Laughing Matter Training Circle

Laughing Matter Training serves as the recruitment and training vehicle for Laughing Matter. It was established in 2009 to connect like-minded individuals together to fulfill a mission of comedy-based therapeutic service. Though a Meetup.com group in the technical sense, active participants of Laughing Matter Training undergo an audition/evaluation process for membership into an Ensemble. Inducted performers become de facto members of Laughing Matter, a fiscally sponsored organization of Fractured Atlas.

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Laughing Matter Performance Company

The mission of Laughing Matter is to promote the well-being of patients, residents of assisted-care facilities, and patrons of homeless shelters through the medium of improvisational comedy. Performances are delivered by ensembles of committed, compassionate, and professional performers.

The first ensemble of performers completed an eight-week training cycle and summer performance tour that included shows at Somerville Home, Youville Hospital & Rehabilitation Center, Pine Street Inn, Boston Healthcare for the Homeless, and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. These performances served as learning experiences, as much as service-minded events. An integration of regular rehearsals, training workshops, and post-performance analyses comprises a training curriculum that enables performers to refine and expand their skills in improvisation.

Laughing Matter endeavors to negotiate therapeutic considerations while upholding the artistic integrity of the improvisational medium. Professionalism, service-mindedness, and constructive self-improvement underline the organization's philosophy.