Next Session Begins Sunday September 13, 10am-1pm OR Tuesday, September 15, 6pm-9pm.

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Started in 2005, this 8 session course is designed to develop 15-20 minute professional level solo theater pieces using a variety of writing and performance techniques. Each student will create a unique and personal performance piece that will culminate in a public theater performance at the end of the course. The class is recommended for performers of all disciplines, including actors, writers, comedians, spoken word artists, musicians and dancers. People of all levels of experience are welcome, from those who have never been on stage before to those preparing a piece for a professional production or audition. Members of the workshop have gone on to perform their shows all over the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and recently two shows have been featured in The International New York Fringe Theater Festival.

WHEN/WHERE:
Location: Stage Werx Theatre 533 Sutter Street @ Powell Street, San Francisco, 94102

Race from a Racy Angle

Newest iteration of The W. Kamau Bell Curve comes to La Peña Cultural Center.

W. Kamau Bell went down in history for telling the first-ever Obama joke on Comedy Central, way back in 2005. At the time, Obama was best known for his rousing speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention. He was definitely a looker on the US Senate, but his presidential ambitions were vague at best. Bell announced that there would never be a black president named Barack Obama. (“Black Osama? Ummmm ummmm,” Bell jeered, imitating an incredulous Red State voter.) Bell kept the bit in his repertoire for another year and a half. Then he decided he was hurting Obama’s chances.

It was the comedian’s first brush with topical humor, which now constitutes the bulk of his new one-man show, The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour. Read More…

Solo Writing and Performance Workshops with Comedy Central Stage Artistic Director Paul Stein

Saturday July 18 10a-1p , 2p-5p & Sunday, July 19 10-a-1p, 2p-5p

San Francisco, CA

Description Two days of workshops on how to take your solo show and turn it into a piece that best showcases your story and your specific gifts. Taught by Paul Stein, the former Associate Producer of the HBO Workspace and currently Artistic Director of the Comedy Central Stage in Hollywood, this workshop will show you how to create and make decisive choices with your show… not obvious ones.  Through lecture, handouts, video presentations, discussion, and an opportunity for critical analysis of your work, this two-day workshop will touch upon writing, shaping, performing and producing your unique idea. Helpful to the beginner or experienced solo performer, these workshops are for everyone from stand-up comedians to performers with more dramatic pieces. Mr. Stein’s unique look at solo performance, gained from a dozen years of working with solo shows in Hollywood and at numerous festivals, will provide a perspective that cannot be missed.

This workshop is proudly presented by W. Kamau Bell & The Solo Performance Workshop.

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