Comedy: Writing and Performance
Program Overview
Humber’s Comedy: Writing and Performance diploma program helps you develop your craft while gaining an understanding of the commercial side of the industry. Our faculty is comprised of skilled, award-winning professionals who are active in the comedy industry. You’ll learn stand-up, improvisation, scriptwriting, sketch comedy and other aspects of the craft. In addition, the program’s strong alumni network supports you through reunion shows, business opportunities and continued coaching. The program features weekly Humber student shows at local comedy clubs. Upon graduation, you will be prepared to embark on an exciting career in comedy.
Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:
Produce a variety of comedic materials including sketches, screenplays, sitcoms and variety shows.
Prepare and perform stand-up comedy routines.
Discover their comedic voices and create materials that stem from these voices.
Study both dramatic and comedic performance techniques, and apply those techniques to their own work.
Prepare written humorous materials for magazines and newspapers as well as for radio broadcasts.
Practice individual and ensemble comedic performances both in the classroom and in comedy centres.
Apply the technical requirements of all genres of comedic writing.
Respond to improvisation demands and create characters quickly on stage.
Evaluate the business of comedy and develop career strategies and contacts.
Learn from well-known North American comedic writers and performers and network with those individuals.
Develop team-building and communication skills and engage in exercises that encourage self-understanding, peer respect and professional behaviours.
The Humber Advantage
Kids In the Hall's Kevin McDonald spent a week with our 2nd-year Comedy Students, helping them perfect their sketches and writing for the Monday Night Comedy Bar Show.
We are proud to partner with one of Toronto's premier comedy venues, Yuk Yuk's.
Students also get access to top level comedians from across Canada and the US in our PrimeTime speaker series, featuring guests such as Bruce McCulloch and Kevin McDonald of Kids in the Hall, Maria Bamford and Tom Green.
Expert Faculty
Melody A. Johnson
An accomplished, award-winning member of Canada's theatre and film/TV scenes, Melody's work as performer, writer and director is recognized coast to coast to coast at such prestigious institutions as the Stratford Festival, Tarragon Theatre, and Second City (Toronto and Chicago). Melody is also a voice actor on seasons one and two of Treehouse TV's Agent Binky and the award-winning Ketterkenny, among other commercial work. Selected TV: Slings & Arrows, Michael Tuesdays and Thursdays, in addition to originating many roles in Canadian theatre (with over ten Dora nominations and one win). Melody's play Miss Caledonia has toured extensively across Canada and the UK, and will enjoy productions at two other major Canadian theatres for the 2021/22 season. For more information visit melodyjohnson.ca.
Martha Chaves
Martha Chaves is an award-winning comedian, writer, and actor whose career spans over two decades. NOW Magazine describes her as "smart, sassy, provocative, and very funny."
She's also a stand-up comedy instructor at Humber College in the Comedy: Writing and Performance program.
Martha has appeared multiple times at the prestigious Just For Laughs Festival, the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, and the We Are Funny That Way Festival, to name a few. Martha describes herself as the "most famous Nicaraguan-Canadian LGBTQ+ stand-up comedian in the world." Still, despite being an act of such a unique nature, she's hilariously relatable, universally funny and accessible. She tours from coast to coast as a headliner for Yuk-Yuk's (Canada's premiere chain of comedy clubs) and is also in high demand for corporate performances, conferences, and speaking engagements. She can frequently be heard on CBC's The Debaters and Laugh Out Loud. She is a regular panellist on the popular CBC show Because News. Martha also starred in two TV specials broadcast nationally: Comics! on CBC and Something About Martha on CTV and the Comedy Network.
Martha was named 2018's Stand-up Comic of the Year by the Canadian Comedy Awards after being nominated seven years in a row. Her debut album, Chunky Salsa, was included in a list of 2019's best comedy records in Interrobang Magazine.
Martha has written and acted in several successful one-woman shows. Staying Alive and In Times of Trouble were featured in the Soulo Festival and the Aluna Theatre Festival in Toronto, respectively. The Diaries of a Young Lezbo premiered at SOLOCOM in New York City.
Andrew Clark
Andrew Clark is an award-winning author and humourist. He writes the weekly Road Sage column for The Globe and Mail. He is the co-ordinator of the Humber College Comedy program in Toronto.
He has won a gold award and been nominated several times for his writing at the National Magazine Awards, and was nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award in the English-language non-fiction category for his most recent book, A Keen Soldier: The Execution of Second World War Private Harold Pringle. In the 1990s, he became Canada’s first full-time comedy critic and his first book, Stand and Deliver: Inside Canadian Comedy, remains the standard for writing critically about comedy. As a freelance journalist, he has written for publications including The Globe and Mail, The Walrus, McSweeney's, Maclean’s and The New York Times Magazine.
