Standup Comedy Class

This class will not teach you how to be funny. There is no magic formula out there that all the greats possess and that you just have to figure out. This class will not teach you how to mimic a style that is successful for other people. This class will not teach you the correct way to write a joke. None of these things exist.
This class will help you become the funniest version of yourself that already exists, however. And that is something far more worthwhile than learning how _​_​_​_​_​_​does it. You’ll learn to dig deep and find the nuggets of what makes you you and turn it into something funny and interesting. The only pre-​requisite you need is to be a human and know yourself a bit, or at least be willing to get to know yourself better, because you will. In a good, fun way. Sorry, didn’t mean to make that sound ominous.

Taking Gerry’s class was one of the scariest decisions I’ve ever made. I was terrified. I had no idea if I would have the chops to get up there at the end of the class and perform. In fact, I swore to all of my classmates that I wouldn’t invite anyone I knew to the showcase.
Cut to three months later, Gerry has made our workload manageable, and showed us how to find the funny in who we are as people and what makes us each unique. It was work that I was joyful to put the time into every week. Gerry guided us in such a foolproof way, I can’t imagine attempting stand up on my own without experiencing the learning curve of this amazing class first.
I would recommend this class to anyone who, like me, has said to themselves for years, «I wish I could get up there and try stand up.» Nothing will prepare you better than this class and Gerry’s awesome guidance.

What can I say about Gerry that I wouldn’t say about Obama? He’s sensual, he’s funny, he protects me, and I want to hear everything he has to say.
Gerry’s class is above and beyond any educational experience I’ve had in any field, for a few very specific reasons. For one — the accessibility. Gerry will answer your calls and emails, he will spend time with you on the phone, clarifying not only general concepts, but also developing your specific work. This is in addition to class where EVERYONE gets time focused on them in every session. Secondly — the positivity. Constructive criticism is a part of the learning experience and is necessary to get better. In this class, it’s delivered in such a way, by both Gerry and your classmates, that you know that it comes from a good place of wanting to help you improve. That’s why I especially recommend it for sensitive artist types who have little baby feelings (me). Third, the sense of community. After one class with Gerry, I know no less than twenty people in the LA comedy scene that I didn’t know before. I already have people I barely speak to asking me for introductions to these power players! (no).
If you want to do standup comedy, you want to be good, and you want to do the hard work, this is the best possible place to start, hands down. You will leave with a set you can have confidence in, a strong network, new friends, a feeling of accomplishment, a valuable mentor in Gerry, and something that writers/​comedians/​performers often find themselves in a drastic drought of quite frequently– hope. Gerry and his class give you the tools to do whatever you want with your strong new skillz. For anyone who is willing to put in the time, and wants to be a part of something great, I can’t recommend it enough.

Truly a life-​changing class. Gerry is a top notch veteran and will guide you through the process of what it takes to write a joke and make it work, over and over again. Couldn’t recommend this class more!

In a nutshell: Gerry Katzman is luscious. His class and his network of hilarious, smart, insightful, supportive, and *working* comedians have changed my life and career in countless ways.
Gerry’s class is a holistic approach to becoming the best stand-​up comedian you can be. It’s like having a weekly open mic to practice your material, except afterward you also get a writers room full of super talented and supportive comics to help you develop your material and give you constructive feedback.
I could go on and on about everything this class has done for me, both personally and professionally, but the long and short of is this: Gerry is a true mentor. The amount of personal attention he will give to you and your material is incredible, and I honestly don’t know how he does it. Take his class; you will not be disappointed.
He is also sensual. Very. Sensual.

It’s life changing. Take his class. You will look for, find, translate, and then express… The funny.

