MISSOULA — The Roxy Theater has been known to put on some outside-the-box events and its revival comedy workshop is no different.
It teaches women and marginalized genders the art of comedy and allows them to take those teachings to the stage.
Sarah Aswell has been teaching the ins and outs of stand-up comedy to women and marginalized groups for eight years.
She was inspired to start this class when she noticed there was a lopsided comedy scene in Missoula.
“It was kind of a boy's club, and my workshop isn’t really designed to make women funnier, they already are funny, but it is here to give women more confidence to teach them sort of the tools to joke writing and how to do stand-up,"Aswell said.
The workshop is open for any level of stand-up — whether people have been doing it for years or if it’s their first day.
The skills learned in this class have also helped some of the students overcome fears in their personal lives.
This was the case for Abi Gontarek who started attending this workshop in September and used the skills to help cope with her social anxiety.
“I struggle with really bad social anxiety and even my first class, I came here and I cried the whole time and I was terrified to speak into a mic," Gontarek said.
"So, this has really given me the opportunity to get comfortable standing up and being funny instead of just like casually sitting in the back," she continued.
Gontarek told MTN News that since joining the workshop, she's found her people.
“I feel like for the first time in four years I have a group of friends, peers that support me in everything I do and that means a lot and they all encouraged me through September up into October so that I could get on stage."
The next Revival Comedy Workshop will be held on Tuesday, February 6, 2024, at the Annex in the Roxy Theater.
The workshop is free and there is no sign-up necessary.
