Join Charlie George & Ina Linge for a hilarious comedy workshop that aims to raise awareness about climate action.
Do you care about important issues but are tired of people backing away from you at parties every time you mention the sea levels rising? Well this comedy workshop could be for you!
Join award-winning stand-up comedy writer, host, MC & Swindon’s finest ex-Jehovah’s Witness comedian Charlie George (she/her). In collaboration with Dr Ina Linge (she/her) from the Department of Languages, Cultures and Visual Studies at the University of Exeter.
Together we’ll help you find your funny about important issues! And take all that sewage & turn it into gold. This is the perfect opportunity to build confidence in your creative ideas around activism & explore comedy writing & performance skills.
Participants can bring a photo, newspaper article or object that represents your relationship to nature and the environment. But don’t panic! We will have plenty of source materials for you to draw from provided if you can’t bring any for whatever reason.
Charlie will provide tools, exercises and comedic devices to turn your prompts into comedy exploring urgent political themes. We’ll also explore: Why comedy? Why laugh about all our crap? Why now?
The workshop will last approximately 2 hours including a break. Bring snacks. All are welcome!
Cost: Free
About the speakers
Charlie George (she/her) is a stand-up comedian and writer, host, MC and speaker. (LGBTQ New Comedian of the Year 2019, So You Think You’re Funny & Funny Women Awards runner up 2019) Charlie has performed stand-up on BBC Asian Network Live, BBC’s No Country for Women Podcast, Comedy Central in Rhod Gilbert’s Growing Pains and ITV2’s Stand Up Sketch Show. A talented and accomplished writer, Charlie was chosen to feature in Charlie Brooker’s writers’ room for Cunk & Other Humans 2019, The BAFTA nominated AntiViral Wipe 2020 and Death to 2020 & 2021 for Netflix. She has written for the C4 Election night special, 8 out of 10 cats, Hypothetical, Newsjack, The Now Show, Have I Got News For You, Horrible Histories, Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back & Frankie Boyle’s New World Order. Charlie was selected out of 3,700 writers for the Penguin Write Now editorial programme to write her first book Door to Door, about her experiences being raised Jehovah’s witness & ending up transient homeless as a result of leaving the religion & her family home as a teenager. She gigs all over the country & runs comedy nights in both London & Margate. https://charliegeorgecomedy.com/
Ina Linge (she/her) is Senior Lecturer in German in the Department of Languages, Cultures and Visual Studies at the University of Exeter. Her research focuses on queer German studies and she just published her first monograph Queer Livability: German Sexual Sciences and Life Writing (University of Michigan Press, 2023). Most recently, she has been exploring the relationship between gender, sexuality and belonging and animals, nature and environment. She has published on the role of moths and butterflies in sexual knowledge production, co-edited (with Sarah Bezan) a special issue “Sex and Nature” in Environmental Humanities (2022), and is currently working on a new project on uncharismatic animals in the German history of sexuality. Her work reaches beyond academia through collaborations with museums, charities and artists and she is currently exploring the role of comedy in engaging diverse publics about personal and political issues. You can listen to her talking about her work on BBC Arts & Ideas here.
Accessibility Statement: The Exeter Phoenix is fully wheelchair accessible. This event will take place on the first floor.
ACCESS TO THE BUILDING
There is a steep slope from the street leading to the main entrance and a flight of stairs up to the front door. More level access is possible by approaching from Exeter Central Library on Castle street. Step-free access to the building is available via a ramped entrance on the side of the building.
The side entrance is equipped with automatic doors.
All ground floor spaces are fully accessible with a mix of level flooring and gentle ramps. Spaces on the first floor are accessible via lift or the main staircases with level floor access throughout. Unfortunately, the second floor is not accessible via lift. Access from the first floor is via one flight of stairs.
Seating at events in The Workshop & Studio 1 changes depending on the event; if you have any specific requirements we will do our best to accommodate them and advise getting in contact before you attend.
If you are a wheelchair user we have removable seats or appropriate spaces available in all event spaces to accommodate this.
PARKING
There is one accessible parking space for Blue Badge Holders. To reserve this for your visit, please call the box office team on 01392 667080 who will provide you with a parking permit upon arrival.
TOILETS
Level access to accessible toilets is available on all floors. The accessible toilet next to Studio 74 does not require a radar key. A radar key is required for the accessible toilet on the ground floor next to the Workshop and the first floor accessible toilet; the key is available from the box office.
There are gender neutral toilets available in Studio 74 and on the first floor.
GUIDE DOGS
Guide / Hearing / Assistance Dogs are welcome. If you wish to take your dog into the event, please let us know when booking so that we can arrange an adjacent seat.
COMPANIONS
Patrons with disabilities may also bring a companion free of charge to all events.
SENSORY NOTES
The cafe bar plays low level recorded music during the day, with moderately bright lighting. During the evening in the cafe bar the music is louder and the lighting is lower. The cafe bar can become busy at various times which makes it louder.
The building can be busy with multiple events happening at the same time, if during your visit you feel you need a quieter space please ask and we will try to accommodate this wherever possible.
VENUE VISUAL STORY
Exeter Phoenix are currently in the process of updating their visual story to more accurately reflect the building.