utr-20150913-comedy_9.mp3

A funny thing a happened this week in the studio. This month, Emerson College formally launched it's degree in comedic arts. Students will sit down to learn stand-up, and take classes in everything from sketch comedy to sitcom writing. They’ll study comedy production and editing, as well as the history of comedy, dating back to the ancients-- that would be the Greeks, not Jay Leno.

So what does it mean to study comedy? And what does it take to be a professional comic? Callie sits down with Martie Cook, creator and director of Emerson’s comedic arts major, aspiring comic Sierra Katow, and Boston based comic Corey Rodrigues to discuss to promises and pratfalls of a life in comedy.

Martie Cook is teaching pilot writing and writing for television this semester Emerson, she’s also associate chair of Visual and Media Arts at Emerson and author of “Write to TV: Out of Your Head and Onto the Screen.” She tweets @MartieCook. Sierra Katow is a Harvard University senior who was recently featured on NBC's Last Comic Standing, she tweets @sierrakatow. Local comic,Corey Rodrigues shares his thoughts on the hustle of the working comic lifestyle, he can be found @coreyrodrigues.