A product manager, a trainee Father Christmas and a speaker for the Catholic Church walk into a classroom.
It sounds like the start of a joke. In a way, it is. Last month, I joined this cast of characters for a week-long intensive stand-up comedy course.
It was a rogue choice for me, made after plans to attend a reading retreat fell through. Friends were unflatteringly astonished when I told them — “but you’re an introvert,” was a common response. I had serious doubts about performing, quake at public speaking and, as a production journalist, tend to steer clear of the limelight. Still, it seemed a good way to get out of my comfort zone.