Stand-up comedy workshops, courses, direction & consultation

Funny Side Collective facilitates workshops, teaches stand-up techniques, and collaborates with performers to create shows.

Our courses

What we do

Consultation for comedians, theatre companies, specific productions

One-to-one comedy, solo performance and storytelling coaching

Comedy directing for stand-up comedians and shows

Mentoring emerging comedians

One-off taster sessions and workshop series for groups

Script development and editing

Find out more

Life’s better on the Funny Side!

Funny Side Collective (Ltd) was founded in 2024 by Dr Sam Beale, a stand-up comedy director, writer and teacher who also researches the history and contemporary practice of comedy. Sam is a Doctor of Comedy* and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Authority (SFHEA). She is co-founder and artistic director of Palestine Comedy Club (PalCom) and is currently writing a book about socially engaged comedy projects around the world. (Routledge, 2026)

*Not a joke.

Sam works internationally with comedians, solo performers, theatre companies and community groups as a comedy director and consultant and has facilitated comedy projects and events in a wide range of contexts. Funny Side Collective builds on her experience teaching comedy in Higher Education and community settings over the last 25 years.

Who we are

Comedy and Legacy of Music Hall Women by Sam Beale

Links to recent publications and associated organisations

Beale, Sam (2018) Teaching Artist Journal, Vol 16, Issue 3-4. ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Checkpoint: teaching stand-up comedy in Occupied Palestine.’ https://doi.org/10.1080/15411796.2018.1530520 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15411796.2018.1530520

Reisz, Matthew (2018) Interview with Sam Beale Times Higher Education, February 22, 2018. Online.

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/people/interview-sam-beale-middlesex-university

Beale, Sam (2020) Brazen impudence and boisterous vulgarity: the comedy and legacy of women on the Victorian and Edwardian music hall. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Published as ebook and in print. Paperback issued 2021.

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-47941-1

Beale, Sam (2022) Comedy Studies Vol 13, Issue 2. ‘Funny and disturbing: women’s serio-comic performance on the Victorian music hall.’ https://doi.org/10.1080/2040610X.2022.2091734 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2040610X.2022.2091734

Palestine Comedy Club (PalCom) https://www.palestinecomedyclub.com/

Forthcoming:

Beale, Sam (2025) “You Can’t Stop a Girl From Thinking”: the press, the censor and moral ambiguity in women’s comic performances on the Victorian music hall." In Humour Across Victoriana. (Humour in Literature and Culture Series). London: Routledge.

Testimonials

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I have worked with Sam for over 25 years. You don’t do that if someone is shit.

Her knowledge and practice are immense and I trust her understanding implicitly.

Mark Thomas – comedian and writer

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I studied Sam’s solo performance and stand up comedy modules on my degree course. I would say that working with Sam altered the course of my life in the sense that she made it possible for me to make a career as a solo performer in stand up comedy, through the direction she gave my work, and through the encouragement to use areas of practice in my work that I would not have previously considered - ten years on I still use pathos in my comedy work in a way that she taught me. I’ve now taught alongside Sam and can see that she has an uncanny ability to find what is uniquely brilliant in any performer, her eye for detail in finding the most important aspect of an on stage character is unmatched.

Jacob Hawley – comedian and writer

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Being part of Sam’s comedy workshops has been one of the greatest joys of my career. The sessions are full of joy, empathy, care and empowerment over life’s significant challenges. Sam’s ability to help participants find laughter in even painful personal circumstances is extremely moving. If you ever get an opportunity to work with Sam, y

Charlotte Knowles – TV and film producer (Tough Crowd Ltd), co-founder of Palestine Comedy Club (PalCom)

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Sam is the most gifted, empathetic and effective teacher I have ever encountered, and I believe every student she has worked with would endorse that. Whether one to one or in large group situations her warmth, humour, and transformative energy combined with high intelligence and respect for others enables those who encounter her to discov

Huw Thomas, comedian, actor, co-founder and legendary compere of Downstairs At The King’s Head, teacher and lecturer (Middlesex University 1971-2010)

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It's not an exaggeration to say taking Sam’s courses at university changed the path of my life, leading me to do musical comedy for a living. I'm not always the loudest person in the room and I took the comic performance module to push myself to become "more confident" and I'm certain in the wrong environment with the wrong person I'd have chickened out of the module entirely. Sam's so much fun. Her humour and her honesty mean you know where you stand and you feel safe to express yourself and play around. She doesn't tell you what to do or how to do it. She gives you the right tools to inspire you and then listens and watches for authenticity and some kind of spark in you that you can develop. This meant everything to me because I assumed confidence meant becoming more extroverted or loud but Sam helped me figure out how to use all the elements of me that don't quite fit in a box and use them to make something unique. I'm forever grateful to Sam for that, for helping me figure out my sense of humour (for this she should also apologise) and finally for continuing to mentor me beyond university and being a great source of advice and support.”

Kate Lucas – award winning musical comedian

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Sam’s intuitive and insightful input into my projects always results in my work developing another level I wouldn’t attain without her. Her keen eye and incisive sense of both the contemporary and the dramatic, sharpens and authenticates my work.

Kate Evans, performer, and outdoor/immersive theatre maker

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Sam designed a fantastic online 6-week course for us, which was specifically tailored for children with cystic fibrosis. Sam really celebrated each child’s unique and wacky ideas and sense of humour, giving them fun and creative tasks to help them feel comfortable and experiment with different ways to make each other laugh. It was great t

Ellie Mindel, Lead for Children and Young People at Cystic Fibrosis Trust

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Sam has the ability to adapt her techniques to any comedian’s way of thinking and working. Working with her as a director expands any comedy ideas and talking to her about your material stretches and helps it to grow in your head. In any story that any comedian brings her she knows what inside the story will make people laugh. She just knows what’s funny and what’s not funny! When you have many options for how a joke can work, she knows which is the most interesting laugh. She’s not just looking for a joke. That’s what I really love about the work Sam is doing. It’s doesn’t just bring laughter - it is also poetic. It’s not just a joke people will laugh at, it’s laughter that moves them, it makes them dream, think, love. She is looking for the connection to life – for comedy that contains everything in it – the laughter, the depression and sadness, the love. This makes it rich material for the audience, so it stays in their hearts.

Alaa Shehada – actor, comedian and co-founder of Palestine Comedy Club (PalCom)

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any questions?

If you have any questions about our comedy workshops, courses and other activities, please get in touch.

Talk to the team

Photo credits: Regash, Steve Best, Charlotte Knowles.

Stand-up comedy workshops, courses, direction & consultation

What we do

Consultation for comedians, theatre companies, specific productions

One-to-one comedy, solo performance and storytelling coaching

Comedy directing for stand-up comedians and shows

Mentoring emerging comedians

One-off taster sessions and workshop series for groups

Script development and editing

Life’s better on the Funny Side!

Links to recent publications and associated organisations

Testimonials

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any questions?

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