Confidence, creativity and client impact through performance-based training

Ideation. Creativity. Impact. Comedians bring the most distinctive material and the most engaging delivery. We adapt their craft for teams like yours. To grow relevant skills that win pitches and wow clients. Book a call now.

Coaching and training from the world of stand-up—for modern agency teams

Ideation. Creativity. Impact. We adapt comedy craft for teams like yours. To grow relevant skills—that win pitches and wow clients—book a call now.
Alfie Noakes, founder and lead coach

Get skills and insight from a 25-year veteran of TV and comedy

Alfie Noakes is the founder of the We Are Funny Project, and a highly effective mentor, coach and trainer. With over 25 years' experience in stand-up, journalism and television production, Alfie brings valuable insight and a unique skillset to the creative agency world.

As a promoter and MC, Alfie has worked on more than 1,500 live comedy shows. In television, he's produced and directed for Channel 4, Channel 5, MTV and many more. He has also written and presented three online comedy courses. And as an in-person trainer and coach, he’s helped over 1,000 people develop their storytelling, presence and impact on stage, on screen and in business.

During his TV career Alfie wrote for, and directed, talent such as Bill Bailey, Tess Daly, Dermot O'Leary, Edith Bowman, Johnny Vaughan and Dr Brian Cox.

In his comedy life, Alfie was a regular support at the beginning of comedy careers for acts such as Phil Wang, Desiree Burch, Emmanuel Sonubi, Cally Beaton, Josh James, George Lewis, Sindhu Vee, Jamali Maddix, Mawaan Rizwan and Eshaan Akbar.

Alfie feels a warm glow when he recalls having the privilege to MC shows headlined by acts such as James Acaster, Stewart Lee, Sara Barron, Marcus Brigstocke, Josh Widdicombe, Simon Brodkin, Lou Sanders, Richard Herring and Simon Evans.

More than two score of former students/regulars have appeared on Taskmaster, Live at the Apollo, QI and Have I Got News For You?

In agency sessions, Alfie combines performance coaching with deep learner insight. He creates safe, energising environments for creative professionals to connect, experiment, and grow.

Alfie won't turn your people into stand-ups. But he will help them think like comedians because that’s how you unlock original ideas, boost creative confidence, and deliver standout messages which command attention.

Book a discovery call to find out what the We Are Funny Project can do for your team.

Featured Workshop:
Confidence and Creativity for Client Engagement

This workshop is designed for agency teams who spend their working lives in rooms that matter.
Pitching, presenting, persuading, and building trust with clients.

It draws on techniques from stand-up comedy, performance psychology, and storytelling to help people show up with more confidence, clarity, and impact, without pretending to be someone they are not.

This is a practical, structured day. There is a clear balance between input, discussion, guided exercises, and live examples.

What a Typical Full-Day Workshop Could Look Like

A full day is deliberately designed to keep energy, focus, and attention high.
10:00am to 4:30pm, with breaks built in.

This creates a productive day that delivers depth without burnout.

Where appropriate, participants will also have the opportunity to try ideas out loud and receive constructive feedback.

Read more about Confidence and Creativity for Client Engagement here

Every session is tailored to the team, but a common full-day structure includes:

Morning: Confidence, Presence and Status

How confidence actually works in high-pressure client situations

Managing nerves and self-doubt

Projecting calm authority and credibility

Reading the room and adjusting energy

Midday: Creativity, Clarity and Client Thinking

Sharpening ideas under pressure

Making messages clearer, leaner, and more memorable

Using humour intelligently to build rapport

Avoiding predictable or “samey” narratives

Afternoon: Performance, Pitching and Practice

Bringing ideas to life through delivery, not just content

Body language, voice, and timing

Live practice in a supportive environment

Practical feedback that builds confidence rather than knocks it
WHY THIS APPROACH WORKS - FROM A LEADING INDUSTRY VOICE

Comedian and writer Rob Mayhew on Alfie’s approach and insights

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“Adlands fave social media star”
The Drum

A Standout Away Day Option:
Training in a Live Comedy Venue

For teams who want something genuinely different, this workshop can be delivered as an off-site away day
in a working comedy venue in East London.

