Comedy Takes Over Maple Grove

Is Maple Grove the next comedy central?

By: Cyd Haynes | From the issue: December 2010

Photo: Marshall Franklin Long

Joe Tanner, a local mail-carrier-turned-comedian discovered by Louie Anderson MCs comedy shows twice a month at Maple Tavern

Lorrie Link is no doctor. But the executive director of the Maple Grove Arts Center has a theory.

“Comedy is good for you,” she says. “It’s good for your health.” With all the funny business in town, Maple Grove should be feeling great.

Nationally known comedian and Maple Grove resident Scott Hansen and his friends—improv comedians Kim Thomassen and Gust Alexander (The Stagebenders), and Emmy Award winning comedy film writer Jeff Cesario—began teaching Comedy Tech classes at the Maple Grove Arts Center last summer and continued them through the fall. Hansen led the charge with his Extremely Serious Standup Comedy Workshop, designed for onstage beginners. “I define what comedy is, how to write a joke, how to tell a joke,” Hansen explains of his class. “Some people are befuddled that there is a system to comedy.”

But after the six-week program, Hansen’s once-green students were transformed by their experience. “(They were) really good,” Hansen says. “I’ve already hired a couple of them to do professional work.”

Comedy Tech mentored students with a range of experience—some rookies, some with standup experience—but no matter the student, Hansen aimed to make them better the only way he knows how. “I know how tough it was for me to do this, so I make them work hard,” says Hansen, who once struggled with stage fright himself. “I am honest. I take it seriously. It’s my business.”

For the extremely serious students, Hansen’s style was exactly what was needed. “I was blown away by the amount of information Scott crammed into the class,” says student Carolyn Herfurth. “From how to build a set, to industry lingo, to joke structure, to in-depth writing exercises, he didn’t miss a beat. His depth of knowledge and willingness to share decades of comedy industry experience is jaw-dropping.”

Link saw Comedy Tech blossom in front of her eyes at the arts center, as each of the classes offered in the summer and fall filled up. “The classes are taking right off,” says Link. So much so that Hansen’s original Extremely Serious Comedy class had to be split into two to accommodate the overwhelming registrations. All the classes—Scott’s Extremely Serious Standup Comedy Workshop, The Stagebenders’ Improvisation for the Comedy Stage Workshop, The Business of Comedy: How to Sell Yourself!, Scott Hansen’s Comedy Tuneup and Advanced Comedy Writing Workshop and Writing for TV and Movies: the Basics with Jeff Cesario—will be offered again this winter.