Soho Labs FAQs

Stand Up Lab – is for complete beginners. Total newbies. Absolute rookies.

Character Lab – is for a mixed cohort with any level of experience. Complete beginners are very welcome.

Comedy Lab Plus – is for people who have been gigging on the circuit for a while, have done around 30+ gigs.

Cabaret & Drag Lab – for newbies or anyone looking to develop their cabaret and drag skills.

Edinburgh Lab – runs only in the May term, for those who are taking a show to the Edinburgh Festival in August.

Writers’ Lab – has its own separate FAQ page, which you can find here

All the labs are 18+ with no upper age limit.

Our 10 week Comedy and Cabaret Labs programmes cost £150.

Our 9 month Writers’ Lab programme costs £200.

Payment information will be sent along with the course offer. We also have a limited amount of full and half bursaries available for people on government benefits, which you can select on the application form.

For Comedy Lab Plus, yes.

But for any others – absolutely not, complete newbies are very welcome.

You are welcome to apply for our courses from outside of London, as long as you can easily get to Soho Theatre (Dean Street, London, W1D 3NE) for each weekly workshop, some of which start at 10am.

We recommend checking your travel options before submitting an application, unfortunately we are not able to assist with travel costs. Due to the performative and collaborative nature of the Comedy and Cabaret & Drag courses, we are unable to offer them as zoom sessions. The only Lab that we offer Zoom options for is the Writers’ Lab.

It’s really helpful for us to get to know people through their application answers, so we’d recommend using up your whole word count /video time limit and answer in as much detail as you can.

We appreciate people just being themselves, there’s no need to try to impress us, just be open and honest in your answers about why you want to take part. If you have some topics, themes or ideas for a set you want to make, feel free to share your ideas with us.

You can apply to more than one course if you want to, just submit one application per course and indicate on each application which other courses you are applying for.

Yes, once you have submitted your application through the form (the link to the application form appears on each lab webpage) and you have reached the ‘thank you for taking the time to apply’ page, you should receive a confirmation email directly from Typeform within 24 hours. Sometimes these may end up in junk/spam, so do check there too.

In the application form, there are four long-form answer questions that help us learn a bit about you. You’re welcome to type these out, or answer via video, whichever you prefer.

If you’d like to go for the video option, simply film yourself answering the questions, stopping between each one. The idea is you have a separate video for each answer.

Then upload these videos onto YouTube. In the web version there’s a “create” button that looks like a camera with a “+” in it in the top right corner. In the mobile app, it’s the “+” button bottom centre. Choose the “video” option (rather than “short” or “live”), upload your video, and then set the visibility to “unlisted” – which means that only people who have the link to the video will be able to watch it. Then you can copy and paste the link to the video into the application.

You are also welcome to use other video uploading sites if preferred – for example Vimeo, Google Drive or Dropbox – but please make sure that the video can be accessed by anyone with the link, without needing an account or a password.

If we are able to offer an applicant a place on one of our courses, the offer is only applicable for the term specified. We are unable to defer places, but we strongly encourage people to re-apply again in future, if they are unsuccessful, or unable to accept a course offer.

The application form works best from a computer, but you can also complete it on a smartphone or tablet. For the open questions, you can also submit your answer by video, by pasting the online video link in the answer box.

If you are encountering accessibility issues, or for other support regarding the application form, please email engagement@sohotheatre.com.

Here are the list of questions on the application form, in case you’d like to see them in advance:

1-What is your name?
2-What email address can we contact you on?
3- What’s the best phone number to reach you on?
4- Which Lab are you applying for? (multiple choice)
5- Have you taken part in one of our Labs courses before?
6- If yes, which Labs have you taken part in and when?

7-Are you applying for any other Labs courses this term?
8-If yes, which other Labs are you applying for?
9-What kind of comedy or performance are you interested in making? (200 words, for a text answer, or 1 minute video link)
10- What kind of comedy or performance do you enjoy watching? (200 words, for a text answer, or 1 minute video link)
11- Tell us a bit about your previous experience – have you ever performed before? (100 words, for a text answer, or 1 minute video link)
12- What are you hoping to gain from this Lab? (100 words, for a text answer, or 1 minute video link)
13- If applying for Comedy Lab Plus, we would love to watch 3-5 minutes of your material, please provide a video link below. This doesn’t need to be a high quality video. Just a link that will take us to a short set so we can get to know your material and performance style.

