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Call for Entries: Equity Foundation Comedy Scholarship

The hunt is on for an Australian or NZ performer to spend up to 12 weeks at US comedy school.

The hunt is on for an Australian or New Zealand performer to spend up to 12 weeks at US comedy school, The Second City’s Chicago Training Centre.

The Equity Foundation, supported by The Second City, CBS Television Studios, ITV Studios Australia, Media Super and Showcast is offering a once-in-a-lifetime scholarship.

The prize includes an $AU20,000 cash prize, a week in Los Angeles with CBS Television Studios to meet with casting and comedy development executives, as well as attending a table read, run through and taping of The Late Late Show with James Corden.

“We’re looking for students who are ready to learn our art form and dive into life without a script, or at least life where the script is built by the students and not someone else,” says the Second City’s managing director, Rosie Chevalier. “You don’t have to worry about being funny; you only have to worry about being brave and committed.”

CBS TV Studios’ senior vice president of talent and casting, Matt Skrobalak, said, “New Zealand and Australia have an amazing track record of producing unique comedy voices and performers like Taika Waititi, Chris Lilley, Rebel Wilson, Flight of the Conchords and Madeleine Sami to name just a few. CBS TV Studios is proud to be partnering with the Equity Foundation to discover, cultivate and promote the next great comedy talent.”

David Mott, CEO of ITV Studios Australia said, “We’re delighted to support this scholarship which is a wonderful opportunity for an up-and-coming comedy artist to build their skills. Upon their return from The Second City, our talented creative teams look forward to working with the lucky recipient to develop comedy projects for the Australian market.”

In order to apply for the scholarship, applicants* need to submit a self-test of a one to two minute video of a self-devised character/song/monologue/piece or an existing comedic piece of the applicant’s choosing, to the Equity Foundation’s website.

Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Bill Murray, Mike Myers, Joan Rivers and Martin Short are among the comedic stars who have trained at The Second City, the world’s premier name in improv-based sketch comedy and education. It opened its doors as a small cabaret theatre nearly 60 years ago and now has a variety of theatres, training centres, and theatrical and touring Company ensembles all over the world.

The Equity Foundation is the region’s leading provider of professional development programs tailored to the unique needs of performers. Annually the Equity Foundation delivers more than 150 master classes, workshops, film screenings, in conversations, international scholarships and other events for Equity members in Australia and New Zealand.

Media Super is the Principal Partner of the Equity Foundation.

Media Super CEO Graeme Russell noted that there was nothing funny about the current gyrations on world share markets, so it was a welcome relief to be associated with developing the comedy skills of a member of our community. “As the $6.5b super fund for performers, we’re proud to work with the Equity Foundation to provide opportunities for up-and-coming” he said.

*Applications are open to all Equity Australia and New Zealand members aged 19 years and over.

Applications close close Sunday April 5 at 6pm AEST.

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