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Clown for Improvisers

Led by Ralph Jean-Pierre
Saturday, July 13 | 9:00-11:00AM

As forms of theater and comedy, improv has a lot in common with clowning. They are very distinct, but they are almost cousins in their theatricality and reliance on play. This workshop will help begin to demystify this relationship for the improv comedian.

Participants in the Clown for Improvisors class will learn:

  • To play with abandon.
  • To enjoy getting it wrong.
  • To invest in their most naive and spontaneous impulses.
  • To accept chaos as the foundation of creativity.

These are the precepts of clowning, and this class will introduce these concepts and demonstrate how they can be applied to improv in a way that makes your scene work more dynamic, more buoyant, and more truthful.

Beginning Musical Improv

Led by HERE: The (Improvised) Musical
Saturday, July 13 | 9:00-11:00AM

 

Scripts & Improv

Led by Available Cupholders
Saturday, July 13 | 9:00-11:00AM

The foundation of narrative improv is built on the structure and characters of pre-written texts. We'll analyze famous plays and improvise scenes with a new perspective on storytelling. This will translate into deeper, more meaningful connections in your narrative improv work.

 

Improvised Narrative

Led by Lospleimovil
Saturday, July 13 | 9:00-11:00AM

The workshop consists of three basic concepts. First, the construction of the platform and its important relationship with the story trigger are addressed. Second, the types of conflict and the various narrative structures are discussed. Finally, the types of characters and their influence on the creation of the improvised story are explored.

 

Failure is Your Secret Sauce

Led by Swan City Improv
Saturday, July 13 | 9:00-11:00AM

Most workshops teach you how to do something the right way. This workshop teaches you that the wrong way will help you innovate. Your failure and how you respond to it are what make you unique. Take that and make it your improv superpower in this workshop designed for you to fail. Failure is your secret sauce.

Enroll - $35

Positivity, Playfulness & The Second Show

Led by PARALLELOGRAMOPHONOGRAPH
Saturday, July 13 | 9:00-11:00AM

Agreement is a powerful and important element of improv. This workshop showcases how starting positive, staying on the same team, and beginning with agreement can propel you into a fun scene before you know it! Simultaneously, we'll be attacking playfulness with a vengeance—how to "follow the fun," give your partner a good time, and sow mischief. We'll focus on recognizing what's happening right now on stage and jumping all over it to make the scene or show truly unique. Lastly, we’ll build a playful awareness of “The Second Show” concept, in which players indulge in the reality that there are actually two things to watch in every improv show: the characters, the story, and the scenes that are happening, and the relationship of the improvisers creating the show in the moment.

Enroll - $35

Level Up Your Language Game

Led by SAK Comedy Lab
Saturday, July 13 | 9:00-11:00AM

Unlock the power of poetic language on the improv stage by exploring a whirlwind of Shakespearean techniques—such as alliteration, antithesis, and extended metaphor—that will allow you to reach new heights in your scene work. While this two hour class examines time-tested tools borrowed from the Bard, players will find these same approaches can enrich and expand their sense of genre and style (and add finesse to lyrical, musical, and character-based performances too). No prior improv Shakespearean experience is needed! Some improv experience is recommended. Train with SAK Comedy Lab's David Charles, the creator of long-form projects such as It’s All Greek to Me, The Lost Comedies of William Shakespeare, Upton Abbey: An Improvised Comedy of English Manors, (Your) Opera in a Trunk, and Lights Up: The Improvised Rock Opera, and author of Routledge's The Improv Dictionary.

Enroll - $35

The Long & Short of Improv

Led by Impro Theatre
Saturday, July 13 | 11:30AM-1:30PM

This workshop is about telling a story and moving from moment to moment with dramatic or comic efficiency while still taking your time. We will work on taking care of the narrative and understanding what the scene needs and how to provide it. We will discuss the difference between a joke and a gag and how to be funny without killing the story. These skills apply to short-form work as well as good long-form. Make the story work, and the funny will come.

