Comedy

Program Price: $498 Deposit of $2,998 Total

Welcome to Revolution31. If you want to learn the fundamentals of comedy and gain a superior understanding of its concepts and practices, this program may be for you.

The program lasts about 3 days (44 hours), during which you will be spending the entire time with all three instructors: Barry "Extramask" Kirkey, Greg, and Stefan.

The course fee covers both the theory and practical teachings of all instructors, including these key concepts:

• Knowing what is "Lame"

• Understanding "The Number One Audience" - you

• Pranks

• Likeability

• Joke Analysis

• Telling a Story

• Beating a Dead Horse

• Classic Humor - Revisited

• Imitations

• The Save!

• The Impact of Mood

• Props and Gags

• The Joke Methodology

• Comedy Styles

To reserve your spot, all you need is a down payment of $498. If you would like to learn all about this, and more, we recommend you read the full course outline below...

The Revolution31 comedy program is designed to help anyone become supremely comfortable with ones self when socializing with others using comedy. Not only does it enhance your opinion of yourself, but you will find that with the practice and common sense you learn, you can become the centre of attention during a night out, or even on a regular work day.

What defines the superior quality of this program is that you will have the advantage of having all three instructors teaching you, and only you. The program offers a 3 to 1 instructor to student ratio to ensure that you get the highest quality of learning, and the most dedicated effort on behalf of Revolution31.

Instructors

The lead course instructor is Barry Kirkey, also known as "26" and "Extramask." Barry’s unique combination of social ability and comedy are widely known to be the best in the business. The two other instructors are Stefan Anton and Greg Corcoran.

You will get their full undivided attention. All three instructors have been best of friends for 15 years, and have collaborated on thousands of comedic endeavors.

The Program, Time, Setting and Activities

The comedy program runs a total of 44 hours, 24 of those are "in-class" hours. The in-class schedule is as follows:

Friday: 7:00 pm to 2:00 am
Saturday: 11:00 am to 11:00 pm
Sunday: 9:00 am to 2:00 pm

This means that you will be spending this entire time (3 days) with all three instructors. From each of them you will learn new skills and new ways of thinking over the duration of the program.

Your meals will be paid for. This includes 3 meals on the Saturday, and 2 meals on the Sunday.

You will be lodged with "Extramask" (Barry), Stefan and Greg. Yes, you will be sleeping in Barry’s comfortable apartment with all amenities, and in the presence of all three instructors.

In brief, some of the in-field activities include:

• Learning what "Lame" is (this is a key concept, if you don’t know this, then you cannot learn to be funny)

• Analyzing "Real Life" as the most abundant gold mine of comedy;

• Learning how to execute a successful prank, safely and effectively;

• Learning new jokes or stories, and how to deliver them in a public setting;

• Attending and analyzing an improvisational or a stand-up comedy show;

• Learning to use the right props or gags at the right time;

• Learning to let go of any shame you might have or think you might get when executing a joke in public;

• Learning to become the centre of attention in any situation, and learn to handle it with class.

The Comedy Program – Key Concepts

Here are some of the basic concepts you will be able to learn at an advanced level:

Lame

Lame is one of the most important key aspects of "understanding" the basics of humor and this is something that you will gain from our 3-day program. The term "lame" can be defined as something that does not fit the standard social norm - or to put it bluntly, "uncool." The magic of humor is this: you can turn something that is exceptionally lame into something that is exceptionally funny.

For example, do you remember going on vacation as a child with your family? All those pictures you took with those "straight arms and fake grin." Well, now imagine going on a vacation as an adult, and taking 300 pictures in different settings, but every single one of them has YOU in that picture with the same straight-arm-fake-grin pose. Then when you get back, you show your friends 300 pictures of you looking the exact same throughout the entire vacation.

This example is a simple one, but it outlines the key aspect of understanding that something is lame, but turning it around to make it funny. Doing this naturally is one of the important lessons you will learn.

Consider someone who does not understand the concept of Lame trying to be funny. If you think hard enough you might come to a logical conclusion: it’s virtually impossible.

Why?

Because that person does not fully understand the joke he’s telling.

