Have you always wanted to try stand up? Are you hilarious online or around friends, but never tried comedy in front of a live audience? Then this workshop is for you - a space to tell your story as part of the Songbook project. We’ll look at different aspects of stand up, from generating material, to finding your comic voice and honing your stage presence. Using discussion, exercises and games you'll create a short set, which you will share at the end of the 4 hour session. And you’ll leave with the skills to develop this for performance at the Songbook event, in September.

About the facilitator:

Gemma Leader (she/they) is a queer stand up, actor, facilitator and director. After trying one of those "proper jobs" (in advertising) for almost a decade, they decided that it would be far more stable and lucrative to become a comedian and actor. So they started doing stand up in 2008, gigging around the UK and writing shows for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Since then, they've been one half of double act Leads & Stern and acted in plays and short films. They started teaching stand up at Soho Theatre in 2012 and created Above Your Nerve, a theatre company specialising in comedy, cabaret, drag and theatre, in 2021, to continue supporting and nurturing emerging artists.

Songbook is part of the Thames Pride Arts Festival, celebrating arts and culture in SE London.