Students living away from one of the Second City Training Centers can still study comedy sketch writing! In Sketch Writing 1 students receive individual instruction through online correspondence, exploring the fundamentals of character development and theatrical scene structure. Exercises include a variety of comedic genres, from “Simple Yet Impossible Goal”…

Building on Online Sketch Writing 1, students will continue to learn the universal comedy techniques used in mainstream media as well as focusing on satire, character development and rewriting.

Major Concepts: Short history of sketch comedy, relationship, game and blackout sketches.

Class Work Examples: 2-Person relationship sketches aren’t…

In Online Sketch Writing 3 you will continue building the blocks of a sketch revue! Explore sketch structures that “break the rules”, including blackouts and clothesline scenes. Expand your ability to collaborate with other writers as you learn the structure of a Second City sketch revue.

Major Concepts: Specialty…

The culmination of the Online Writing Program allows you to strengthen your own voice as a writer as you explore concepts of satire founded in historical and personal events. Gain new tools for rewriting your sketches to strengthen the point of view. This term includes special workshops in songwriting and…

Cry ‘Til You Laugh! In this four-week course, you will learn to write about sad experiences either in your own personal life or through fiction. This class will also teach you how to add humor to your writing in order to provide some comic relief. Writing about emotional experiences can…

Do you have funny personal stories to share? In this four-week course, you will learn to write about humorous experiences in your own life. We will discuss how to make your stories interesting and relatable to other people.

We will brainstorm ideas and develop them into personal essays. You can write…

This class teaches a solid, fundamental approach to acting that can be applied to any style or genre of material. After establishing a core process, put it immediately into practice by tackling different styles of scripts each week. Students learn and discuss key elements in scripts, as well as submit…

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In Online Intro to Comedic Songwriting you will learn to turn a strong point of view into a great comedic song. Work with classic song structures to strengthen your lyrics, and discover how melody and musical style can influence your songwriting. In this four-week online course, you will receive specific,…

Develop yourself as a solo comedic performer by writing and workshopping your own material. By understanding how earlier stand-up comics evolved, students experiment outside their comfort zone and experiment in a variety of styles until discovering their own unique style. Students will be encouraged to perform in local open mics…

An online, go at your own pace Personal Storytelling course.

Understanding the basics of a good, compelling story is essential to life, essential to connection, essential to whether you want to write a memoir, give a Ted Talk or share a story piece for The Moth. Understand your story and you’ll…

Intro to Writing for TV is for anyone who wants to learn the essence of writing for television or anyone with a great idea for a series who needs help putting it into (properly formatted) words. This on-demand course gives you a strong foundation for TV writing structure, demystifies the…

Write desk bits, remote segments, guest pieces, sketch and a variety of segments for shows like Fallon, Seth Meyers, Kimmel, Amber Ruffin, Colbert, John Oliver, Trevor Noah, Ellen, Desus & Mero and more. Write monologue jokes weekly, create original material to strengthen your writing samples, and produce the elements to…

Building on Writing for Late Night TV and Talk Shows Level 1, this class will consist of joke maximizers for monologue jokes, finding the angle for your joke to help come up with multiple punch lines, jokes with visual punchlines, writing a rant on a topic like John Oliver’s show….

In this four-week online writing satire course, you will learn how to form a strong comedic point of view on topical news and pop culture events. You will brainstorm, draft and rewrite short pieces in the style of McSweeney’s, Shouts and Murmurs and The Second City Network. Internet presence, pitching,…

This second four-week satire writing intensive builds on the concepts learned in Satire 1 and puts an increased emphasis on writing at a professional level. Students will keep a running pitch document, have access to exclusive interviews with top editors and satire writers working today, and create a website for…

Portfolio, Pitching and Submitting Bootcamp

In this two-month class, the final in the Online Satire series, students will complete a writing portfolio that showcases their voice and POV, work to create a professional network, and focus on pitching and submitting finished pieces throughout the course. Topics covered…

Join Kathleen Puls Andrade for an intensive look at the Voiceover industry and learn the skills needed to make it in this competitive field. You’ll be getting behind the mic (or phone, or laptop) to read scripts and get coaching and evaluation of your work. Then you’ll take the direction…

Join Kathleen Puls Andrade for an intensive five week look at the voiceover industry and learn the skills needed to make it in this competitive field. This class is both recorded and interactive. You’ll be getting behind the mic (or phone, or laptop) to read scripts then post them in…