To put it simply, you won’t find a better comedy class than this one.
Gerry Katzman has cultivated a learning environment that will equip you with the knowledge, skills and confidence to write and perform real comedy. Not the cheap puns and pithy observations that clutter up open mics. Instead you will have the opportunity to perform the kind of material that comes from deep inside you and speaks to the shared human experience. The type of comedy that makes people think while also making them laugh their butts off.
This class goes beyond what you would expect in a typical stand up 101 class. The essentials are there of course: mic technique, joke structure and refining your delivery/​preformance. But what sets it apart is the sense of community that will develop between you, your classmates and Gerry.
I have never met teacher who invests more time and energy into their students than Gerry Katzman. During the duration of my class he was a constant source of support, advice and at times maddening frustration. But even when we butted heads I never lost faith that his number one priority was to push me to do better.
Make no mistake this class was easily one of the most challenging experiences of my life. But if you respect the process, put in the work and check your ego at the door you will come away from this class a stronger performer and a better person.
If you’re ready to get serious about performing comedy and want to join a group of talented, intelligent and loving people then give Gerry a call.
DISCLAIMER: This class is not a cult. Gerry Katzman is not a cult leader. This is class is not a cult.

WOW! This class was life changing. My original goal was to take a class that would hold me accountable for writing regularly. I had no idea I would fall in love with standup comedy! I also had no idea this class would change my life!
Standup comedy is hard. It takes a great deal of courage and determination to really do it well — to bring authenticity, depth and integrity — and STILL be able to get gut busting laughs. I learned not only to confront my own fears but to dive deep into my own story and find new ways to think about myself and my life and experiences.
This class was better than therapy! Gerry created an amazing container to test out and play with my ideas, thoughts and feelings. Gerry is SUPER encouraging and supportive. He made it so easy to take risks and be honest. He was always available to help talk through whatever I was struggling with and he never gave up me.
Teaching is a calling and Gerry approaches this class with the care and discernment of clergy (but with way more cursing and sex jokes). He obviously cares deeply about both the work and the students. He’s honest and kind and not afraid to challenge you. I have to say this is the best class I’ve ever taken in my life. (And I gots all kinds of degrees and whatnot that I spent a great deal of money on so… ya know, that’s saying something). I learned to tell a good joke, face my fears and find ways to laugh at even the most difficult content.

HOLY CRAP what a stud! After taking his class, I now understand why Gerry Katzman is a LEGEND
1– He has an incredible GENEROSITY OF SPIRIT and makes himself so accessible to his students
2– He KNOWS this stuff. He’s a successful entertainer, he knows people and he knows comedy. Gerry breaks down comedy in a simple way and creates a community where it’s safe to be weird, open, and funny as f*$%. You will learn how to write and how to find your own unique comedic voice.
3– He is a CONNECTOR, he introduces you to comedians, friends, and writing partners that you can bounce ideas off.
Let’s do the math:
1 comedy brain = funny. 2 comedy brains = funnier. An entire writers room of funny f-​ing comedy brains!!? = pee my pants and sharting LOLing kind of funny. Our showcase was INCREDIBLE and I’m already being booked for other shows.
I’m so happy I took this class. Gerry is a friend for life. Mucho Recommendo.

This class is the real deal! Gerry truly cares about comedy and the success of his students. He’s a very funny person and devoted teacher who gives an inspiring amount of care and attention to each student. He wants you to be good at joke writing and he wants you to have success as a stand up and you really feel that dedication and mindset in the way that he teaches. Class is 10 weeks long, give or take for holidays, etc. You meet once a week as a full class and once a week in smaller writing groups. You’ll be doing a lot of writing and performing for each other and it was a great way to get a lot better very quickly. Gerry teaches joke writing from a straight-​forward philosophy based on your own personal experiences and grounded in telling the truth. This class is a great way into the comedy scene and will make you a better stand-​up, writer, and performer. Highly recommend.

