Toronto Workshops

This year’s collective creation at SITA will focus on finding laughter and joy in our stories. We will start our series by exploring stand up comedy. We want this to be an opportunity to find joy in the stories throughout our lives that feel contradicting, embarrassing and more. We will learn to write, develop and perform our original comedic storytelling in front of a small audience. After finding our stories, we will move into a sense of play with our wonderful clown workshop. Clowning is a theatrical practice that refers to an exploration of humor, play and curiosity while learning to embrace mistakes. The most important essence of clowning is not being afraid to fail or make mistakes. We will learn to embrace our own mistakes and embrace laughter for one another through this series. Working towards a collective creation of comedic theatrical findings through our stories and identities, we will learn to deepen our movement and storytelling for the final performance.

Stand Up Comedy Exploration (May 21st & May 28th)

We will begin our series with stand-up comedy. Under our facilitators and with the help of comedian (and CAF veteran!) Max Ross, participants will be introduced to the foundations of comedic performance. They will learn about joke writing, stage presence, timing and other aspects that are fundamental to getting up in front of an audience and getting some laughs. Participants will begin working on the foundations of their devised piece during this time.

Attendance is not compulsory, yet we strongly urge everyone to join as many sessions as feasible to foster teamwork and foster ensemble creation. In an open, safe, and inclusive atmosphere, we'll bond and explore our individual stories through humor. No prior performance, comedy, or clowning experience is needed, nor is there any pressure to be anything other than yourself. Come, enjoy, and embrace curiosity.