Laughing Horse Stand-Up Comedy Courses - London

Danni M.

Recently completed the laughing horse beginners course and wow.
I looked at 12 week courses for 5x the price but honestly this was exactly what I needed. I now have so much more confidence and so many transferable skills for my day job - which is why I joined the course, but more importantly, I think I just found a whole new hobby!
My friends were amazed how the ideas I sketched out on Friday night, turned into a 5 minute stand up sketch, and for someone who has been told they aren’t particularly funny - and walked in saying I can talk to a audience, but I’m not funny and I’d like to be a little funny… well now I think I’m very f’ing funny 🤣
Thank you so much Jay. I’m going on to the intermediate course asap

Dennis M.

This was a great course, and a fun weekend. I did this a few years ago with Jay Sodagar teaching. Now I'm gigging around London and doing shows in Edinburgh. Would highly recommend this as a way of helping you get on stage for a first time. And good support after too when needed from the tutor.

Matt

I've done 4 comedy courses with laughing horse comedy. Jay makes it fun and enjoyable to learn stand-up comedy. He creates a non judgemental culture enabling delegates to be open and relaxed.5 stars!

tharan N.

Great course, enjoyed it. The only draw back was that we couldn't do the graduation performance in June due to not having a public audience, however they have given me a place in July's one.

Joanna S.

The beginners course was incredible. I can't recommend it enough. In 2 days we were all confident enough to perform at the Fringe! Jay presented easy-to-follow systems which made the process of writing and editing comedy straight-forward and effective. He simplified comedy. It was amazing to watch the transformation in performance after course attendees applied his guidance. Jay created very supportive, non-judgemental space. The tasks would gently build up in complexity. The encouragement and support was great at every stage, including the show. Jay was an engaging and supportive MC. Bigging us all up. Thank you so much. I'm looking forward to applying everything we've learned and to the next course.

Kat C.

Jay is a great teacher no doubt. His process really sharpens up your writing.
I did both the beginners and intermediate course.
Beginners course was one weekend long and the group dynamic was great.
Intermediate course was 2 weekends long.
The first weekend though was basically a repetition of the beginners course to bring people's writing, who haven't attended the beginners courses up to par with Jay's writing process.
People should have to do the beginners course first, even if they have gigged already as Jay has a very specific approach to writing and performing.
Actually the whole thing could be combined into two weekends.
And a one day only course could be offered to the ones that just came along to gain confidence in public speaking.
Furthermore in both courses a graduation show is offered.
Realistically though it is not really promoted, so only the course attendees and some friends are there. There isn't even a microphone.
In the intermediate course the graduation show was cancelled all together which was a real shame.
I don't quite understand why the intermediate course graduation isn't running as an open mic gig so other comedians could get a shot too, more people would turn up and the whole thing is a bit more dynamic.

Jim S.

I bought this as a Christmas present for my wife. She'd mentioned 20 or 30 times how much she'd like a diamond eternity ring, and then she mentioned that she'd like to try her hand at standup comedy. Result.

Jay was a great teacher, and the 2 days flew by. We did our course at the King's Arms in Salford - word of warning, the room was freezing. It pays to prep a set before you start, and take lots of A4 paper so you can follow Jay's review process properly. The graduation gig was just a couple of friends and course members, which I liked - it felt a safe way to lose my virginity - I think it varies between courses. It was professionally compered. We each received feedback afterwards from the compere - I felt this was really useful, he picked out some very interesting points which I can learn from. Totally constructive.

I've now taken Monday morning off to recover! Absolutely knackered, but utterly loved it, and made some great friends really fast.

Stephanie W.

I can not believe how much information I have managed to gain after just completing this course (beginner). Jay is absolutely phenomenal at explaining the process, and being able to interact with a group of strangers with a common interest was brilliant. Absolutely worth every penny- I definitely want to come back for further courses.

The one thing I would say is that the set up beforehand does let it down. The website is really poor and disorganised, it’s so difficult to find information, some of the information is inaccurate, and having to book via email communication rather than straight on the website seems slightly problematic. Still going to actually rate the course 5 stars because it wouldn’t be fair on Jay to rate it any less, but when I first saw the website (after the course had been given to me as a present), I was a bit apprehensive. The beginner course is absolutely fantastic value and it’s being short changed at the moment.

If you are thinking about doing this- JUST DO IT. I can’t explain how nervous I was beforehand but I honestly don’t think I could’ve enjoyed it any more! Thank you so much!