This review is long overdue! I took Gerry’s class starting last fall (2014), which culminated in a class showcase in Feb 2015. I can’t say enough about how Gerry, this class, the supportive environment he creates and his network of alumni has changed my life. This time a year ago, doing stand up was merely an idea, a dream I never spoke of — so much so that it surprised friends and family when I said I was going to do this.
Gerry taught me that stand up truly is an art, a skill that you have to work incredibly hard at to do well. He can’t teach you to be funny (that is innate), but he teaches you how to harness that funny, brainstorm, write, tweak, tweak some more and fine tune until you have a great, well-​written joke. Be willing to work very hard over the 10 weeks of this class — between class, small groups, and daily writing — it’s a big commitment, so be committed. Don’t be a flake if you sign up to do this. Be on time and come prepared. Be supportive of your classmates — one of my favorite parts of class was helping others brainstorm ideas for their jokes and then seeing them work on stage. Be willing to be vulnerable and open up about a myriad of topics. Also be willing to know when something isn’t working — shelve it for later development.
Gerry gives his all — you will talk and text a ton with him outside of class. More importantly, if you put in the work and then some, your showcase will truly kick ass and you have a great recording to submit to festivals and show producers here in LA. I’ve also loved meeting and performing with alumni from previous classes all over the city. They are some of the nicest, funniest folks I have met after my 5 years in LA.

What’s hard about trying to have a career in entertainment is everything. There is no clearly defined path, luck plays a larger role than we’d probably like, and our parents would really love to stop paying for our car repairs. If you’re interested in having a career in comedy, in any form, this class is one investment that will most definitely make things easier. And the reason it’s so effective is because of Gerry. He teaches a field-​tested technique, fosters a safe and loving environment, and invests an insane amount of time in each of his students. (This means you have to invest a lot of time too, be warned). My beginner class had our showcase four days ago and most of us are already booking shows across LA. Just sayin.
UPDATE. It’s been a month since I finished this class and I’ve already been invited to perform at clubs and bars all over LA, at Netroots Nation in Phoenix, and will soon be going up in the Main Room at The Comedy Store to open for a big headliner. The video of my class showcase was featured on a prominent blog and last weekend I co-​produced a show with a classmate that drew over 100 people. The reason: this class. It’s magic. Take it.

