We know that almost all our favorite comedians first stepped onstage at the urging of friends and family. ‘Tis the season to think about giving a little nudge to those in your circle that you think have what it takes. Why not pitch in for a comedy class?
The Tucson comedy scene has a plethora of opportunities to get started in open mics and find support for improving writing and performance skills. But for those who would like to be better prepared to take the mic, there are also stand-up comedy classes.
Veteran local comedians Nancy Stanley, Rory Monserrat and Mo Urban offer structured, curriculum-based coaching covering the craft of making jokes and the secrets of effective delivery, all in a small-group setting that provides meaningful feedback in a community of support. Tucson native and comedy vagabond Tamale Sepp offers live, virtual options through The Second City and her own company, brasschucklescomedy.com.
Monserrat and Urban teach six-week stand-up courses at Tucson Improv Movement’s TIM Comedy Theatre. Monserrat teaches an entry-level course that is a prerequisite to a course taught by Mo Urban, co-creator and co-showrunner of “Lady Ha Ha” productions and a former “Best Comedian” winner in Tucson Weekly’s annual Best of Tucson poll.
Stanley has led many a newcomer to the stage as a “comedy virgin” in her periodic, all-women show “The Estrogen Hour.” A longtime teacher at the University of Arizona College of Law, Stanley is also experienced in curriculum development. She’s taught stand-up comedy classes in the UA’s OLLI-UA (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) program and at the prestigious Chautauqua Institution National Assembly.
In January, she’ll launch a new “Stand-Up Camp,” which includes four two-hour, small-group classes and feedback sessions, and two one-hour private sessions for each student. The course concludes with a show for family and friends.
Stanley said what inspired the class was the way “comedy virgins” struggled around material for her “Estrogen Hour” shows. “I wanted them to be themselves,” she said, “but a big barrier was that they don’t know what’s funny. They just need a way to formulate things, then get out and speak it. The audience lets them know what’s funny.
“‘How do I get started?’ That’s what I think I’m best at,” she said, but she was candid about the limitations of class work. “It really is a DIY undertaking, but the class puts you in contact with other people. Listening to other people and critiquing their work helps you become a better comic, because you see your own mistakes.”
Monserrat, too, stressed the importance of building a comedy community in class. He said that, as in improv, a class gets “a group thing going on. I think there’s a supportiveness, a kindness. They like each other and trust each other, and they give each other their time and attention and support.”
When we catch up with Sepp, she’s parked with her dogs, at home in her travel van outside a small municipal airport. Between stand-up gigs wherever her bookings take her, she coaches sky divers — and sometimes, flame throwers.
Her website tracks her thrill-a-minute life; her bio on the Second City website barely scratches the surface.
Sepp teaches, virtually, a stand-up curriculum she helped create for The Second City. She also teaches and coaches comedy and storytelling through her own company, Brass Chuckles Comedy.
“The curriculum I teach is a collection of lived experience,” she said. “It’s what has worked for me and things I’ve seen that have been very effective, things I’ve taken from courses I’ve had with other people, things I’ve gotten out of books over the years.
“I like students to create from a place that when they’re on stage and they’re making comedy, it is authentically them. The hardest thing is getting them to find whatever is funny about their own lives and getting them to a place where they’re confident enough and get on a stage and rock it.”
For details on upcoming classes or for more information, email Nancy Stanley at nancystanleycomic@gmail.com or visit Tucson Improv Movement’s website, www.tucsonimprov.com/school. Tamale Sepp’s website, www.brasschucklescomedy.com, includes information on both her own and her Second City classes, as well as links to virtual open mics she hosts for students and others.
Ari Shaffir is on the “Wrong Side of History”
From the relative comfort of 2022, Ari Shaffir released a full-length YouTube special called “Ari Shaffir – Jew.” For a short time, it was among YouTube’s most-viewed videos. Shaffir was raised in Orthodox Jewish traditions; his father was a Holocaust survivor. He regarded this video as a love letter to his Jewish culture and heritage. In 2023, he released a less specifically focused Netflix special showcasing his thoughtful, sometimes edgy and always heart-filled comic outlook, but we’re sure he still feels as if he’s on the “Wrong Side of History.”
Ari Shaffir: The Wrong Side of History Tour, 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 17, Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress Street, tickets start at $20, www.rialtotheatre.com
Other shows this week
Catalina Craft Pizza, 15930 N. Oracle Road, Suite 178, Tucson, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, “Comedy in Catalina,” free; Alana Erickson-Lopez hosts, Las Vegas comic Jay Rivera headlines, Phoenix’s Phyllis Voren features, Steven Black, Holly Hilton, Leo Skrzypczak and Lisa Kristine round out the lineup. Reservations recommended, 520-825-0140. Donations of nonperishable food and clothing benefit Impact of Southern Arizona.
Chuckleheads, 41 Brewery Avenue, Bisbee, 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15, $15, irreverent Denver-based comedian, writer and improviser Hannah Jones, www.chuckleheadsaz.com
Crooked Tooth Brewing Company, 228 E. Sixth Street, Tucson, 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15, The Liberal Agenda,” Crooked Tooth Brewing Company patio, 228 E. Sixth Street, Tucson, 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15, Em Bowen hosts Amie Gabusi, Morgan Kuehn, Allana Erikson-Lopez and Zo Thomas
Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress Street, Tucson, 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, $10, free with a food donation, hotelcongress.com, age 21 and older, the more-fabulous-than-life “Retro Game Show” celebrates its 12-year anniversary with Chatty Kathee hosting a celebrity-studded “Mismatch Game.”
Laff’s Comedy Caffe, 2900 E. Broadway Boulevard,Tucson,
www.laffstucson.com, 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15, and 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, $15, $20 preferred seating. Globe-trotting Steven Briggs’ YouTube videos earned him over 100,000 fans.
Nancy’s Boondocks, 3306 N. First Avenue, Tucson, Tucson Billiards hosts an 8-ball tournament and comedy show benefit for Arizona Friends of Foster Children at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 23, featuring an 8-ball tournament and comedians Nancy Stanley, Elliot Glicksman, Holly Hilton, Connor Hannah and Joel Martin; donations of cash, sealed food items and pet toys are accepted.
Tucson Improv Movement/TIM Comedy Theatre, 414 E. Ninth Street, Tucson, www.tucsonimprov.com, shows start at $5, free jam. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 14, “Improv 101” and “Improv 301;” 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15, Improv Jam; 7:30 p.m. “The Soapbox” with Lauren Duca; 9 p.m. “Femme Drop;” 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, “Game Show Show” and “Tootpole;” 9 p.m. “Ugly Sweater” and ”Auld Laugh Syne”
Unscrewed Theater, 4500 E. Speedway Boulevard, Tucson,
www.unscrewedtheatre.org, $8, live or remote, $5 kids. 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16, Not Burnt Out Just Unscrewed (NBOJU); 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, “Elves Gone Bad” kids’ show; 6 p.m. “Unscrewed Family Hour;” 7:30 p.m. NBOJU
