Steve Martin is Teaching Comedy
Steve Martin signed on to teach a MasterClass course on comedy. In a new trailer cutting between Martin at a desk and with a group of students, the legendary comedian breaks down his goals: that his curriculum cover his own specific process, writing, editing, performing comedy and that any student who considers them talentless is wrong and must “remember you are a thought machine”. Scheduled to start in Spring 2017, pre-enrollment is open and costs $90.
The class is the first of its kind for MasterClass, a jack-of-all creative trades hub for online learning. Martin’s comedy class seems to cover performance in the neighborhood of stand-up and possibly sketch, as opposed to screenwriting. If the topic seems like something students will need an audience, or at least another person to respond to, it’s interesting to note that Serena Williams teaches a tennis course through MasterClass, so that probably requires going outside once in a while too.
The course totes itself as an “immersive online experience”, with class workbooks, interactive assignments, video submission of questions for Martin and an online community of students. Despite the video’s chummy recreation of a live, intimate class, the course doesn’t guarantee direct critiques from Martin. Students will occasionally be given opportunities to submit work to him. The class will span more than twenty five video lessons, videos that can be paused and rewound and watched however many times the student prefers.
Go to masterclass.com/sm for info and to pre-order.