In Irwin Levin’s upcoming Jewish Humour Playshop, participants will discover and/or build upon their own creativity and sense of humour through improv games, written and spoken exercises.
With a background in stand-up comedy and improvisation, Levin is a man with a message: “Everyone is funny!” He encourages community members (18+) to join in his three-hour “playshop” at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver on Oct. 19, starting at 10:15 a.m.
“Come as you are, ready to play and have some laughs!” he told the Independent, adding, “I’m looking forward to teaching fellow members of the tribe at this unique event, where we can let loose and be the funny people we know we are.”
Featured exercises will include Wisdom from Chelm, Mensch on the Bench, and Jokes from Jewish Entertainers.
Levin has had what he calls “a wicked sense of humour” since childhood.
“Being funny is very important to me,” he said. ”I hated school because of problems with focus, and I didn’t bond well with other kids. My solace was making kids, teachers and others laugh, but, most importantly, I made myself laugh – like when I was 17 and accidentally reversed my dad’s car instead of going forwards, thus making a hole in the side of the garage and then crashing through the back onto our back lawn. After being very upset, I had the thought that we have the only three-door garage on the block – that made me laugh and helped me a lot.
“The point is, sometimes it helps to look at the funny side of life. Laughter is very healthy and sometimes necessary, especially in a stressful world. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take life seriously, but it’s always nice to find someone to laugh with or on your own.”
Over the last five years, Levin has taken improv classes from David C. Jones, stand-up comedy classes with David Granirer and sketch comedy classes at Blind Tiger Comedy. He has performed at China Cloud Studios in Vancouver and is currently teaching a three-month improv series at Carousel Theatre with his wife, Cass Freeman.
“I started taking stand-up courses before improv, to see if that was something I wanted to do for a living. Around that time, I started dating Cass and she was into improv and got me interested. This was in the mid-’90s,” Levin said.
“Improv can relieve stress, reduce stage fright and improve self-esteem,” Freeman told the Independent in an interview a few years ago about the theatrical form. (See jewishindependent.ca/many-reasons-to-learn-improv.) “Improv games encourage creativity, quick thinking and communication skills, and are a great tool for breaking the ice, having fun and building team spirit,” she said.
“When taking classes, improv is mostly playing games and doing short scenes,” Levin explained about what people can expect at his upcoming playshop. “There are no mistakes in improv! In improv, you aren’t trying to say funny things – you say things funny. The comedy just comes organically in a scene.
“The games in my playshop will be low pressure, because a lot of the exercises will be written, so that participants can take their time with coming up with answers and read out in a circle. Also, they don’t have to participate in any game that they won’t be comfortable playing.”
The cost to attend Levin’s Jewish Humour Playshop is $30 or pay what you can. People can register by texting Levin at 778-862-4638.