Motivate and inspire your team by finding the funny.
Comedy writing and performing workshops run by The Production Village (formally Think Funny) could form a challenging and enjoyable part of your company’s next team building event. We have created comedy-based activities for major corporate clients including Allen & Overy, Allied Domecq and Guinness and we recently created an intensive comedy writing and performance weekend for international data analysts Dunnhumby (pictured). With the help of our team, 3 hand-picked groups of dunnhumby staff devised & performed their own live comedy shows in front of 900 of their colleagues at Norton Park in Hampshire.
Client feedback: “The dunnhumby festival was a huge success and the response has been incredible. The success of the week relied heavily on the comedy experts we chose to run the sessions, so thanks for making it a great event. Feedback has been very positive with some saying it was the best event yet, which is a great accolade after doing this event for 5 years. Hope to work with you again in the near future. ” Laura Deryshire/Graeme Preston, Team Spirit.
“A fantastic job. Your comedy workshop at our office in Singapore really helped motivate and build the confidence of our international customer service team.” Andrew Chan, Allen & Overy
Our stand-up comedy event is The Production Village’s most challenging team-building activity. A real test of bottle for you and your work colleagues and not for the faint-hearted. This is a short, sharp introduction to writing and performing stand-up comedy with confidence and flair. Working closely with Production Village tutors, attendees write, rehearse and perform 3 minute stand-up routines about the people they work with and the company they work for – appearing in front of an audience of their colleagues in a live comedy show at the end of the day. This workshop is based on Production Village’s critically-acclaimed one-day course Strictly Stand-Up, as featured on the Granada TV documentary series The Test and on LWT’s Big Night Out.
The workshop begins with an analysis of different types of formula routine and shows attendees how to customise these to reflect their own working environment and colleagues. The team then works together to brainstorm material, based on personal and group anecdotes. The Production Village will take your team on a comedy roller-coaster, helping them to build confidence as performers and teaching them scriptwriting skills, microphone technique and basic stagecraft. This event is ideal for sales teams and client-facing staff and works best for groups of up to ten attendees. However, if numbers require it, we have the facilities to work with multiple groups.
Sketch Writing Event
Suitable for larger team groups of up to 15 or 20. The Production Village set out a number of tried and tested formulae for successful comedy sketch writing, then apply these to brainstorming topical sketches based on the working environment and finally perform them in front of colleagues in a “live show” at the end of the day. This workshop will really get the adrenaline pumping as your staff work together to create a performance to entertain their colleagues. When did you last see your entire work force join together for a good laugh? It’s a fantastic morale builder, while at the same time testing creative writing skills, powers of collaboration and live presentation skills.
Creating a Situation Comedy
We’ll show your teams how TV sitcoms are created and then brainstorm a sitcom based around your own company or work environment. Attendees ultimately create a short, original sitcom script and at the end of the day perform a “rehearsed reading” for their colleagues. This event is ideal for teams of up to 15 and focuses on creative writing rather than performing. It’s therefore particularly suitable for non client-facing groups who are less likely to show confidence as performers. Guest trainers for this highly creative one day writing workshop have included BBC scriptwriter Keith Lindsay who worked with comedy legend John Sullivan on Green Green Grass – the follow-up to the BBC’s Only Fools And Horses.
A great training day
The Production Village can create a great training day for your staff. From a single small group in a meeting room to a hundred sales staff at a weekend retreat. We’ll bring in the trainers, equipment and expertise required to suit the scale of your team building event. This could mean a single writing or performing tutor coming to your place of work or a large crew of directors, scriptwriters and technicians producing and rigging a full scale comedy show at the venue of your choice. Now there’s an exciting thought.
“Insightful, educational, and very funny. The Production Village’s comedy workshop was like mixing Q.I. with Only Fools and Horses. Highly recommended.” Simon Robinson, Creative Director WCRS & Co (Advertising).
“A fantastic job. Your comedy workshop at our office in Singapore really helped motivate and build the confidence of our international customer service team.” Andrew Chan Allen & Overy
“The dunnhumby festival was a huge success and the response has been incredible. The success of the week relied heavily on the comedy experts we chose to run the sessions so thanks for making it a great event. Feedback so far has been very positive with some saying it was the best event yet which is a great accolade after doing this event for 5 years. Hope to work with you again in the near future. ” Laura Deryshire/Graeme Preston, Team Spirit.