With a real stage, microphone, and PA, the space creates an immediate shift in energy and mindset.
It allows people to step out of familiar meeting room dynamics and experience what confident presence, timing, and delivery really feel like.

This format works particularly well for pitch teams and client-facing groups who want to build confidence
in a way that is memorable, practical, and enjoyable.

Extended away day experiences are also available, including optional filming and evening show elements,
and are designed in close consultation with the client.

Flexible by Design

This above outline is just one example

Workshops are adapted depending on:

Selected focus such as pitching, idea generation, or broader client engagement

The size and experience of the team and the time available

The duration of the workshop. They can be expanded to more than a single day and 1:1 coaching can be provided between events

Half-day workshops typically run for 3.5 to 4 hours and focus on a single priority area in greater depth

Where It Happens

Sessions can be delivered:

On-site at your agency

Off-site as an away day in a working comedy venue

Optional filming can be included, providing participants usable clips or a short sizzle reel for internal or external use

An alternative workshop, The Levity Works, offers a choice of topics, and focuses on improving internal company culture via playfulness and easy humour

Guide Pricing

To give a sense of scale:

Half-day workshops start from £1,500

Full-day workshops are typically £2,500 to £3,500

Clients can choose to add-on a bespoke comedy show with talented comedians delivering custom-written jokes about your industry, colleagues, boss and most likely,
your competitors
Extended experiences are priced depending on requirements

A short PDF overview with further examples and formats is available

How we help agencies cut through

Confidence. Connection. Creativity.

At the We Are Funny Project we take the skills comedians rely on: fast rapport, sharp stories, captivating delivery.
Then we tune them for agency life.

Comedians chase hilarity. You do not need that. What matters for you is levity and creativity.
The lightness that builds trust inside teams.
The spark that makes fresh ideas stick in client pitches.
The confidence to hold the room when it matters most.

We teach your people how to do what comedians and great storytellers do every day.
Create a friendly environment, spot strong premises, edit with precision, use evocative imagery, build resilience, and leave audiences wanting more.

Every engagement is custom-built. That could mean a levity workshop to lift culture, a creativity and confidence session to sharpen client impact, or a unique away day topped off with a one-time-only stand-up show tailored with jokes for your people, your company, your industry.

What we're saying is, you can have your cake and eat it. Then have another cake. With a cherry on top.

Laugh & Learn:
Away Days

Spend a training day, that your team will never forget, in a live comedy venue.

Then bring everyone together for food, drinks, and a one-night-only comedy show.

We'll stage hand-picked professional
stand-ups and deliver bespoke jokes about
your company, industry, or maybe best of all, your competitors.

The Levity Works:
Stronger Teams Faster

This workshop, The Levity Works, is fun and effective, and once you know where and how, simple to apply at work and beyond.

This customized training helps people laugh more, stress less, and bond better.

With a choice of formats, we'll produce practical ways to boost connection, enhance resilience, and supercharge everyday performance among your people.

Confidence & Creativity for Client Engagement:
Present With Impact

This flexible workshop for the client-facing can help with idea generation, storytelling, confidence boosting, and enhancing public speaking and presentation skills. To highlight just a few of the available elements.

Practical tools to enhance connection with clients, or persuade and win over prospects.

The thinking behind the work

The approach behind these workshops is informed by a wider conversation about creativity, performance, and human connection at work.

Alongside my own experience in comedy and coaching, I’ve curated a short collection of talks and clips from people whose thinking I admire, exploring why humour, creativity, and presence matter in business and in life.

Contributors include voices such as Steve Coogan, Rory Sutherland and Rick Rubin, among others.
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david-ogilvy-jokes-humour-comedy.jpg

The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.

 —David Ogilvy

Why stand-up for agencies?

For standout campaigns,
try stand-up thinking

David Ogilvy wasn’t joking when he said make your thinking as funny as possible. He believed humour unlocks better ideas and bolder delivery. So do we.

That matters, because teams like yours are under pressure. AI is reshaping the industry. Clients expect more for less. And the tension between freshness and formula never goes away.

But audiences, and algorithms, are changing too. The work that wins today is from teams that dare to be different.

The We Are Funny Project helps creative teams think like comedians because stand-ups spot angles and connections others miss. Then they package and deliver those ideas in formats that connect, surprise and delight.

