Stand-up Comedy Courses at New Forest Comedy Festival
At the New Forest Comedy Festival, Above Your Nerve is running two stand-up courses as part of the festival.
Above Your Nerve is offering two stand-up courses as part of the New Forest Comedy Festival this year – one for complete beginners, and the other for emerging acts.
The Beginners Course runs for five weeks on Tuesdays from 25 April to 23 May at The Dusty Barrel in Hythe. Full details and booking information.
The Emerging Acts Course runs on Wednesdays from 26 April to 24 May at The Attic At River Studios, Totton. Full details and booking information.
Both courses end with a showcase event where you’ll perform a short excerpt from your work.
Led by Gemma Leader of Above Your Nerve, these courses are tailored for 18+ years old participants and cover various topics such as generating material, structuring a set, finding a comic voice and more.
These classes are an excellent opportunity to gain insider knowledge on the world of stand-up comedy as well as interact with experienced professionals who can provide helpful feedback and guidance.
About Gemma Leader and Above your Nerve
In 2008, after spending nearly a decade working in advertising for one of what she calls a “proper job”, Gemma Leader decided to pursue a more reliable and lucrative career as a comedian and actor. Thus, she began performing stand-up comedy around Britain and writing show scripts for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. From there on out, she has been half of the double act Leads & Stern, acting in plays and short films.
In addition to her comedy performance and writing work, Gemma has tutored aspiring comics at Soho Theatre since 2012. She strives to provide a secure and encouraging environment for those learning the craft of stand-up, honing their stage persona, and planning for success in the comedic world.
Her teaching resulted in her collaborating with some extraordinary rising talents such as Jack Rooke (‘Good Grief’) and Bimini Bon-Boulash (‘RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’).
Through her classes at Soho Theatre, she has been able to gain a deeper understanding of stand-up comedy. Her teaching approach and courses have developed over the years and this led Gemma to create Above Your Nerve in order to further foster fresh talent. Above Your Nerve is devoted to discovering and boosting unheard voices from underrepresented groups, so that the comedic world accurately reflects our societies and planet.
As a director, Gemma seeks to work together with artists in order to draw out the greatest in them and their work. Her goal is to support their ideas, cultivate their material and perfect their performances. She partnered with Charlotte Fox for ‘Mercury Retrograde’ and was recently added to Shotgun Carousel’s creative team for ‘The Grotteaux’.