Quite a scary thought! 5,000 plus Guardian readers all under one roof, scurrying from event to event hosted by such literary luminaries as Polly Toynbee, Simon Hoggart and Jon Ronson. So, when I was invited to run a ‘How to be funny’ workshop at 11.15am on a sunny Sunday morning, as part of the Guardian Open Weekend the enormity of the undertaking didn’t sink in!
So faced with almost the broadest possible cross section of Guardian readership all in one room, each with the intent of ‘being funny’, this was a bit of a challenge! Aged from 11 to late 60s (I’m guessing here…) men, women, children and some in between, with just an hour to get my message over, it was either sink or swim…
I think it went well. Rather than pontificate, I’ll let my audience speak for me:
“It was lovely meeting you at Sunday’s workshop at the Guardian event and thanks for spending so long chatting to me afterwards – it was very inspiring.” Laura Coulthard, Northumberland.
“It was very nice to meet you at the Guardian weekend workshop, it was one of the best hours I've spent and I've had a LOT of education, it was especially good because unlike all the other times I've been having fun it felt like it had a direction and a purpose and could be going somewhere as opposed to jokes disappearing into the ether, so thankyou very much again.” Jonathan Adams, Surrey.
Lynne Parker
If you fancy a go at being funny too, check out our workshops HERE. Women only at the moment but watch this space…
For a broader view of the whole Guardian Open Weekend read the article HERE by Stephen Moss.