Ugh. I’ve taken so many freaking classes in my freaking life. And you know what? I’m still dumber than a box of rocks. But there’s one thing I know. This class. Gerry Katzman’s Standup Comedy Class, is the best freaking class I’ve taken in my entire freaking life.
I believe it, and you should too.
When I enrolled, I’d been doing standup already in Los Angeles for about a year and a half, and I’d worked at the Hollywood Improv for most of that time. I spent a majority of my days watching standup, writing standup, and performing standup. It’s a difficult journey to begin as a performer, especially in LA, mostly due to the utter loneliness of open mics and bar shows. Everyone around me was bitter and jaded. Out for themselves. But I pushed on because it was my passion.
One day, a friend of mine from college invited me to see his ‘end of class’ showcase for a standup class he had taken. Immediately I rolled my eyes. I’d seen and been a part of plenty of these ‘end of class’ showcases, and they’re crap. I mean, it’s ok that they’re crap, considering it’s literally people going on stage for the first time… but I’d already become bitter and jaded.
«Who’s the teacher?» I asked.
«Gerry Katzman» he said.
Once again I rolled my eyes. Never heard of him, I thought to myself rather proudly.
But the guy was my friend, so I went to his show. I bought him a drink before it started, and walked over to the section where the comics were sitting. Out of nowhere, this dude in a suit jacket jumped in front of me, and somehow I knew he was the teacher. He noticed I was holding two drinks.
«Hey, I’m Gerry. Is one of those for a performer?» he asked with a smile.
«Yeah, it’s for my buddy Will.»
«Great, I’ll give it to him.»
And just like that, he took the drink from me and walked it to a table far away from where my friend was sitting. What the hell? Who does this guy think he is? Before I could make a scene about it, the show began. I sat in the back, arms folded, brow furrowed, pissed. This sucks.
Within minutes my jaw was on the ground. I absolutely could not believe what I was seeing. I was laughing at these comics, and not in a «that’s my friend up there» kind of way, but with a genuine, unexpected, ugly belly laugh. After working at a comedy club and getting paid to essentially watch comedy every night, you get to a point where you just smile and nod when you think something is funny. But to reiterate, I was laughing my jaded, bitter little butt off in the back of that room, and my buddy hadn’t even gone up yet. There’s no way these people are amateurs, I thought. And of course, they all were.
After the show my friend invited me to a little after party where the classmates and some alumni of the class were hanging out. I was nervous. They all know each other, I’m the odd man out, this is going to be awkward. But it wasn’t. They all asked me about myself, engaged in conversations with me, and one of the comedians there (an angel named Chris) even invited me to perform on his show. Asking nothing in return. It was incredible.
For the next few months, it was like learning a new word and suddenly you hear it everywhere, all the time. That guy took Gerry’s class? She’s one of Gerry’s kids? How is this possible? So many people had taken the class, and all of them had two things in common.
1) They were all super funny
2) They were all super nice.
It was crystal clear. In the deep, dark abyss of the LA standup scene, there was suddenly light. A caravan of hilarious, genuine comics supporting one another, climbing the mountain together. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I needed to take his class.
So I did. And let me tell you, the hype is real. In fact, there is no hype. This class is exactly what these Unilocal reviews say it is.
Gerry is an absolute master at building a healthy learning environment. He cares about his students. He’ll spend the extra time. He’ll call to check in on you. And by the end of it, if you’ve put the necessary time and effort into your work, you will rise from the ashes with a superpower very few comedians have. Confidence.
Doing standup is scary enough, but in LA? As a beginner?
It’s no wonder 99% of upcoming comics in drink a lot of booze and smoke a lot of weed. Anything to curb the immeasurable anxiety. That’s what makes Gerry’s mission so ambitious. To give a beginner the confidence to step on stage stone cold sober, and tell their jokes to complete strangers. That’s why he took the drink away from Will (until after his set) so many months ago. Because he believed in him. He knows that liquid courage is a weak substitute when compared to the real thing. And that, I think, is absolutely beautiful.
Bottom line: if you’re serious about standup, take this class.
Yes, it’s expensive. But I’ve taken so many freaking classes in my freaking life, and they’re all freaking expensive.
Only a few of them are actually worth the money.
This one is.
I believe it, and you should too.

If you are serious about getting into stand up comedy, I would heavily recommend taking Gerry’s class. I gained a ton of comedy knowledge and writing experience, but most importantly, I gained the confidence that is required to perform high caliber stand up.
In order to get to the level my classmates and I are at after taking the 11 week class, I would imagine it would take 3 years of doing open mic nights and what not. I thought the price was a freaking steal, especially considering the amount of blood, sweat, tears and time Gerry puts into the class. He is a funny, good-​hearted person that fights to make his students do well. Honestly I learned more in this class than I did in any class I took in college. He is tied for «my favorite teacher ever» with the dude who gave me guitar lessons in middle school. That guy was Jim Wood, a Vietnam vet with short stubby fingers who played the blues. He taught me all the theory I needed to know but always stressed that the theory existed so I could use it to express myself as an individual. That is exactly what Gerry did in our comedy class… he gave us all the knowledge we need to go out and be ourselves confidently.
I will be out doing more shows in LA vey very soon. My classmates and people that took the class ahead of me are now all people I can network with to do writing sessions, shows, etc… but also great new friends. All in all, I highly recommend this class!

The following is a serious review about trying to be funny:
Taking this class was one of the most rewarding, fulfilling, empowering things i’ve ever done in my life. If you are funny and willing to work your ass off, Gerry will turn you into an able-​bodied stand up comic.
But make no mistake, this class is not for the faint of heart. It’s a ton of work. Do not take it if you are not serious about performing stand up comedy. However, if you dive in and push yourself, this class will advance your development by years.
I will be eternally grateful to Gerry for putting so much time, effort, and care into helping me realize my voice on stage. Gerry takes a personal stake in all of his students success and will not allow them to go on-​stage without smart material that is actually capable of making an audience laugh.

