Unemployed Scots Receive Stand-Up Training
Scotland's Daily Record ran a story about Glaswegian down-and-outers who found work through Universal Comedy Courses, a charity program whose goal is to "help people who have been on benefits for years to develop the social and organisational skills they need to get a job." Yes, you've read that correctly, a nonprofit built to tap the angst of unemployment and translate it into profitable comedy gold.
Just witness the testimony of young, Douglas Davidson, 35, was unemployed for three years "due to chronic migraines, depression and insomnia":
"He has just completed the course and is now working as a writer and hopes to publish a novel within the next year . . . It was a fantastic experience. It has helped me turn my life around.
'I
lacked confidence as I was unable to work. It got to the stage where I
would have anxiety attacks about just leaving the house.
'I eventually did a comedy song called East End City Blues about a guy having a bad day in Glasgow. The crowd loved it.
'Someone
from the BBC came to see us and I am starting a development course with
them in writing for radio. I also found a publisher for my heroic
fantasy novel.'
Who better to mine comedy talent than from jobless insomniacs and depressives? Can you imagine starting a similar charity in the States?
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