South English teacher, Sheila McDermott-Sipe, recently performed a stand-up comedy routine at the Comedy Attic. The Comedy Attic hosts an open mic comedy night on Wednesdays at 8 p.m., at which McDermott-Sipe presented her act.

The English teacher began this hobby in Chicago at The Second City comedy studio and theatre. She describes The Second City as “the Mecca of comedy.” McDermott-Sipe was awarded a Lilly Endowment Educator grant and used the funds to learn about the intricacies and nuances of improvisational comedy from the institution that has produced such comedians as Steve Carell and Amy Poehler.

Later on, McDermott-Sipe further added to the verbal and expressive tools of effective comedy at Berkeley in California at a stand-up comedy workshop. Back home in Bloomington, she also has attended courses from Ivy Tech on the techniques of stand-up comedy. McDermott-Sipe learned to take “raw material” from commonplace circumstances and craft it into a structured joke.

Now, at the Comedy Attic, McDermott-Sipe performs stand-up comedy based on family events and events in her everyday life. “I do a lot of observational humor,”  McDermott-Sipe said when describing her relatable comedy routine. Anyone 17 and older is permitted to attend the event.

The comedy routine can be seen in the link below.