Bottlerocket Institute: STAND-UP COMEDY 101

Taking from the schools of Vaudeville, early radio, and oration, Stand-Up Comedy has become a cultural institution. During this course you will learn the essential tools and acumen to start a path into the world of Stand-Up Comedy. Through workshops, exercises and weekly feedback students will develop the skills to write and brainstorm techniques to generate material for the stage. This six-week course covers the basics of writing, performing, stage persona, storytelling, and introductory industry knowledge. The course will culminate in a class show.

THIS CLASS MEETS MONDAYS AT 7PM

Derek Minto is a stand-up comedian and veteran of the Pittsburgh comedy scene. Derek has been a featured comic for the WDVE Comedy Festival and voted Best Comic in the City Paper Best of the Burgh in 2016. In 2018 Derek won Chicago's Reject Fest, a national competition. In 2020, Derek recorded his first comedy album, ‘Live from Lawerenceville’s Finest Ham Themed Bar’ inside Hambone’s during the Covid lockdown. He ran the legendary Hambones Comedy Nights, and has opened for Hannibal Buress, Todd Glass, John Heffron, and Amy Schumer once drunkenly told him he was very funny. Derek is also an accomplished storyteller that has won several Moth storyslams. His love of comedy has led him to guest teaching at the University of Pittsburgh as well as founding the Pittsburgh Comedy and the Burning Bridges Stand Up festivals.

Host or Publisher Bottlerocket Social Hall