- Reading the room: Each venue and each audience is different. We will discuss how to gather intelligence from your audience, and work out which audience members are most likely going to help create magical comedy moments.
- Asking questions: Consider how to formulate questions to audience members to maximise the chances of improvisational success.
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Navigating challenging situations:
Things can go wrong, and you’ll learn practical techniques to deal with misfires, hecklers, and unexpected responses to your improvisation. - Considerate crowd work: Learn how to speak to the audience in a way that makes them feel included and happy, without letting them take control of the interaction. Techniques for making audience members not feel ‘picked on’.
- Thinking in jokes: Concrete techniques and frameworks to ground your improvisational flights of fancy to make sure you always have an opportunity to wrap things up with a big pay off and laugh.
Ollie hosted his MC masterclass at the Clubhouse two years ago, and it remains one of the most popular workshops. It’s designed for people who already have some experience as a stand-up, and want to level up their hosting skills. It’s especially useful for anybody running or thinking of running their own night.
Ollie Horn has been a stand-up comic for over ten years, and the majority of his circuit work is as an MC for clubs like Top Secret Comedy Club, Komedia, Just The Tonic, and more. He also works as a corporate MC and event host, working for brands like Snapchat, National Geographic, and Techstars. He has taught this workshop for many years to new comics all the way to professional headline acts, who needed a bit of help to transform the skills they have as a comic to the skills of an MC.
“Amazing experience. Ollie’s workshop was really interesting and useful in building my confidence on stage as a presenter. Fun and clear, dynamic and with practical examples. Highly recommended!” — Wendy
“Ollie’s advice about bucket speeches for free shows was a game changer. Our local shows doubled the amount we were making by following his tips. You’ll make your money back taking this workshop from this advice alone” — Anna
“The participants learned so much and the reactions were so positive. Ollie draws on his own experiences to provide very useful advice and gives personalised feedback during the practical aspect of the workshop, which is extremely helpful!” — Rachel