This question is required for Comedy Lab Plus only. If you have any issues uploading your video, please contact engagement@sohotheatre.com and we will help!
14- Do you require a bursary in order to take part in the Lab(s) you are applying to? (Yes/No)
15- If yes, please let us know which bursaries you are eligible for. (multiple choice)
16- If you require a bursary, please let us know a little bit about your circumstances.
17- Where did you hear about Soho Theatre Labs?
As we are a charity, the following questions are to do with equal opportunities data which our funders require us to collect. Most questions have a ‘prefer not to say’ option if you wish to select this.
18- Do you live in London? (Yes/No)
19- If you live in London please let us know which borough you live in. (multiple choice)
20- If you don’t live in London, please let us know which town or City you live in.
21- How do you describe your gender? (multiple choice)
22- How do you describe your sexual orientation? (multiple choice)
23- What will your age be at the beginning of term?
24- Please describe your ethnic origin. (multiple choice)
25- What was the occupation of the main/highest income earner in your household when you were 14? (multiple choice)
26- Do you consider yourself to be disabled?
27- If yes- please let us know how you describe yourself. (multiple choice)
28- Do you have any access needs that we should be aware of?

Thank you, you should receive a confirmation email once you have submitted, we aim to respond to all applicants

1- What is your name?
2- What email address can we contact you on?
3- What’s the best phone number to reach you on?
4- Have you taken part in one of our Labs courses before?
5- If yes, which Labs have you taken part in and when?
7-Tell us more about your show including name, venue, dates of the run and what it’s about
(Max 200 words or 1 minute video – please include YouTube/Vimeo Link below)
8- Have you fully confirmed your venue? (yes/no/other)
9- What is your experience with performing and touring shows?
(Max 200 words/1 min video or audio response, please include YouTube or Vimeo link)
10- What would you like to gain from taking part in the Lab?
(Max 200 words/1 minute video or audio response, please include a YouTube or Vimeo link).
11- If applying for Comedy Lab Plus, we would love to watch 3-5 minutes of your material, please provide a video link below.
12- Do you require a bursary in order to take part in the Lab(s) you are applying to? (Yes/No)
13- If yes, please let us know which bursaries you are eligible for. (multiple choice)
14- If you require a bursary, please let us know a little bit about your circumstances.
15- Where did you hear about Soho Theatre Labs?
As we are a charity, the following questions are to do with equal opportunities data which our funders require us to collect. Most questions have a ‘prefer not to say’ option if you wish to select this.
16- Do you live in London? (Yes/No)
17- If you live in London please let us know which borough you live in. (multiple choice)
18- If you don’t live in London, please let us know which town or City you live in.
19- How do you describe your gender? (multiple choice)
20- How do you describe your sexual orientation? (multiple choice)
21- What will your age be at the beginning of term?
22- Please describe your ethnic origin. (multiple choice)
23- What was the occupation of the main/highest income earner in your household when you were 14? (multiple choice)
24- Do you consider yourself to be disabled?
25- If yes- please let us know how you describe yourself. (multiple choice)
26- Do you have any access needs that we should be aware of?

Thank you, you should receive a confirmation email once you have submitted, we aim to respond to all applicants

As we are a small team, managing a large volume of applications, unfortunately we are not able to offer feedback. Inevitably, there are brilliant artists we’re not able to offer places to each year, due to the high application volume and limited course spots available.

Once offers are made, participants are able to confirm their place by email and by making their course payment. We do recommend applicants check course dates before applying and make sure they are able to commit to the full course programme, before accepting a place. We are sometimes able to accommodate participants who may miss 1-2 sessions, but participants must be available for the first session. We are not able to offer refunds to participants once payments have been made.

Drop us an email at engagement@sohotheatre.com

No probs, you can see the specific Writers’ Labs FAQs at the bottom of their page here