Comedic Techniques in Storytelling-Paul Strickland

Classes scheduled on 4 consecutive Sundays in June 2025. Sunday, June 1, 8, 15, and 22 from 3-5PM PST.

Zoom Link will be sent to you the week before the workshop and will remain the same for the duration of the course.

Class Description

Everyone loves a good story—but a funny story? That’s the one people remember, retell, and beg to hear again. Humor is a storyteller’s secret weapon, but great comedic moments don’t just happen—they’re crafted.

In this high-energy, laugh-filled workshop, former full-time Nationally touring stand-up comic turned award-winning storyteller Paul Strickland breaks down the mechanics of humor in storytelling—why it works, how to build it, and how to make it hit every time. You’ll explore joke construction, comedic timing, and the subtle art of performance indicators—those small but powerful vocal shifts, gestures, and beats that signal an audience when to laugh. Through live examples, interactive exercises, and an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at how professionals structure humor into their stories, you’ll learn how to make funny moments replicable—not just lucky accidents.

But this isn’t just about making your story more funny. It’s about sharpening your storytelling with humor that enhances your narratives, keeps your audience engaged, and makes the serious moments land even harder. Whether you’re a seasoned performer or just someone who wants to tell better stories at dinner parties, you’ll leave with practical, tested techniques to make your storytelling funnier, sharper, and more impactful.

Your Teacher

Paul Strickland is a professional storyteller and theatre artist who lives in Kentucky. His repertoire includes family friendly stories such as, Reupholstered Folk Tales, Fairytales for Adults and Future Adults, tall-tales and even historical stories that just happened to have never happened.

Paul was a Teller-in-Residence at the International Storytelling Center in 2024.  He was a Featured Teller: New Voice at the National Storytelling Festival and Featured Teller at the Timpanagos Storytelling Festival in 2023. and the Cave Run Storytelling Festival among others, in 2022.

In November of 2018 he made his NYC stage debut Off-Broadway at the SoHo Playhouse with his shadow and flashlight ghost story play 13 Dead Dreams of  “Eugene”.

Always adapting to whatever audience is in front of him, Paul LOVES telling stories in every imaginable environment, from comedy clubs to elementary and middle schools, corporate events  and even two prisons – where he was NOT an inmate at the time.

Collections of his stories have won “Best of Fest” honors more than 18 times at Fringe Theatre  Festivals in the US and Canada. Selections from his comedy performance Levels of Difficulty  are still played nearly every day on SiriusXM radio.