We know, as an agency lead, you don't need punchlines. But you do need distinctive ideas and delivery that commands attention. We know how to do that, and how to train it.

Adapting practical tools from stand-up comedy, we equip your team to produce and deliver standout work. And when the brief calls for a more serious tone, well, our approach still applies. These techniques work for every project, every client, every time.

How do we make your thinking as funny as possible? Just ask.

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Words From The Wise

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Stephanie, Brand Ambassador, Ardray Whisky

Stephanie kindly recorded her thoughts regarding her experience with our live workshop

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Lance, Content Marketing Strategist, Meltwater

Lance is a marketing maven by day, stand-up comedian and promoter by night, and has lashings of Alfie experience

Pitching. Creative, Strategy, Culture

Big wins we help teams achieve

We work with agency leaders and their teams to build the skills that make a difference, wherever you sit in the business.

Pitching and presentation

Clearer story. More engagement. Real impact where it matters most.

When delivery feels flat, and great ideas are dying in the deck, we step in with story coaching and playful exercises drawn from crowd work. This isn't pitching with punchlines. It's pitching with presence and personality and it earns buy-in from even your most hesitant client.

Creative

Bolder ideas. Better instincts. Standout work shipped fast.

Working comedians create new material on repeat, not once in a blue moon. Adapting those methods, we help creative teams spark faster, filter with less hesitation, and shape winning ideas into standout work, however tight the deadline. We don't chase inspiration. We build confidence and process.

Cross-functional teams

More alignment. Less friction. Real ownership without the silo tug-of-war.

If your best thinking is getting lost in handover, let us help your people connect the dots; early, often, and without ego. With techniques from stand-up like riffing, tagging, and building on offers. We unlock collaboration that lasts well beyond the whiteboard. The result? Smarter cross-functional work from strategy to execution and an agile, more united front before clients.

Strategy and planning

Sharper angles. Smarter stories. No more next slide, please.

When strategy decks feel like whitepapers, comedy craft is the antidote. We help planners go beyond warmed-up frameworks to find the human hook. This is how you sharpen strategic narrative, and turn dry delivery into emotive storytelling, without ever losing rigour.

Leadership and culture

Trust. Gravitas. Infectious energy that has everyone leaning in.

From offsites to all-hands, we help leaders set tone, build trust, and energise teams without forced fun or awkward games. This isn't merely open with a gag. It's authentic, natural communication and it's central to sharing your vision, and winning support. Peers, colleagues, clients; when the tone is right, everyone gets on board.

What about your team?

For real agency problems, try professional, humour-first solutions.

We don’t do gimmicks. We do skills, mindsets and practices. All borrowed from the world's toughest stage, fully adapted for yours.

Where do you need your biggest win?

Let’s energise the pitch. Punch up the plan. And rebuild creative spark.

How we work

Custom-built learning, in three simple steps

Troubleshooting a team issue? Prepping a pitch? In a creative slump?

Whatever the challenge, we tailor our approach to you, your team, and your goals.

step 1

Discovery

You'll talk directly with Alfie Noakes, founder of the We Are Funny Project. Together, you'll explore the challenges, and map out a learning plan that fits.
step 2

Delivery

1:1 or in group, our coaching and training builds skills, stretches thinking, and shifts behaviour. Whatever the challenge, we deliver learning that sticks.
step 3

Results

You’ll see the shift. Your clients will too. More innovative ideas, bolder work, stronger delivery and a team that's excited for the next big challenge.

Our approach comes from comedy. The results are no joke

Despite what Alfie's headshot suggests, we’re not zany pranksters. We're grown-ups, with a serious track record in teaching, business and broadcast. We're unorthodox, for sure, but we respect your time and your targets. We deliver practical skills and real growth.

Why stand-up?

What do we get?

What about a pilot?

What if we could…?

How does it work?

Who's the trainer?

How do we book?

Why stand-up?

What do we get?

What about a pilot?

What if we could…?

How does it work?

Who's the trainer?

How do we book?

If you've read this far...

It's time we talked

A website only gets you so far. A conversation offers clarity. Is humour-first coaching and training a good fit for your agency? Let’s find out, together, in a focused 25-minute call.

