Real answers about the class, the showcase, the kids' program, corporate workshops, pricing, and what to do after you take the stage.
Our next session begins Sunday, June 7. We meet for five Sundays, and everyone performs at our showcase at the Ice House on Sunday, July 19. The round after that runs August 23 → showcase October 4.
We run sessions roughly every two months — check CoolBeansComedy.com for the live dates and to grab a spot.
Always Sundays. Three time slots:
Please show up 15 minutes early — we start right on time so everyone gets their stage time.
The Ice House Comedy Club, 24 N Mentor Ave, Pasadena — the oldest comedy club in America. Free street parking on Sundays, plus a paid parking structure directly across the street on Mentor. You will not be circling.
Week 1 we get to know everyone, take notes, introduce comedy principles and techniques, and start sketching out your first set. Weeks 2–5 you'll continue to write, perform twice each and every week, get personalized notes, and rewrite — the goal is a tight, true-to-you set by your final showcase.
You'll work with two instructors every week, and you'll be onstage twice per class — once in each room of The Ice House (the California Room and the Legendary Room). Your second time onstage is your opportunity to bring in a completely different set and get notes on new material, or take the notes from your first set and implement them right away for another round of feedback.
Either way, you're getting two stages and two coaches every week — not just one perspective.
In the final class, our director Suzanne Luna — a 6-time Emmy winner from Ellen — joins us to dial in your performance and stage presence.
We sprinkle in improv games occasionally as warm-ups, but this is a stand-up class. You leave with a written set and the chops to deliver it.
That's exactly who this class is built for. Roughly half of every cohort has never touched a mic — no open mics, no improv background, never wrote a joke down before. Trusting the process is the whole gig. We'll handle the rest. We mix in beginner comics with our returning comics and have the most supportive community around.
Absolutely — auditing is free and encouraged. Email us which Sunday works and we'll save you a seat in the room. Coming to a graduation showcase is also a great way to see exactly what you'd be signing up for.
Life happens — we work around it. The standard fix is to double up by joining both the morning and afternoon adult classes on another Sunday. On a case-by-case basis, we can sometimes schedule a one-time 30-minute Zoom to help you catch up — it's not a guarantee, but we always do our best to make sure you're prepared along the way. Either way, we'll send targeted homework so you don't fall behind. We generally require that you attend 3 of the 5 classes to perform in the final showcase.
Yes — we offer Private Training: private 1-on-1 sessions built around your schedule, and from there you're welcome to join the final showcase at the world famous Ice House Comedy Club. We've had students fly in from Northern California, Vegas, Scottsdale, even Singapore — you come in early on showcase Sunday for stage time prep before you go up.
It works — and honestly, it's a great excuse to spend a weekend in Pasadena.
Three ways to enroll: Eventbrite (linked on the site), Zelle to corey@coolbeanscomedy.com, or Venmo @CoreyMCraig.
Once you're in, we'll send a Welcome email with:
That's it. You're a comic.
We've had kids as young as 3 years old all the way up to 18. Stand-up is an individual art form and we help write all of the youth sets so every young performer shines!
Not currently — we get asked this every June, so we feel your pain. The 6-week Sunday session is the format, and it runs year-round.
This is one of the strongest tools any young actor can have. Comedic casting offices regularly call our students in after seeing their stand-up clips — one of our kids landed a Disney general off his showcase video, and others have gone onto television series regular roles, movie and Broadway bookings from our class.
And the youth showcase itself? Agents and managers from CESD, DDO, Daniel Hoff Agency, Jackson Entertainment, The ESI Network, Ivy Artists Management, AEFH, Clear Talent Group, Coast to Coast, and others come scouting. We curate a parent-approved list of kids seeking representation and pass it along, and we make plenty of intros after the show. It's a real pipeline, and we have had multiple kids per show get signed because of this.
Yes — and pretty consistently. Before each youth showcase we email parents asking who's looking for representation, then we share that list with the reps in attendance and follow up with proper intros afterward. No promises, but the opportunity is real, and it's free.
