About Jerry Corley
Jerry Corley is the founder of the Stand Up Comedy Clinic and a comedy teacher. He has been a stand up comedian for 30+ years. He spent much of that time touring 30-40 weeks out of the year all over country. From strip clubs to banquet rooms for corporate America, Jerry has played to almost every crowd imaginable. He also spent 8 years as a writer for Jay Leno and “The Tonight Show,” pumping out hundreds of jokes per week and has written for comedians from Bill Hicks to Chris Rock.
Jerry Corley helped found the “Writer’s Forum” at the Friars Club of Beverly Hills, giving professional comedians a chance to learn to write comedy quickly and more effectively and give them regular place to brainstorm material and work it out. Every Monday night, comedians would arrive at 5 o’clock at the club, write jokes for 3 hours, then put on a show at 9 o’clock where each comedian did 5-7 minutes performing only the new material they wrote that night. Fellow comedians would tell him, “you’re a great comedy teacher, you should teach other people these techniques.”
Then one morning he was awarded full custody of his oldest son. That afternoon he spent calling people and canceling 26 weeks of work. Except for the weekend and one-night corporate shows and casino gigs, the extended road gigs were over.
Now Jerry uses his experience and joke-writing skills to teach other aspiring comedians and humor writers how to write jokes and how to become a comedian who can generate material on a daily basis in this very competitive but very rewarding business.
Jerry spent many years working with and studying the best comedians and why they get laughs. He has met with top comedy writers and developed a deep understanding of the fundamentals of comedy and what triggers human laughter. He has broken down the art of comedy into a science. You can find it all in his book Breaking Comedy's D.N.A., which has been called the "best book on understanding comedy out there!"
Jerry believes that once comedians and humor writers truly understand the science, they can write jokes that are not only funnier, but funnier consistently.
For 10 years, Jerry had the only comedy studio in L.A. fully dedicated to learning the art of comedy. The studio is closed now due to the pandemic, but Jerry still teaches his courses online.
His long term goal is to build the first full-time comedy school in the U.S., teaching not only the fundamentals of comedy writing but performance technique as well helping students develop their acts, find their voices and get work in comedy.
Jerry lives with his wife and family in Chatsworth, CA
Copyright © 2021 Stand Up Comedy Clinic - All Rights Reserved.