Stand Up! for Climate Action

Can laughter help us avoid climate catastrophe?

DISSCO hosts a stand-up comedy academy to raise awareness about climate change.

Climate change affects literally everyone. At the same time, we believe humor is a powerful tool to raise awareness and inspire action.

That’s why, combining the two, we developed “Stand Up! for climate action”, a stand-up comedy academy that tackles climate change and environmental collapse by combining stand-up comedy and environmental awareness.

The aim is to bring on stage diverse voices and perspectives on our current common predicament, and explore the potential of climate action with participants and members of the audience.

Conceived as an academy where participants are trained on stand-up techniques as a communication tool, as well as engage in deep discussions about current environmental challenges, it culminates into an open mic stand-up comedy show that is co-created by comedians, scientists and activists.

Featuring original short acts by a diverse group of engaged activists, scientists and comedians, the show was the result of intensive workshops, during which participants developed and practiced stand-up comedy skills – most of them for the first time.

The workshop participants were selected through an open call based on their climate awareness engagement and ensuring a diverse background. Whether scientists, amateur stand-up comedians, activists, artists, or engineers, they all engaged in intensive public speaking and joke writing training with professional stand-up comedians improvising and practicing new content.

These original short stand-up comedy acts (approx. 3’ each) were then presented live during the Stand Up! for climate action show.