Black Sheep Comedy, Sean McEwan
Sean McEwan and his wife started Black Sheep Comedy, which is focused on improv and sketch comedy. Prayson Pate talked with Sean about their community-first approach and unique training methodology, along with Sean’s thoughts on the business' growth and success, including partnerships with venues, upcoming initiatives, and the valuable mentorship received from SCORE.
Prayson: How did you come up with the idea for your business, Black Sheep Comedy?
Sean: My wife and I have been doing comedy for over 13 years. And we love it. It's something that we have a passion for. We noticed that Carrboro and Chapel Hill have a very thriving art scene, but a comedy program was absent from that. And we wanted to start a business to help fill that void. The thing that we love most about a comedy theater is the community aspect of it. When it's thriving, it can really feel special. We’ve heard it described as Dorothy landing in Oz or Alice going through the looking glass.
Prayson: What makes your business unique?
Sean: The biggest thing that sets us apart is that we are first and foremost a community-first program. In a lot of comedy theaters, the shows you're seeing on stage are largely in some way created and overseen by the theater. But with our shows, everything you see on stage is owned and created by the performers and their team.
Our goal is to provide a space for members of our community to get on stage and showcase their art and their passion. We also have a training side that is a bit unique. Our improv program is a five-level program. Students who go through all five levels and graduate will be ready for the stage.
One of our taglines is “serious about funny.” We try to make our classes warm and inviting and fun, but we also aim for our students to grow and improve as they go through the program. And our approach to that is built largely on my background as an educator before I started Black Sheep Comedy. My career was in visual effects and animation, and I worked in post-production and production for film and television at a lot of studios. I was at Pixar for a while doing that, and I was an instructor and a trainer at those studios as well.
During that time, I developed techniques for teaching advanced concepts to artists in a clear and approachable way. And we use that same approach in our comedy classes.
The last part is our universal approach to our training program. For those who aren't inside the world of comedy, there are a lot of different schools of thought of comedy. So for example, Chicago-style improv is very different from New York-style improv. Rather than training students in a single philosophy, we focus on foundational tools that translate across all the styles. Our goal is for students to be able to walk into any comedy space, understand the approach that's being used, and be able to confidently join in.
Prayson: What were some of the challenges you faced? How did you overcome them?
Sean: The biggest challenge we faced as a new business was finding venues to host our shows and classes. We don't own a location, so we approached several local businesses and organizations about a partnership. We've been very fortunate to have the support of both the ArtsCenter in Carrboro and My Muses Card Shop in Carrboro, who've both been very supportive of our business and growth. We host shows and classes at both of those spaces.
Prayson: You don’t have a space, so the commercial model could be challenging. Can you tell us about how you solved that?
Sean: We found an arrangement with the venues that is mutually beneficial. When a show does well, we all benefit. The real challenge early on was creating awareness and attracting audiences. We approached that in a few different ways. Marketing helped, but the best results we saw long-term were simply from creating content that audiences wanted to return for. We had a big Valentine’s Day show last year that had a good turnout. And we host higher-profile shows as well, like “Once Upon A Time In Carrboro”, the Carrboro-themed sketch show we co-created with SNL senior writer Bryan Tucker last fall.
Prayson: That sounds great! Now, about SCORE. How did you find SCORE, and how did it help?
Sean: I found SCORE when we were initially starting the business. I spent a lot of time researching resources for new business owners, especially locally in the area, and SCORE was one of the resources that I found.
The webinars were a great source when we were first forming. I was able to dive in, watch a bunch of them, and make sure I was getting off on the right foot. Then I was paired with a mentor, Ani, who really helped guide us through our first year of growth. The mentorship program was definitely the most beneficial service that SCORE has provided. Having an experienced business mentor regularly check in on our business has really increased our confidence in making business moves. It's just been a nice sanity check to ensure that we're always headed in the right direction.
Prayson: That sounds great. Let’s wrap up with some info on upcoming events at Black Sheep Comedy.
Sean: The last weekend of March, Kevin McDonald from the show “The Kids in the Hall” will be joining us for a couple of shows and workshops, and those tickets are currently on sale.
In February, we're hosting a show right around Valentine's Day. called Happily Never After, which is a monologue show where different performers will portray fairy tale characters telling the sides of the stories that we don't see in the fairy tales. That's a fun one, and all of the performances will be submitted by members of our community.
Finally, one of our community members has put together an initiative called The Forge, which is an opportunity for anyone to audition to join a brand-new indie team. The coach will help them find their voice and style, and give them the tools to get on stage regularly.
You can find more info about all of this at https://www.blacksheepcomedy.com/, including upcoming shows and our classes.
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