through comedy.
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"The workshop made me feel more confident in myself and I built up the courage to write down jokes, one liners, and comedy and Jo Jo gave me the confidence to say what I wrote down out loud to all my friends. So I’m grateful for that I really do appreciate it”- Learner
This project addressed unmet literacy needs among homeless individuals through the medium of comedy. Workshops provided an innovative learning platform for participants who may prefer something different to traditional classroom settings.
The 5-day workshop took place in Cork Simon’s Education, Training and Employment training centre in August 2024.
Stand-up comedian Joanne Heffernan ran the workshop and created a fun and engaging environment. 11 learners took part in the course.
The workshop covered the following topics:
Day 1: Foundations of Comedy: participants learnt the basics of joke structure, focusing on assumptions, attitude, topic, and opinion. They also brainstormed ideas for their own material.
Day 2: Making It Funny: learners explored various comedy techniques like wordplay, punchlines, and playing with audience expectations.
Day 3: Delivery and Feedback: participants practiced delivering jokes and shared feedback with each other. Discussions focused on audience reactions and techniques on how to keep audiences interested.
Day 4: Building Confidence: learners practiced using microphones and learnt how to fine tune writing and delivery skills.
Day 5: Showcase and Celebration: learners performed their material in a final show.
Feedback has been extremely positive. Learners enjoyed the comedy angle and novelty of the experience. They also valued the opportunity to engage with a supportive facilitator and to try something new.
Participants reported the workshop significantly improved their reading, writing, and researching skills.
Learners also improved their confidence by practising jokes, using a microphone, and performing in front of others.
Several mentioned forming bonds with classmates and enjoying new social connections.
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Learners preparing their stand-up routines.
This project was a collaboration between Cork Simon Community and Cork Foyer.
For more information about the project, please contact Veronica Bowen, CETB Regional Literacy Coordinator at veronica.bowen@corketb.ie
The Adult Literacy for Life Collaboration and Innovation Fund
The Collaboration and Innovation Fund supports projects for adults with unmet literacy, numeracy and digital literacy needs and projects that support organisations to be literacy friendly. The closing date for 2024 applications has now passed but keep an eye out for information on our 2025 fund which will be launched in December.
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