Enroll - $35

Love the One You’re With

Led by Commodore
Saturday, July 13 | 11:30AM-1:30PM

Conflict and emotional distance can work their way into one’s play over time until they become dominant choices. But what if, instead of choosing conflict, we choose love instead? Making a conscious decision to appreciate and collaborate with your scene partner can take your scenework in unexpected and wonderful directions. In this workshop, we will introduce techniques for finding meaningful connections with your scene partner and explore the virtues of playing from a standpoint of total agreement. When you choose to embrace your scene partners rather than resist them, the possibilities for your scenework are truly limitless.

Enroll - $35

Freedom to Play

Led by Jet Eveleth
Saturday, July 13 | 11:30AM-1:30PM

This workshop is for performers who would like to play from a lighter place and release the inner critic in their head. It is for people who are looking to expand into new territory, and be more authentic and active in their work. It offers a totally different approach to comedy and performance inspired by clowning and focused on play. Open to all levels, as the techniques will be new to everyone.

Enroll - $35

Characters on Characters on Characters

Led by Brotha, Sista
Saturday, July 13 | 11:30AM-1:30PM

We will explore the challenge of one improviser playing multiple characters within one scene or show. We will look at exercises and techniques to help remember all those lovely characters in your brain.

Enroll - $35

Chase the Ball

Led by PARALLELOGRAMOPHONOGRAPH
Saturday, July 13 | 11:30AM-1:30PM

Learn to control the audience’s focus by becoming deliberate with your own. You will experience a series of exercises designed to hone your attention and heighten your awareness of yourself, the scene, and your ensemble as a whole. From two-person scenes to large group scenes, you’ll know exactly what’s happening with every person on stage. Think of the focus of a scene as a physical ball of glowing energy. If you're talking about something happening elsewhere, that's where the ball is. If you're discussing a past or future event, the ball has warped through time and is now there. So, what do you do in a scene if the ball gets away from you? You either coax it back or chase it.

Enroll - $35

La Condición Humana (for Spanish Speakers)

Led by Lospleimovil
Saturday, July 13 | 11:30AM-1:30PM

Mantras para la interpretación improvisada. Compañía Lospleimovil, Profesora Lissette Villegas ( Chile ) - Se ahondará en el comportamiento honesto de la interpretación y la creación. Poder descubrir en escena actitudes humanas, reacciones y modificaciones orgánicas en el comportamiento de los personajes.

Enroll - $35

Rap That Bridge!

Led by North Coast Improv
Saturday, July 13 | 11:30AM-1:30PM

Musical improv can be charming, beautiful, and entertaining, but sometimes you gotta give it that OOMPH! Rapping the bridge of your song is an amazing opportunity to surprise the audience, get some sweet rhymes in, and delve deeper into your character's fears, motives, and philosophies. This workshop will also include exercises that will demystify what to sing about in your verses, allowing your songs to contain a focused message.

Enroll - $35

Rockola Workshop: Use What’s There

Led by Dad's Garage
Saturday, July 13 | 2:00PM-4:00PM

So often in improv, performers feel they need to make something happen and force ideas, which can feel unnatural and inauthentic. This leads to shows and performers feeling uninspired, disconnected, and stuck in their heads. This workshop will focus on the skills used in “Rockola,” which involve discovering the moment, scene, and characters. Learn how to become aware of what’s there, let the moment reveal itself, and then utilize those offers and moments.

Enroll - $35

Make Your Object Work Meaningful

Led by Just The Funny
Saturday, July 13 | 2:00PM-4:00PM

This workshop focuses on bringing the invisible world of an improv scene to life. Participants will learn skills to make their object and space work more believable and to make everything real for both the actors and the audience. Additionally, participants will learn how to use their object work to heighten the emotions of the scene. Everything an actor touches, grabs, carries, or even looks at has meaning, so everyone will learn how to incorporate the meaning of the world they’re in into the meaning of what is happening in the scene.

Enroll - $35

Write Your Best Sketch (through improv)

Led by Available Cupholders
Saturday, July 13 | 2:00PM-4:00PM

Enroll - $35

Authenticity in Comedy

Led by Brotha, Sista
Saturday, July 13 | 2:00PM-4:00PM

In this workshop, we explore our authentic selves while playing the reality of the moment and bringing emotional truths to the scene.