Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Humber College Comedy: Writing and Performance


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was Keep (NAC). SwisterTwister  talk  05:48, 21 February 2017 (UTC)

Humber College Comedy: Writing and Performance

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I can't verify any reliable sources for the subject, thereby failing WP:GNG, the article reads as a promotional piece for a college program. Aloneinthewild (talk) 20:44, 12 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Schools-related deletion discussions. Shawn in Montreal (talk) 20:56, 12 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Ontario-related deletion discussions. Shawn in Montreal (talk) 20:56, 12 February 2017 (UTC)


 * I don't see the difficulty in finding any reliable source. this is a recent feature, just months old, in Canada's largest newsmagazine, Maclean's. Top of the search results. Then there's more passing coverage in an array of other Canadian media, particularly a quote from program director Andrew Clark that ran nationally in a Canadian Press story by Victoria Ahearn. I'm not casting a !vote, at least not at this time, but the notability of this college is substantially better than the nominator claims. Shawn in Montreal (talk) 21:07, 12 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Arts-related deletion discussions. Shawn in Montreal (talk) 21:07, 12 February 2017 (UTC)

 Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
 * Then we have this bylined story from the other end of the country, Vancouver, in Georgia Straight, on the creative and performing arts programs including comedy. This (cached version) from London's defunct Scene. This more passing but still substantial mention in a Globe and Mail piece by Guy Dixon. It helps to simply search for Humber College and "comedy," rather than official title. Do not delete. We easily have enough reliable sources for a small section in the Humber College, so a selective merge  would be in order. Shawn in Montreal (talk) 21:26, 12 February 2017 (UTC)

Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Kurykh (talk) 01:11, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

Keep per the significant coverage in reliable sources.  The article notes: "Most Canadians like to be thought of as civil people, apt to shy away from overt confrontation, loud behavior and brash idiosyncrasy. Then there are the 130 students who attend the comedy school at the Humber School of Creative and Performing Arts, appropriately located on the campus of an old mental hospital where 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' was filmed. There may be no louder, more tasteless group of Canadians anywhere. ... The School of Creative and Performing Arts is a part of Humber College, a trade school with 11,000 students spread over two campuses. While Humber may not be Oxford, its administration says it is the only academic institution of higher learning in the world that gives a diploma in comedy. And it most probably is the only school in the world that has a course called Shtick.  ...  While only five years old, the Humber comedy school has already found an expanding niche in Toronto's comedy world as a place where young people can break into a difficult business. Last year the program accepted only about one in five who applied, and a good number of its graduates have found work on television and the local club scene. The students learn the tricks of the trade, like how to handle a microphone, how to find a good agent, how to cook a variety of dishes on motel room coffee makers between gigs and how to direct passive-aggressive retorts at hecklers to shut them up and get the crowd on your side."  The article notes: "Among the many Second City alumni who are now sharing their talents in the comedy program at Humber College's School of Creative & Performing Arts, [Adrian] Truss- who many might remember from the comedy group Illustrated Men- loves the energy his students have, calling it 'contagious.' Right now, there are 125 students enrolled in the comedy writing and performance diploma and postgraduate certificate programs. For a broader reach, the school also offers evening classes, a summer workshop and a correspondence program, Guttman says. Thanks to an impressive teaching-talent list- Joe Flaherty, the current artist in residence, is only one among several big names to have graced the school's considerable credentials- Humber has been able to attract serious would-be comedians."  The article notes: "The Humber Comedy Center, which aspires to become an Actor's Studio for comedians and comedic writers, opens this October with campuses in Manhattan and Toronto. Appropriately, plans for the facility were unveiled at Caroline's comedy club on Broadway. ... This is no joke: The comedy center will operate in Manhattan studio space and at Humber College in Toronto, offering a 30-week professional training program. But don't expect any cheap laughs: Tuition is $8,500 per year in the U.S., or $6,500 Canadian in Toronto. Students will receive instruction in stand-up comedy, sitcom auditions, improvisation, comedic acting and comedy writing for sitcoms, sketches and screenplays. Classes will run from 21 to 25 hours per week; once the session is completed, the students will perform in Caroline's before an industry audience."  The article notes: "Did you hear the one about the new post-graduate course in. . . comedy? It's no joke. Comedy is big box office these days, so it's not surprising to learn North America's first college course on the art of making people laugh will be launched this fall simultaneously in New York city and Toronto's own Humber College. ... The 30-week program at Humber and the American Comedy Institute in New York will have courses in sketch comedy, stand-up, improvisation, screenwriting, teleplay (sitcom) writing, on-camera acting and audition techniques. Veteran comic and Howard Stern foe Steve Allen, who was first host of The Tonight Show that Jay Leno inherited from Johnny Carson, chairs the advisory committee for both programs. Yuk Yuks founder Mark Breslin is an adviser. Each course will be taught by a professional in the field. The program will admit 18 students on the basis of either performance auditions or written submissions." <li> The article notes: "It was Steve Martin who said comedy is not pretty. To which Joe Kertes can only add, 'Amen.' The dean of creative arts at Humber College, Kertes is the mastermind behind what is believed to be the world's only full-time university course in comedy."</li> <li> The article notes: "Hollywood, with its seemingly inexhaustible appetite for reality television, is set to make a star out of Humber College. Merv Griffin Productions, the company behind Jeopardy, and Creative Artists Management, a Hollywood powerhouse that represents Canadian comedy giants Ivan Reitman and Lorne Michaels, among others, signed an agreement last month with the college to make a reality show out of the lives of students in the school's innovative comedy program. Shooting will begin in the fall, when classes return. The students will open their lives and dreams to the cameras and could end up with their own comedy special on national American television. The deal could also lead to a feature film based on the show, according to Joe Kertes, the comedy program's founding dean. What's making Hollywood's mouth water is that Humber is the only English-language school in the world where a bunch of kids is getting an education just for laughs. The two-year program collects '130 class clowns' under one roof, according to Allan Guttman, director of the program, who one year got a pie in the face from his grateful charges at the college's graduation ceremony."</li> <li> The article notes: "When you tell someone you are in the Humber College Comedy Writing and Performance program, the most common follow-up question is: “That exists?” One forgives the incredulity. After all, comedy school sounds like the sort of thing that 1) couldn’t exist, 2) shouldn’t exist, and 3) wouldn’t teach you much if it did. That, incidentally, leads to the second-most-frequently asked question: “Can you actually teach someone how to be funny?” I admit it sounds doubtful. And yet, a little less than three years ago, at 24, I drove to Etobicoke to audition for this peculiar experiment."</li> </ol>There is sufficient coverage in reliable sources to allow the subject to pass Notability, which requires "significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject". Cunard (talk) 03:46, 20 February 2017 (UTC) </li></ul>


 * Keep: the article was badly promotional, but the subject appears to be notable as one of the few schools to offer a degree in comedy. Sources presented by Cunard are indicative of notability. I removed the promo content; please see: diff. K.e.coffman (talk) 04:04, 20 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Keep and tag for maintenance. The article as currently written is definitely in dire need of sourcing and substance improvement, but the topic has been plainly shown above to pass WP:GNG. Bearcat (talk) 17:38, 20 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Comment Happy to be proven wrong on this one, maybe I was a bit eager and my original search terns where wrong when I was looking for "Humber College Comedy". I withdraw the nomination Aloneinthewild (talk) 21:32, 20 February 2017 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.