Photo courtesy of In Laughing Color
In spring of 2015, seven amateur comedians took to the stage of Impact Hub in Washington, D.C. for the premiere of In Laughing Color: For Queerky Folks Who Considered the Mic When Comedy Central Wasn’t Enuf (ILC).
ILC was founded by Richael Faithful, Griffin Moore, and Chelsea Shorte to “cultivate and present performances of life affirming comedy by trans/queer, Black, POC, and other folks”. Their ongoing goal is to create a supportive community for collaboratively creating, laughing, healing, reflecting, and developing as artists through comedy.
“Our first show was a big and almost unexpected success. We have learned more about what people expect from us and what it takes to produce a comedy show for queer people,” says Shorte.
With the community eager for more, ILC is gearing up for their fall workshop and are currently taking applications for people interested in learning more about stand-up comedy. The organizers are looking for people who have never performed before, people who want to learn something new, and people willing to commit to weeks of training.
Though the time commitment for being performance ready might seem intimidating, ILC alumni describe the workshops as a fun space of other “like minded people exploring comedic expression”. Co-founders and graduates agree that having a space where queer community members can decompress and laugh is a much needed necessity.
“I am proud that ILC has empowered and inspired our graduates to continue writing and performing comedy. We are on our way to changing the world,” says Shorte.
If you are interested in applying visit https://goo.gl/8DPyLl. The application deadline is August 30, 2015.