Then consider a situation in which you’re working in an office, and someone sends you an e-mail forward of a Dilbert cartoon. That sender has been programmed to think that Dilbert is funny even though it might be one of the most unoriginal pieces of comedy to be printed in the history of cartoons.

Do you think anything about this is funny? No?

Wrong.

It’s actually quite genius, and the sender doesn’t even know it. The sender is a relative comedy gold mine because he doesn’t know how lame it is. Chances are, you probably get 4 or 5 useless forwards from that same person every day. Learn to cherish and embrace these situations, because once you find them, they can provide you with hours and hours of boisterous laughter.

Your Number One Audience is YOU

If you tell a joke that is funny, laugh. Laugh and laugh. Arguably, telling a joke for your own benefit should be the only reason why anyone would want to engage in comedy. If something you say or do makes you happy and it makes you laugh, roll with it as much as you can and enjoy it. This is one of the most important lessons you will learn from the program.

However, there is a side-effect to laughing at your own jokes, consider this:

When you see a stand up comedian that is just so funny that it makes him laugh, do you ever notice what happens with the audience? They laugh more. That’s because, laughter is infectious. If you are having a noticeably good time with the jokes you are using, that good time will rub-off on the people around you.

Pranks

Pulling of a good prank can create the most memorable moments you’ll ever experience. These are usually accompanied with fits of uncontrollable violent laughter.

The comedy program will help provide you with knowledge on how to execute a successful prank, and will also help you understand the difference between a direct prank, and an indirect prank. During the program, you will be a direct witness to execution of at least one prank.

Note:
As a student of the comedy program, you will never be a target recipient of any prank. The objective is to provide you with exposure on how pranks are successfully executed, and not to embarrass you or cause emotional distress.

A "Direct Prank" is one that affects one (or very few people) directly, and perhaps physically. For example, a common historical prank is cradling a bucket of paint over a door that is slightly ajar. Once the victim opens the door the paint spills onto them. Direct pranks are almost never recommended by Revolution31, as they can cause physical harm to yourself or the victim. These will not be a focus of the program.

An "Indirect Prank" does not need be at someone’s expense and should always be harmless. It can be something as simple as placing a note on a public urinal that reads "Poo Goes Here" and waiting for people’s reaction in a nearby stall.

Not only is this ridiculously funny to you, the culprit, but it will almost certainly cause some semblance of laughter among the prank recipient (i.e., anyone who walks into the public bathroom). This type of prank will be explored and explained during the program.

A "Lie Prank" is also something the program can teach you. This a fake story, or a harmless lie which is designed to keep people at the edge of their seat, and hanging on to each and every word you’re saying.. If you know someone well enough, you might be able to tell them a lie about the most bizarre day you just had at work – provide as much detail during this lie as you can, tell a story about:

How you ran into Wayne Knight (Neuman from Seinfeld – don’t choose someone very famous – make it believable) who was a high school buddy of your manager’s secretary, and were introduced to him. After some brief talk about a couple of his movies, the secretary asked if everyone wanted to go for a drink after work, and you ended up at the most expensive place (pick a real place, and an expensive place, pay attention to every detail). Afterwards, you end up at a strip club….

…And the story goes on. You can make it up as you go, or plan it out in your head before you tell it. Make it sound spontaneous and as if you couldn’t believe it yourself.

Note:
You should not use this to hurt people, either physically or emotionally, if you see any signs of this, abort the joke and tell the truth. Also, once the joke is done, tell the truth – you probably want to avoid being known as the town liar if you anger people too often.

Always remember, detail is the key to believability in a "Lie Prank.

Project a Likeable Personality

One of the most important aspects to being funny is allowing people to feel comfortable around you. In other words, are you a likeable person? Everyone will automatically answer this question with a resounding "YES" but the problem is that you may not know that people actually see it in you.

The course is designed to teach you how to project your likeability. It’s important to know what traits people can identify with. Among others, here are a couple things you can do with other people so that they will see you as likeable:

• Validate their opinions (after all, its just an opinion) and present your own instead of arguing with them;

• "Kill with kindness" even if you’re getting a bad vibe, it’s best to be even nicer. You might be surprised at how you can bring someone to your side.

