Nuns and Flying Dragons
As part of this weeks #ChuckleTuesday we will be talking about our Feeling Funny workshop which took place last week at the Autism Hub in South Sefton. We got to work with some amazing people and had so many laughs along the way!
The session commenced with our workshop tutors, Sam and Cameron, carrying out a series of exercises to get the group more relaxed and comfortable. This included one of the classic exercises of making up a story one word at a time. By the end of this exercise the group were talking about nuns and flying dragons - like something out of Game of Thrones!
The second half of the session was great because you could physically see how the group's confidence had grown and therefore there were plenty more smiles, laughs and involvement, myself included! We had a group discussion about comedy in our everyday lives. For example, comedy in sitcoms such as Mrs. Browns Boys, as well as the comedic value in, say, people's misfortunes. Everyone's eager engagement allowed for the conversation to flow and develop.
The conversation then allowed us to discuss comedy in other general aspects of life. For example, as a group we talked about school trips which something everyone could relate to. From grumpy coach drivers to the horrible coach toilets, by just speaking about a common topic we were able to talk about past experiences and the funny side of life!
Accordingly, the group was split into smaller groups and discussed other topic areas such as holidays, public transport and shopping. It was great to see all the ideas that stemmed from these very simple topics, and it became clearer how comedians can take the simplest of topics and develop them into something that people can relate to and laugh at. With some creative flair, the ideas that came out of these topics were transformed into a poem, a rap and even an advert; one of my favourite parts was the rap condemning the increased price of chocolate Freddo's! It was truly impressive to see what people had prepared in a matter of ten minutes!
It was amazing to see the dynamics of the group change as the workshop went on. For example, one of the quieter members of the group had very much kept to himself during the early stages of the workshop. However, when he became more comfortable and confident as the workshop progressed, he bounced off the workshop tutors and had everyone in stitches of laughter. This was a great chance to see how these courses are successful in getting participants engaged and confident through comedy! I am very excited to hear about their second half of the session next week and know full well they'll be many more laughs to come!
CHUCKLE TUESDAY CHOICE
Our #ChuckleTuesday choice this week is... (drum roll please) This rogue stapler who leaves the 4th floor to explore the world. From The Ritz to Disneyland, click on the image to check out its adventure!
