LOS ANGELES — Flipping through the pages of his latest project is a comfortable position for Chris Aguila.

As an aspiring comedic actor and writer, creating is where he feels most at home, he said. However, too much time at home wasn’t exactly a welcome change for Aguila.

“The transition was really difficult," he explained. "Almost like the world is in such chaos, so how can I focus on comedy of all things?”

Aguila has spent the last five years as a student in the iconic Groundlings School. He was in the final stretch of the program when the theater went dark in mid-March, due to the pandemic.

With much more time spent at home, he tried to find other ways to fill his time, but with everything going on he felt lost and unmotivated — until Groundlings classes began popping up online through Zoom, he said.

Phyllis Katz, one of the cofounders of the school, said it was important to the company and its community to find some way to keep classes going.  

“There’s a lot going on in the world right now that certainly doesn’t make a lot of people feel funny," she said. "But you don’t have to be funny, you just have to keep doing what you’re wired for.”

Katz said comedy and creating are like muscles, you have to keep working the skills out.

While online classes aren't exactly the same as meeting in person Katz said she is focusing on building relationships.

“I’m gonna go back to relationships, a long-distance relationship is not the same as when you are together right?” Katz explained.

The online classes also have provided a welcome distraction from the reality of the world around them.

“Before all this happened there were all these escape rooms that got popular," Katz said. "I think some of that is happening on Zoom.”

And for Aguila, who has found his place in this community and at this school, logging in has become a bright spot in his days.

“It’s showing up, showing up for my creativity, and it just made me feel like I belonged there," he said.