"I WROTE my best, funniest sketches thanks, in no small part, to the lessons I learned from Steve Kaplan’s comedy classes. Steve breaks the fine art of comedy down…that helps the unfunny become funny, and the funny become funnier."
So said David Fury, the Emmy-winning writer/producer of 24, Lost, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, about Steve Kaplan, one of the US entertainment industry’s most sought after experts on comedy writing. Kaplan is coming to Galway to give a two-day workshop on comedy on Saturday June 18 and Sunday 19, from 9am to 5pm, in The Salthill Hotel.
The workshop will give attendees an insight into the techniques and tools which have moulded and inspired some of Hollywood’s top comedians and Academy Award winning comic writers over the last 20 years, through interactive exercises, deconstructing sequences from famous comedy films and TV programmes, and debate and discussion.
Kaplan has been a consultant for HBO, Disney, and Dream Works Animation. He is also the founder of the HBO New Writers Programme which has produced Jack Black and Tenacious D, and Emmy Winning TV writers like David Fury, as well as Michael Patrick King of Sex and the City and Will and Grace, and Tracy Proust, writer of Ugly Betty.
He was also co-founder and artistic director of Manhattan Punch Line Theatre, where he developed writers such as writer and producer David Crane (Friends ) and Peter Tolan (Analyze This, Finding Amanda ). Kaplan was also executive producer for the award-winning HBO Original Programming documentary Drop Dead Gorgeous.
Steve Kaplan's comedy workshop is in association with Gréasán na Meán Skillnet, a group which endeavours to develop competence and skills in those entering or already in media industries. To register for the workshop, call 091 - 558400, see www.greasannamean.ie/kaplan, or email [email protected]. Early booking is essential as spaces are limited. The workshop costs €220 per person.
