Traumedy: Standup Comedy on Difficult Topics

Some of the funniest material comes from the hardest places. Grief, illness, family, failure…

Traumedy is a workshop for comics who want to explore difficult personal topics through a comedic lens. We’ll spend time learning how to approach heavy material with craft and intention.

A few things worth knowing before you sign up:

This workshop has a thoughtful structure built in. We start with a self-assessment: you’ll have a chance to identify topics you want to work with and get a sense of where you are with them before we dive into writing. We’ll also spend time at the top of the workshop talking about framing and how we share in a group setting, so everyone in the room feels supported and a container is set.

Over four hours, we’ll cover:

• Self-assessment: choosing a topic and knowing what you’re walking in with
• Framing difficult material; how to set up the audience so they’re with you, not uncomfortable for you
• Finding the absurdity, the irony, and the unexpected angle in hard experiences
• The ethics of personal material; what’s yours to tell, and how to tell it well
• Writing and developing a bit on a difficult topic with structured one-on-one and group feedback

Details:

• Experience required: Intermediate standup experience required (you have at least 10-15 minutes of written material, you perform at open mics, and you’ve performed on a showcase at some point)
• Location: Durango Arts Center, 802 E. 2nd Avenue, Durango CO 81301
• Date: Sunday, June 14, 2026
• Time: 1:00–5:00 PM
• Price: $65
• Class limit: 10 (2 scholarship slots available; email helloandrearossi@gmail.com directly)
• Instructor: Andrea Rossi