Analyze I - Jokes and Situations

This may be the single most important aspect to the Comedy program. When you start the course, this will be discussed at length, and continually discussed during every situation you encounter.

Always be aware about why a joke is funny by analyzing it. This may be one of the toughest concepts to grasp. We all know that a funny joke makes us laugh, but if you dig deeper and find out why, you might get some insightful bits of information that will enhance your awareness of comedy in general.

Part of the course will involve analyzing particular media examples (i.e., movies, TV shows). During this analysis, you will get expert opinions from all three instructors. Each instructor has a unique point of view that has been shared with the others for over 15 years. This unique symbiosis of analytical talent has evolved into a strong sense of what is funny, and why.

Symbiosis is important. Because the more time you spend with the right people, the more you will benefit from each other. The instructors for this course are qualified examples of this, and have a wealth of knowledge from which you can benefit.

If you have any control over the type of people you spend time with, try to find some "laughers." These are people who will laugh at everything, provided that you have what it takes to keep telling jokes. Hang around them excessively and practice what you know. This will strengthen your confidence in your "joke telling" ability so that you can crack the harder nuts later on down the road.

You’ll also learn to condition your audience. Basically, when you expose successful comedy to the same people, it will almost be automatic that they will laugh at anything you say. Not only that, but it will encourage them reciprocate your jokes, and build up to a "rapport of jokes."

Analyze II - People

The second part of analysis: understanding the people around you. This includes everyone in your immediate surroundings, whether you’re at the mall or having a drink at a bar.

Knowing the people you’re with is important. Personality differences can make or break any joke. The course teaches you how to use what you know about the people you’re with to your advantage.

For example, if you can gage whether someone in your audience is bored of what you’re saying, you might want to change directions, or turn your focus on that person’s boredom – just call him on it.

On the contrary, you need to know when your jokes are successful, so you can roll with what works, or avoid crashing at the wrong time (i.e. end it on a high note). Overall, try to prevent boredom of your audience from happening in the first place, look for signs and queues to tackle someone’s boredom before it even begins.

Secondly, analyzing "peripheral" people can get your mind racing with hundreds of new ideas every day. Odd behavior, old fashioned behavior, Lame behavior, belligerent and obnoxious behavior are just some types you will learn to identify whenever you are in public. These are gold mines for comedy simply based on their reactions to every day stimulus.

Human behavior is truly a wealth of comedy. It is no secret that most comedians get their ideas from analyzing bits and pieces human behavior – you don’t need to be a comedian by profession to enjoy this wealth.

Telling a Story

One of the most common ways to develop your sense of humor is being able to re-tell the funny events in your life (and you can create more from what you learn from this course).

Simply rhyming off a series of events that took place on a given day is not enough – you need to be able to tell it with emotion and enthusiasm. Use quotes and ridiculous voices when you’re referring to the words people said, it doesn’t matter if it sounds like the person. The more ridiculous it sounds, the funnier the story will be.

Beating a Dead Horse

The more you hear a jingle on the radio, the more likely you are to remember that product. It’s called classical conditioning, and the companies that air the commercials know that eventually they will get a lot of customers remembering who they are.

The same goes with using the same type of joke over and over. Generally this will work if it’s extremely ridiculous. How good is your "Seinfeld Impression?" Would it mean anything to you if you were to find out that the worse it is, the funnier it is? If you can deliver the worst Jerry Seinfeld impression ever with confidence, over and over again, it can turn into a wildly funny series of jokes.

The program will show you this concept in real time. The repetition of a ridiculous joke is a laughter virus, and will infect those around you.

Classic Humor – Revisited

Picking and choosing jokes or comedy styles from classic types of humor is something you will also be exposed to in this program. The word "Classic" generally refers to a timeless standard of something that works in any decade.

The program will provide some depth into using classic humor effectively. Keep in mind, this usually only works as long as it is not something that has been over-done in the recent past.

The Three Stooges are a good example of classic humor. Taking pieces (either sound bits or their actions) of the Three Stooges will inevitably work with most people, because it represents a very unintelligent, slapstick form of humor that almost anyone can relate to.

