Unique Summer Camp Offers Creative Kids A Chance To Do Stand-Up Comedy
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- This story is no joke.
There's an unusual type of summer camp for kids underway, and, as CBS 2's Scott Rapoport reported Friday, there's definitely something funny going on.
So did you hear the one about the little kids who went to summer camp to learn stand-up comedy?
"So my parents got divorced when I was so young … they learned how to walk away before I learned how to walk," one of the campers said.
Yeah, forget about regular camp things like swimming, soccer, archery ... and getting icky poison ivy, because these 10-13-year-olds have been holed up inside at "Camp Kids 'n Comedy" in the basement of the Gotham Comedy Club for two weeks -- four hours a day.
They are learning how to keep you in stitches while avoiding the itches.
When asked why she decided to do this kind of a camp, 12-year-old Sophia Harber said, "Well, it's really exciting and like it's very spontaneous, and I definitely like that you write your own material."
The campers are taught by professional comedians to write and perform.
"The kids are thinking and they're being funny and they're just getting their brain to work in a certain way," camp director Jo Ann Grossman said.
Parents said the camp empowers their children in a way regular camps do not.
"When he gets on stage and gets that first laugh … the thing he says to me is he that he feels very powerful," Stephanie Norman said.
The culmination of all their hard work is a stand-up showcase, where they put into practice all they've learned -- with their families in the audience.
"Have you ever noticed that every day Sleepy's is having a one day mattress sale?" one camper said on stage.
Hey, they'll be here all day. Try the veal.
The founder said the camp has been around for eight years. The two-week sessions are open to kids 10 to 18 years of age.
You May Also Be Interested In These Stories