I’m skeptical about everything. I was definitely skeptical about this class. This is where the joke should be.
Gerry helped me better understand an audience’s expectations. He also took my cookie one time. Oatmeal chocolate chip… Vegan, but didn’t taste vegan. I had many more cookies in the bag. Earlier, I had offered them to the people sitting within arms reach, but Gerry had been three seats away. I’m 6’4.5″ tall so I have long arms, but not that long. These are the facts.
At first, I was startled because no one had ever done that to me before. It would’ve been polite to ask, though he would’ve had to interrupt my conversation. I don’t like to be interrupted and the truth is, I would have loved for him to have a cookie!
Comedy isn’t always polite.
Gerry helped me understand that. His insights and instincts are strong, and he has a lover’s heart. I’d share my cookies with him any day.

I cannot say enough good things about this class and my experience. Gerry has a gift when it comes to teaching comedy, but also for putting together a community environment unlike any class I’ve ever taken before. I had so much support from him and my classmates every single time I got up there.
Before the class, I had such crippling fear and could barely tell a joke– now, not only do I have the tools to write material forever, but I can sit at an open mic by myself and not only hold my own in a room full of comics who have been at it for years, but I can also get laughs!
If you’re serious about working harder than you’ve ever worked, are open to connecting with people, and have a desire to do comedy, there really is no other place to look in my opinion.
The entire experience changed my life!

What a remarkable experience! I’ve taken several comedy classes at a couple schools throughout LA (Groundlings and Miles Stroth), and this class taught me the most by far. For me, classes are always contingent upon the teacher’s understanding of the craft and his/​her ability to communicate that to the class. Gerry Katzman, the teacher of this class, is unparalleled in both his understanding of stand-​up and what is needed for each student to learn how to hone his/​her stand-​up chops.
Note that the is no-​nonsense comedy class… Gerry sets a high bar for his students and expects a lot from them. He will kindly push you, and it will make you grow. This is probably not a class to be taken along with several other classes. You really need to have the time, interest, and open-​mindedness to get the most out of it.
That said, Gerry puts forth 10x the effort than the average comedy teacher. I’ve rarely seen anyone so committed to his students. I’ve always struggled with telling jokes in my own voice and Gerry really helped me get in touch with what makes me uniquely funny. If you’re interested in learning stand-​up or improving your ability to write jokes in general, I HIGHLY recommend this class.
Also, you can check out my class showcase performance here:

You slay at dinner parties and keep them rolling at backyard bbq’s, so your mom, your doctor and your friends are always telling you to do standup… But can you be funny on stage the way you are at brunch? It’s hard, it takes work and it’s terrifying, but Gerry’s class helps you to do it. In just 10 weeks I learned more about comedy, performing and myself than I did in 4 years of theatre school. This class is nothing less than transformative! If you’re smart, funny, sane and have always wanted to give standup a shot, I can’t recommend this class enough. Gerry Katzman is a magical teacher and human being with an unparalleled ability to elevate his students to their highest potential. Taking this class will absolutely change your life — I promise!

Gerry’s class is one of those rare places where I feel free to be vulnerable and ridiculous and creative and have always felt completely supported the whole way through by all involved. Gerry creates an atmosphere that is both nurturing and challenging in the best of ways.
I’ve learned more than I can describe in the two years that I’ve known Gerry. The foundation I received and friendships I’ve made within the COMMUNITY fostered by Gerry have gotten me booked at comedy clubs throughout LA, in the audition room for some awesome comedic roles, and have helped me book a couple great commercials that I’m now able to live off of. Gerry is incredibly knowledgable, intuitive, easy to work with, helpful, and most of all, invested in the success of his students. He’s been a friend, mentor, and flawless lover to me (this last part is wishful thinking).
Seriously, if you have an interest in exploring standup comedy, but have been driven away by the fear of getting up in front of a cold room, just give him a call. It’s all love and honesty with Gerry. Do it!
–Jon Fisher