Take what was funny in the past, and turn it into something new and original. Fashion and music work the same why should comedy be different?

Imitations

Many people are afraid of doing imitations or impressions. A bad impression can break a joke. However, a terrible impression can make a joke a thousand times better. This is a tough type of joke to pull off successfully, but with the right skills and knowledge you will gain from this program, you can learn the right time to use a terrible impression.

It’s also an important aspect of telling a good story (see above). Especially when you’re telling it to people who might be familiar with the subjects of your story (i.e. if it’s a story about your parents, give them ridiculous voices, and don’t be afraid to over-exaggerate any applicable accents).

The Save!

Saving a joke is always a useful skill, because it can "turn the tides" when you receive a dismal reaction. It is, however, one of the most difficult things to do. Barry is one of the foremost experts in this field, not only in practice but in theory as well. Using his knowledge he will explain and demonstrate how to use a bombed joke into a success.

A simple and blunt example would be: acknowledging that your joke just bombed. Be direct, and tactfully vulgar if you can deliver it well enough. You can say something like, "By the way, that joke just fucking failed, and nobody here is laughing"

If they laugh at that, you just saved it. It’s important that you announce the fact that you saved the joke as well. "Save!"

Another tactic is: completely change directions. In the middle of a bad joke or story, start telling a ridiculous tale that doesn’t make any sense. This results in a smoother transition, but requires much more experience. When you use this tactic, it will often take people a few seconds to realize what’s going on, but the pay-off is well worth it.

Mood Counts

You will also gain an understanding of how your mood affects your comedy. It does this by changing the way you deliver a joke, changing the way your audience will perceive the joke, and changing the way you feel about a joke.

If you’re in an angry mood, you can probably take advantage of this by employing certain styles (see above) and delivering your jokes with a lot of power and vulgarity. This works for some people but not others.

Sadness also works for self-deprecating jokes. Take the root of your sadness and unleash as many jokes as you can about your sad situation (i.e. relationship troubles). It might even bring you out of your sadness and make you laugh.

Props and Gags

Props can be an easy laugh when they are a success. During the course you will receive proper instruction on what is the right prop for the job, when to use them, and how to use them effectively.

If you want to use a prop, try to use things that are:

• Strange or odd (when you go to the movies carry around an open disk drive from a discarded computer, circuits showing and all)

• Vulgar (use a thick creamy brown pastel marker to draw a big blotch of brown on a white pair of brief underwear, and leave it in the middle of a locker room for people to notice)

• Out of Style (fake, ridiculous mustaches – you can use these anywhere in public)

• Classic (the squirting corsage, or spinning bowtie)

These are just a few ideas, and you will learn more about some props that were used by the instructors in the past. You will also use and develop new props during the program, with the assistance and guidance of the instructors. When it comes to props, always try to be creative and original.

The Joke Methodology

With a 3 to 1 instructor to student ratio, you will learn three very different ways to structure your jokes, including content, delivery and timing. Each instructor has a unique point of view and a unique insight on humor.

One of these methodologies may work for you. Otherwise you can take pieces for each one to create your own unique combination.

Style – Learn To Find Yours

Although everything around you has the potential of being funny, finding your own style or comfort-zone is important. That comfort zone might include a combination of various styles. Here are some common styles that you will learn more about in this Program:

Analyzing People & Social Quirks

This might be the most common style for a comedian by profession, and is best exemplified by Jerry Seinfeld. He often begins a joke with "Ever notice when…" or "What’s the deal with…"

This might be considered a "root" style. That means, no matter what you choose to do with comedy in the future, having a firm understanding of this will just give you that rock solid foundation you can fall back on any time.

A lot of the principles of this style are covered in the Analysis sections above.

Reaction Humor

This is a particularly difficult, but effective style of comedy. You can practice this by doing indirect pranks (see above), but these pranks should be meant to shock an audience, rather than affect them physically.

The goal here is to make the select few (who actually understand what’s going on) laugh, while the majority of the audience is either horrified or confused.

