Sonoma Community Center

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Make Them Laugh! Stand Up Comedy Class

January 11, 2025 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

$200 Per Registration

Date: Saturday, January 11, 2025 – February 8, 2025
Time: 2:00 – 4:00 PM
This class meets weekly for 5 weeks
Instructor: Jesse Fernandez
Location: Room 110
Ages: 17+
Skill Level: All Levels 
Registration Fee: $200

Financial Aid Register Here

About the class

Discover the techniques that top stand-up comedians use to grab and keep attention, and make audiences laugh. This 5-week comedy course provides the essential skills you’ll use to mesmerize crowds, boost your confidence, power-up your performance, and be funny. And don’t worry—you don’t need to be a natural! This course is built specifically to shepherd you from complete beginner into comedy competency. The best public speakers use humor. Successful corporate presenters are funny. Job candidates who make interviewers laugh get hired. Whether your goal is to conquer stage fright, climb in your career, or embark on a new path as a comedian, this program’s focus on comedy material, preparation, and delivery will set you on the right track.

The 5-week course culminates on the 5th week with an optional stand-up comedy showcase in front of loving and laughing friends and family.

The Sonoma Community Center is committed to creating an accessible learning environment. If you require any special considerations(medical, physical, learning) please share them with Sean Baskin, Program Associate, by emailing him at sean@sonomacommunitycenter.org so that he can forward them to the relevant Program Director and Instructor.

About the instructor

Jesse Fernandez

Instructor / Comedian

The course is taught by Jesse Fernandez, a 17-year stand-up comedian who regularly performs at all the major Bay Area clubs, has been featured in 11 SF Sketchfests, written and produced for Emmy-winning teams and videos, presented research at The International Society For Humor Studies Conference, and won the Speechless improvised PowerPoint competition as well as the National College Comedy Competition. Among the countless people he’s opened for are Maria Bamford (from Netflix’s Lady Dynamite), Andy Kindler (judge on NBC’s Last Comic Standing), Mary Lynn Rajskub (from Fox’s 24), and even Steve-O (you know what he’s from). He’s written in the funniest parts of great TED Talks, Starbucks, MSN, ABC, eBaum’s World (yes, they’re still around), famous comedians, and many more.

    Questions and Answers

    • All Levels
    • Welcomes participants from beginning through advanced. Instructor provides a balanced and flexible curriculum suitable for participants with any level of experience.
    • Beginning
    • Participant has little to no experience with this medium and needs or expects guidance at every step during the class. Participant wants to learn about materials, techniques, and vocabulary of the medium.
    • Intermediate
    • Participant is comfortable with the medium and expects both guidance and time to work alone with the medium.
    • Advanced
    • Participant is very confident with all aspects of the medium. Participant is self-motivated; ready to experiment and develop their artistic voice.

    You can click on the images below to expand them.

    We ask that you notify us at least 10 days in advance of a class if you need to cancel your registration. You may cancel by phone or email and we will gladly offer you a refund or credit toward a future class. If you cancel with less than 10 days’ notice, we will not be able to provide refunds, due to our contractual obligations and material purchases for each class. 

    Sometimes, the Sonoma Community Center has to cancel a class due to low enrollment or unforeseen circumstances, such as a natural disaster or health emergency. If this happens and we do not offer a reschedule date, you will be refunded 100% of your registration fee, or credit towards a future class. If we are able to offer a reschedule date but you are unable to make the new date, we will gladly offer credit towards a future class.

    Late additions to any program, class, or workshop that has already begun will be allowed on a per-case basis depending upon the Program Director & instructors approval. Late additions will have to pay the full registration cost of the class, along with any materials fees, and will not be prorated for the time missed. You may reach out to the program directors directly, or the Program Associate Sean Baskin at sean@sonomacommunitycenter.org to request a late addition.

    We are always looking for new instructors. You can find more information about the process here, or fill out the form directly here.

    You can view our full class policies and guidelines here.

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