The Hard Knock Knocks comedy school is now in its ninth year. Since it’s founding in 2016, over 700 bucket list tickers, key note speakers and comedians of the future have completed our five night comedy course. Many graduates have gone on to win comedy competitions, including Raw Comedy, and even become full time professional comedians. With so many alumni, …
Hard Knock Knocks alumni, Laurence Driscoll, has been nominated for ‘Best Newcomer‘ at the 2024 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The two-time RAW Comedy Victorian State Finalist and So You Think You’re Funny Edinburgh semi-finalist performed a full run of his ‘The Prodigay Son’ (notice the pun?) show. Veteran comedian, Claire Hooper, helped produce the show. Laurence Driscoll’s debut solo show …
Three alumni of the Hard Knock Knocks comedy school have beaten close to a thousand amateur comedians to compete in the National Raw Comedy final at the Melbourne Town Hall on April 14, 2024. The three were chosen alongside nine others selected from all of Australia’s States and Territories, making up the final 12. What’s incredible is the speed at …
This week we highlight graduate James Pendrith James attended the Hard Knock Knocks Comedy School in February 2024, flying down from Brisbane to attend the five night course. He had dabbled in open mic comedy a couple of times, and had a goal of polishing his performance with the help of coaching, and performing to a big crowd. He got …
Across all of his social media platforms Australian comedian Reuben Solo has over 800,000 followers. His Instagram sits at 235,000 followers, YouTube at 19,000 subscribers and over 560,000 followers on TikTok. He chooses not to be on Facebook. He’s Gen Z after all. Reuben has attracted this enormous following by filming skits, where he often plays all the characters. To …
Some of the Australia’s funniest stand-up comedians coach the Hard Knock Knocks comedy courses around Australia. Actually, that’s not entirely true. We also have funny Brits (Jeff Green and Glynn Nicholas), Japanese (Mayumi Nobetsu) and did you know that Greg Fleet is actually an American?! These hilarious comics provide advice, give feedback, and share their comedic journeys. They also perform …
Australia is home to some stellar dark comedians. In fact, one of the most popular shows at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival is the Dark Comedy Special. But before we get into our top five dark comedians, however, let’s answer the question, “What is dark comedy?” As a somewhat controversial topic, it is often misunderstood. What is dark comedy? Mental …
Generating ideas for stand-up comedy is difficult at the best of times. Just about any topic is open game, but that freedom doesn’t make joke writing easier. If anything, the brain needs constraint to help focus the creative muscle. Here’s four constraints that we use at the Hard Knock Knocks comedy school to help our students generate ideas for stand-up …
Google the term ‘stand-up comedy clubs’ and you’ll be presented with images of comedians in front of red curtains and brick walls. But why? Why are these backdrops so ubiquitous with the comedy industry? Quite simply, it’s the combination of utility and humble beginnings. Red Curtains Stand-up comedy originates from the stages of Vaudeville. Borrowed from the French and modified …