An example of this is Andy Kauffman. We recommend that you watch a biography of Kauffman (for example, a movie called "Man on the Moon" starring Jim Carrey) before attending the program, if you feel this is the direction you’d like to take.

A good example of a "Kauffman" prank is his use of a large fake "booger" hanging out of one nostril while attending an important business meeting. This is a case where his sole intention is to make himself laugh (albeit quietly inside his head) and the business partner uncomfortable.

You might be asking yourself why this is the most difficult type of humor. The answer, in short, is because you need to keep a straight face.

A straight face is a skill few are born with, but many can attain through grueling practice. A good way to practice is to engage in staring contests with willing people. This will teach you to focus your mind so that it’s harder to break down and laugh during those crucial moments.

Lastly, an important aspect of reaction humor is by knowing what extremes are and realizing that "crossing the line" should not even enter your vocabulary. There is no line. You will learn to throw out jokes using abrupt and extreme topics that go far beyond what your audience would normally expect.

Making direct jokes about today’s perceived stereotypes (i.e. racial, prejudicial, gender) is an example of using the world’s extremes to get a reaction.

Aggressive and Negative

At first glance, you might think that this is not for you. But this style will complement any others if used in the right way.

Aggressive or Negative humor is usually something as simple as watching a bad movie or TV show and verbally tearing it apart with your friends. With a few drinks this can make a dull night into one full of enjoyment and laughter.

It can also take the form of "Pretend Violent" humor. Often beginning with a sentence like "Imagine I just took this guy’s head and…" and ending in an extremely unrealistic violent action. That isn’t to say that you’re actually conspiring to commit an act of violence – pretend as if you were a movie director for a comedy, and this would be one of the scenes.

Self Deprecating

Some of the most confident people in the world are able to poke fun at themselves and their actions without blinking. This is also a very important lesson. The simple act of putting yourself down in front of others indicates that you are comfortable with yourself, and this, above all, is how people gage confidence.

Can you handle it when someone makes a joke at your expense?

Do you have something that hinders your social abilities to make jokes, such as a disability or mental illness? If so, this can be either a crutch or a prop, use it to your advantage. It’s within your ability to convert this hindrance to your comedic advantage. Lose your shame.

This is an important aspect of the program that you will learn in theory and in practice.

Unintelligible & Low-Brow

This is a difficult type of humor to describe. However, it can be summed up with one word, "Ridiculous."

The course will have a good portion dedicated to this type of humor, which includes stretching a joke to the point where it makes no sense, usually with the aid of obscene noises and gestures.

Usually this type of humor is employed after a repetitive series of jokes within a group. For example, one person does an impression of James Cagney, followed by the next person in the group attempting to do the same impression. With each session, the impressions get worse, but funnier. This happens because each time, the impression becomes increasingly ridiculous.

Call-Back Humor

Call-Back Humor is also an important general concept that the program will help you develop. This type of humor refers to bringing back a specific joke that had meaningful and humorous impact at the time it was presented, and is often a one-liner. This works best when it is brought back suddenly into a conversation with no warning.

During the program you will review and be exposed to several examples of call-back humor.

Final Comments

The above styles and concepts will be some of the major focus points of the Revolution31 comedy program. However, not everything can be included in this program outline – you will be taught much more than this (both in theory and in practice) from the instructors during your 44 hour attendance.

Money Back Guarantee

If, during the program, you are not satisfied with the comedy program, we fully refund the cost of the course.

In order to qualify for the full refund, we require that you let one of the instructors know before the program has been completed.

We stand by the quality of the comedy program, and will ask that you provide us with your feedback throughout the course so that we cover the concepts that are of most important to your needs.

Remember this is designed to help you develop your own sense of humor, and some of the course subject matter may impact different people at different levels.

When you register for the program, we ask for a down payment deposit. This will reserve your weekend to attend the program. You will not have to pay your balance until you arrive for the first day of the course.

The sign-up process is simple and secure, and is done directly through the Revolution31 Enroll section.

The program is intended for your enjoyment. We know that you with the right practice and an open mind, you will be able to develop and control your sense of humor in all situations. This is our commitment.

Our most sincere thanks.

VIEW THE COMEDY SCHEDULE