Even before Egolution had wrapped up my friends were asking what I’d be doing “next.”  When I hear that question part of me thinks, “take a vacation,” but I think my friends know me too well and know that’s not really an option.  As of last Wednesday night I’ve taken on a project for the summer that will hopefully help the local comedy scene and teach me a whole bunch of new stuff along the way.

The thought process on this began last April when I was bumped from an “Amateur Workshop” that I was scheduled to present at The Calgary Yuk Yuk’s Club.  I was disappointed primarily because I was really looking forward to running the workshop.  After the one that I ran last November (and the good reviews that it got it), I had put a bunch of work into a new presentation and I didn’t want it to go to waste.  Rescheduling for another Wednesday night was not really going to work with my performance schedule and then the Amateur Nights were to go on hiatus for the summer.

Many of the local “up and coming” comics were also disappointed that they would be losing such a valuable learning tool over the next couple of months.  Turns out that I wasn’t the only one that felt bad about it.  Both my friends Marcus Beaubier (a comedian) and Scott Robertson (the Calgary Yuk Yuk’s club manager) wanted to keep it going, but it was clear that it wouldn’t work for these summer months the way that it had been running.  So the three of us got together and created a new structure for the evenings and agreed that we would work as a team to try and help make the whole “new comedian scene” even better.

Last Wednesday night we took the first step with a room full of comedians at Yuk’s Calgary.  Every amateur comic in attendance did a short three minute set and was given feedback from both myself and Marcus.  I think it’s reasonable to say that everyone learned something and had fun doing it (including Marcus and me). That’s really all the information that we needed to decide to keep it going.

We’re going to spend the next several Wednesday nights (possibly right through until September) running various workshops, coaching sessions, and the like, to help everyone become better performers and comedians. This coming Wednesday, June 2, we’ll split up the amateurs into groups based on what we think they need the most help with.  Marcus and I will each take a group to ensure that our feedback and suggestions are slightly more personalized than within the large group (click here for the Facebook event).

There will also be a couple of shows featuring the Amateurs throughout the summer.  The first such show will take place on June 23 and be hosted by myself (click here for the Facebook event). Should be a fun evening of getting to see these people take some of their first steps into comedy.

What’s in it for us?  While I’d like to claim altruism is our primary intention (and that is a part of it), I have always enjoyed sharing my knowledge and experience for the simple fact that it reinforces those lessons in my own head.  Just by the act of teaching, I learn, and that’s a pretty good way to spend the summer.

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