There's no phone tag. We book time in advance and there's no middleman. You'll be speaking with Alfie Noakes, the founder of the We Are Funny Project, not some random BDM.

You'll get clarity and confidence to move forward, or move on

Practical tools from stand-up comedy really do help creative teams stand out from the crowd, with no gimmicks or cheesy lines. To explore how that might work at your agency, book a discovery call with Alfie today.

The We Are Funny Project Story

For more than a decade, the We Are Funny Project has been part of London’s comedy heartbeat.

Nearly 2,000 live shows produced. More than 10,000 comedians staged. Creator of ten original show formats and producer of more than a dozen different topics of live and in-person comedy workshops. A fair estimation is that more than 5, 000, 000 actual laughs have been created via WAFP.

We started as a platform for quality gigs with an open-door policy that welcomed everyone from first-timers to established acts testing new material. From there, Alfie further brought in his TV production experience and developed new show formats to keep comedy fresh, from playful challenges to offbeat experiments that pushed performers further.

Live group workshops came next, led by world-class comics across writing comedy for TV, satire, character comedy and much more. Along the way, Alfie MCed over 1,000 live shows, absorbing lessons on presence, timing, resilience and rapport in real time. He himself began teaching, specialising in MCing, comedy storytelling, and one-to-one coaching.


When lockdown arrived, the Project went digital. Alfie wrote two books on stand-up and launched three online courses, including Stepping Forward in Stand-Up, introducing his original Cinematic System of Comedy.

Now, the We Are Funny Project brings those lessons to agencies and businesses.

The goal has not changed: to share the techniques of comedy so people can connect, create, and communicate better. One laugh at a time.

All photos by Steve Best and Gary Manhine

Frequently Asked Questions

How much will this cost?

To be honest and clear, it simply varies depending on a range of elements. Once more information has been shared in a Discovery call, Alfie will work up the training contents outline, and breakdown the costs. Then send it on to you for clarity and transparency. Rest assured, the pricing is reasonable, the training effective. And fun.

How many delegates are there on a workshop?

There is a degree of flexibility. Naturally, the fewer the delegates, the more time for personalised attention and even deeper dives on certain elements. However, optimum is 8 - 10 people.

Is this delivered face-to-face, or online?

Did I mention flexibility? However, while 1:1 coaching works very well online, there is nothing to replace the energy and group experience of in the room, real life, group workshops. A discovery call can address all elements and any practical needs.

Where will Alfie travel? Can you provide a venue?

Typically, most of the work that Alfie does is within the M25. However, all travel is an open possibility and there are several precedents for Alfie travelling further afield. So, all options are on the table.

Certainly we can provide a venue for Laugh & Learn Away Days. Our standard option is the room in which Alfie ran hundreds of live comedy shows, the spacious, basement bar of a trendy venue in Dalston, East London. It comes with a private bar, stage, PA and utter privacy.

Arrangements can be made for settings selected based on your personal preference. Your wishes can be discussed on the discovery call, ranging from area, size and 'feel' of the venue that you prefer.

To be absolutely clear our first option in Dalston is colourful, shabby chic and very informal

IAQs - Infrequently Asked Questions

Do fish get thirsty?

Saltwater fish do drink a lot of water, yet their sense of thirstiness remains unknown. Whereas, Freshwater fish absorb water through osmosis so they really don't get thirsty. Try and keep in mind that Rainbow Trout have a troubling history with Jagerbombs, they can get lairy and aggressive... if possible, try and keep them on pints only. Good luck!

If I stand still for long enough, will birds nest in me?

So long as you stand utterly still, yes. There are variables based on where you are standing still. Being near to a busy road as opposed to on the edge of a forest would, presumably, slow the mission down. In broad strokes, estimates suggest the process would start unfurling after about four weeks. Good luck!

Can I marry someone for their Tesco Clubcard points?

Yes. Though it's not broadly considered the prime reason for entering a life-long relationship. Naturally, divorce remains an option. If Clubcard points turn out to not be your thing, perhaps consider Nectar next time? Good luck!

Who the hell is Alfie Noakes, really?

Be bold, prep your questions and find out for yourself. Book a free, no-pressure, 25-minute call with Alfie Noakes and hit him with your inquiries, concepts and questions. Good luck!
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