Laugh It Out

STUDENTS MAKING STRIDES

Created by the Comedy Hall of Fame Foundation, LAUGH IT OUT is an educational program that uses improvisational comedy to teach communication to New York City public school students. Professional improvisation trainers and celebrity guests work with students from 6th through 12th grade using improv exercises to hone skills in listening, speaking, rapid adaptation, and critical thinking.

Improvisation exercises teach students to listen and observe, think, act, receive feedback, and respond. This positive loop is the foundation of effective communication and serves to improve critical thinking, public speaking, and team building skills. Further, students are asked to outline and perform their own sketches based on observations in school, at home, and in the world around them.

Students who complete the class show remarkable strides – most often they are more articulate, more confident, more engaged, and more prepared to learn in all of their classes.

FOR NOW. FOREVER.

The success of the early pilot program led to the development of a for-credit elective class for students as well as professional development workshops for teachers.

Unlike more-traditional electives such as music, art, and theater, improv performance does not require an instrument, expensive supplies, or previous technical training. The only prerequisite is a willingness to try. This small risk offers enormous payoff, and many students discover talents they either didn’t know they had or didn’t know how to positively apply.

Skills such as listening, observation, and verbal and non-verbal expression surface immediately, and as these skills are refined and synthesized, they take root and serve the students, first in their academic careers, and then in their lives outside of school.