Robin Duke
Robin began her career improvising, writing and performing sketch comedy at Second City Theatre in Toronto. Since then she has written and performed on television’s SCTV and SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, she most recently appeared for three seasons on FX’s MAN SEEKING WOMAN, and as Wendy from the Blouse Barn on SCHITT’S CREEK.
Her Film work includes the classic Harold Ramis comedy GROUNDHOG DAY.
Robin continues to write with, perform and co-produce the all-woman SKETCH comedy troupe WOMEN FULLY CLOTHED. Since 2004, WFC have successfully toured Canada, the US and the Edinburgh Fringe festival to sold out houses and rave reviews.
She recently completed a Masters of Fine Arts Degree in Creative Nonfiction at King’s College in Halifax. She hopes to complete her memoir; My Funny Life and Improvising Through It, by Spring 2021.
Her awards include, a Star on Canada’s Walk of Fame for her work on SCTV, and Emmy nomination for writing on Saturday Night Live and the David Broadfoot Comic Genius Award.
Anne Fenn
Anne Fenn is an experienced TV writer and former development executive with over 25 years' experience writing for film, TV, radio, print and stage. Anne loves to teach and has been teaching Sitcom Writing in the Comedy program since 2010 and also teaches in the TV Writing & Producing post-graduate program. She has been nominated for numerous awards for her writing, some of which she won! Anne recently earned her MFA in Creative Nonfiction (King’s/Dalhousie), holds a B.A. from the University of Toronto, and is a graduate of Norman Jewison's Canadian Film Centre. For more information about Anne, please go to annefenn.com.
Lisa Merchant
Lisa Merchant is an award-winning improvisor. She has performed and taught improvisation nationally and internationally for 30-plus years. She is a senior faculty member with The Second City Training Centre and The Second City Works division, and an ongoing program director with York University Osgoode Law Professional Development. She created, produced and performed March of Dames, a weeklong all-female comedy festival that ran for 10 years.
She is a multiple nominee and winner of four Canadian Comedy Awards, three for Best Female Improvisor. Lisa was a cast member of the Gemini-nominated Joe Blow Show. When not improvising, she shows up on various television programming, Murdoch Mysteries, American Gods, Degrassi XV, Train 48... In addition to performing numerous improv shows around Toronto and across Canada, she performs monthly in the award-winning Monkey Toast, the live improvised talk show, now in its 19th year.
She delivered improv-focused workshops to some of the Canadian Olympic Team hopefuls for the London 2012 Summer Games as well as Sochi 2014 Winter Games.
“Taking improv with Lisa Merchant was a game changer for me. It not only helped me be a better communicator, it made me a better person. I learned fundamental ideas that I still apply to this day. Over ten years after taking that original class, I invited Lisa to come and speak to the 2012 Canadian Olympic team to give them a competitive advantage. Such is the value of what she has to teach.”
- Mark Tewksbury, Olympic Champion and 2012 Canadian Olympic Team Chef de Mission
Award Highlights
- Platinum Winner of The Toronto Star 2020 and 2019 Reader's Choice Award for Best Theatre Instructor
- Awarded by The Second City 2019 Frank McAnulty Faculty Award
- Winner of the 2019 World's Biggest Improv Tournament surviving 126 teams
Kyle Woolven
Kyle Woolven is a writer, performer, director, editor, musician -- it's easier to just say comedian. Born and raised in Belleville, he struck a chord with his hometown when his satirical video "Welcome to Belleville" quickly went viral. His YouTube channel has continued to gain popularity, as his music video "Buys Houses" recently won first place in the Toronto Sketch Competition and was nominated for the Toronto Sketch Festival's Outstanding Comedy Short award.
Aside from performing, Kyle is also an advocate of comedy. He is the creator of the mental wellness initiative Finding Your Funny, teaching elementary students how to write and perform stand-up comedy to relieve stress and build confidence. He is also a professor at Durham College and creator of the course Funny Bone: The Canadian Comedy Identity.
Your Career
Comedy is an art and a business, one at which many Canadians excel. You may join their illustrious ranks with opportunities to work in stand-up comedy, sitcom/film performance, production, broadcasting, advertising and voiceovers, sketch comedy, and writing. Humber comedy graduates have found work on stage at Yuk Yuk’s, Second City and Montreal’s Just For Laughs Festival; on major television networks such as Comedy Central, CBC and CTV; and in feature films and television commercials. Other grads have branched into advertising, journalism, public relations and related fields.
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Comedy: Writing and Performance Program
Watch the video to see how the Humber’s Comedy: Writing and Performance diploma program helps you hone your craft while gaining an understanding of the commercial side of the industry.
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