Character Comedy Weekend intensive courses
9th-10th OR 16th-17th MAY

⬇️Scroll down the page for the very short and easy application form ⬇️

📧 Email me if you have any questions! 📧  

9th-10th  May is now FULL but applications are open for the  16th-17th May

Applications are still open for the bursary places on both the 9th-10th and 16th-17th

Dates: 9th-10th or 16th-17th May 2026

Time: 10am – 5.30 pm 

Cost for Participant : £150 (early bird)* £170 (normal bird)

Where: London

*EARLY BIRD APPLIES IF BOOKED BEFORE 6th April 2026*

Explore the craft of creating funny, memorable, playful characters for stage over two days. Unlock freedom, joy and hilarity in yourself, by pretending to be someone else.

On day one you’ll look at the key skills required to perform solo character comedy, as well as exploring a variety of approaches to character creation.

You’ll be working with others in group, as well as alone onstage and you’ll get a taste of creating characters through a mixture of different approaches; music, voice, costume, physicality, parody, knowns, unknowns etc.

On day two you’ll perform the beginnings of a new character and receive feedback to help you continue to grow in a supportive, critical and positive environment emphasising exploration, play and discovery. Limited class size.

Suitable for: actors, comedians, cabaret artists, theatre makers, clowns, drag artists etc. You may have never created a character before, you might have created lots - both are welcome! This workshop is about fresh creativity and the beginnings of new characters.

Not suitable for: first time performers or pre-existing characters you’re looking to build more material with (I will be running a workshop for this in future…)

Bursary place:

Sponsored by established character comedians in the industry, there is 1x 100% financially supported bursary space available for each weekend for someone who identifies as being from a benefits class background and/or has been in receipt of universal credit sometime in the last 2 years. Please indicate if this is you when you apply to be considered for the place. Deadline to apply for the sponsored space is: 6th APRIL 2026. I will be offering this bursary on future courses too!

 

QUOTES FROM PREVIOUS STUDENTS: 

• "I've taken a variety of creative courses...and I've never felt more seen as an individual. It sounds hyperbolic, but I've definitely shifted emotionally since taking this course. I would truly recommend it to anyone doing anything creative at all, not just comedy!" - Soho Theatre Character Lab Participant, Summer 2024

• "Jonathan is a brilliant teacher, he is great at creating a welcoming atmosphere but also being able to push you to improve within it. Saying that Jonathan is good at giving advice or good at tweaking an individual performance is an understatement. He can identify things that will make your performance 10x better within a second of you being on stage and you'll be left wondering how he noticed it so easily." - Jamie

• "The classes were excellent and covered so much ground… It was brilliantly technical and silly all at the same time." -Soho Theatre Character Lab Participant, Winter 2024

• "Very funny and really informative. he took time to get to know everyone's needs and give specific advice" - Lottie

• "I had a fantastic experience. I'm not the most confident person artistically and probably had the least experience of the people in the group, but I found myself really putting myself forward in a way I'm normally completely avoid! There was an alchemy to the whole course. A highlight of the year, for sure." - - Soho Theatre Character Lab Participant, Summer 2024

ABOUT THE TEACHER:
Jonathan is a multi-award winning performer, writer, director and teacher. He founded and runs the Character Comedy Lab at Soho Theatre. He is co-creator of “Time of The Week” on BBC Radio 4, which won the British Comedy Guide Best Sketch Show Award, and was nominated for an ARIA and a Chortle Award. He was a BBC New Comedy Award Finalist, Musical Comedy Award Finalist and Leicester Square Theatre Sketch Off Finalist

He directed both of Joe Kent Walters’ Frankie Monroe shows, both of Lorna Rose Treen’s shows, as well as Lucy Pearman and Alice Cockayne. He’s worked with people like Frankie Thompson, Rosalie Minnitt, Kathy Maniura, A&E Comedy and more. He co-directed and performed in Kanpur: 1857 which won a Scotsman Fringe First in 2025, you may also have seen him on Disney+ in Star Wars: Andor or in those online sketches that someone sent you.

As a teacher and workshop leader, he has taught in the UK and internationally including; Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Q Factory (Amsterdam), Scottish Storytelling Centre (Edinburgh), the BBC and as a visiting lecturer across universities in the United States (Rice University Texas, John Carroll University Ohio, University of Notre Dame Indiana, Kansas State University and others).