Generally the Sunday after our 5th class — same venue, the Ice House. The youth showcase usually goes up at 3pm, and the two adult showcases run at 5pm and 7pm on the same Sunday. Call time for performers is one hour before showtime — we use the VIP Room as the green room.
We offer a recording package which is an optional add-on at $200, and it's worth it. It's a 4-camera shoot, professionally color-graded, with audio sweetened from the audience channels plus a hero mic. Directed by Suzanne Luna (6-time Emmy winner). You'll get the final video and photos within about a month of the showcase.
Unfortunately no — the Ice House doesn't allow audience recording. That's exactly why we offer the professional package, so you walk away with a real broadcast-quality clip for your reel instead of a shaky vertical phone video taken from row C.
Tickets are around $20 via the Ice House website (and CoolBeansComedy.com) — we'll send you the direct link once they go live. The room seats 115, the showcase is open to the public, and every invite truly counts. Fill the room with people who love you because a room full of laughter is always the best!
All the time — Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood, Snapchat, Caltech, CalArts, Kaiser Permanente, Nature's Bakery, Long Beach State University, and plenty of others. It's generally a 2-hour improv-based workshop built around communication, trust, connection, creative problem-solving, and stress management. No awkward trust falls. No PowerPoint. No one has to be funny.
People leave laughing — and actually like each other more on Monday. We encourage deepening levels of connection through verbal and non-verbal communication.
"We hired Cool Beans Comedy for our company offsite and I am SO happy we did! The team had an amazing time bonding through comedy. It was one of the most talked about parts of our agenda — the team had a blast." — Arsineh H., Ampaire Inc.
We come to you (or you come to us), and we run your team through a curated set of improv games designed for whatever you're trying to build — communication, leadership, cross-team trust, presentation skills, conflict defusion. Every workshop is customized to your group size and goals. We've worked with groups as small as 10, and gone up to 75.
Hop on a quick call with us and we'll send a tailored proposal with pricing within a day or two.
Pay via Eventbrite, Zelle (corey@coolbeanscomedy.com), or Venmo (@CoreyMCraig).
We don't offer refunds or cancellations — running a small school means every seat truly counts. That said, if something comes up we'll work with you on workload, timing, or rolling into a future session. The goal is for you to finish this class feeling proud.
First: enjoy the high. Second: re-enroll. Most of our strongest students come back for round two (and three) — that's how the muscle actually gets built.
We also produce alumni-friendly shows throughout the year — fundraisers, Ice House features, SAG-AFTRA workshops.
The goal is to take your dream as far as you want to take it. Connect with other students, and get after your dream!
We're not a booking agency, but we do have a great community. Many of our past students run supportive open mics and shows, and Cool Beans Comedy also produces shows throughout the year — Boys & Girls Club fundraisers, Ice House features, and others — and we regularly book alumni on those bills.
Our suggestion is to work with a few friends from class and consider starting your own weekly writing group.
1-on-1 coaching — $200 / hour. It's great for comics polishing a tight five, or anyone who wants a focused hour to push their material forward. And this is great for actors with auditions coming up.
I'm Corey Martin Craig — founder of Cool Beans Comedy, author of Stand-Up Comedy for Beginners, four-time TEDx speaker and national keynote speaker, and the guy who's coached Nickelodeon and Disney series regulars, and performers from 3 to 83.
Clients have performed all over the world and been featured on SiriusXM. I teach workshops for SAG-AFTRA, partner with Autism Speaks and the Boys & Girls Club, and I've been at this long enough to know what works — and what doesn't.
Cool Beans Comedy has over 100 million views on social media. And we are all about diversity, inclusion, and giving voice to the underdog. Come build something.
Email is fastest: info@coolbeanscomedy.com. Phone: (626) 344-9519.
If we take a day or two to respond, we promise it's not personal — Corey teaches three classes every Sunday, has many private coaching clients, and so the inbox lives a hard life. But he will always get back to you.
Drop us a line. We'll get back to you — probably between Sunday classes.
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