Many thanks to our June Volunteer of the Month!

Millie DeBenedet, June Volunteer of the MonthMillie DeBenedet, volunteer and actress extraordinaire, teaches one of our most beloved workshops, Finding Your Funny Bone — a collaboration she spearheaded between Killing My Lobster and 826 Valencia which teaches kids the fundamentals of sketch comedy writing. Millie, who co-teaches this workshop with Gina Bardi and Meghann Hayes, has an incredible ability to excite and inspire students. She encourages students to run wild with their creative and unexpected ideas, all the while guiding them through the writing process. Each workshop ends in a performance of the students’ work and every time Millie goes above and beyond as she directs a show with actors from Killing My Lobster. The show never fails to produce loud, raucous laughter and always puts huge smiles on every face in the audience, especially the students’.

Here are Millie’s thoughts on the importance of teaching this workshop:
“I think humor is powerful. It can ease tension, repair relationships, and strengthen communities. Teaching kids the fundamentals of sketch comedy writing helps them differentiate between what’s funny and what’s not. It helps them process their own feelings as well as the feelings of others. Which is important stuff for the future.”

In addition to being a volunteer at 826 Valencia, Millie DeBenedet is an actress and director here in the Bay Area. She received her BFA in Acting from DePaul University’s Theatre School in Chicago, Illinois. She is one of the Creative Directors at San Francisco’s premier sketch comedy troupe, Killing My Lobster.

To read about all of our featured volunteers, visit the Volunteer of the Month gallery.