Some of the workshops I teach

I have taught improv for over a decade, including “Intro to Improv” type courses for adults, corporates, and teens, various long form styles, as well as my own workshops that I have developed for specific skills, styles, and shows.

My teaching style is heavy on exercises to ensure students spend more time doing than listening. Exercises are usually in small groups so students have the time to try out each new skill while also learning from observation and discussion with their peers. Workshops are scaffolded to ensure each new skill builds on the previous one in a logical way, with a coherent and useful final result.

Unspoken Dialogue: Mastery Through Minimalism

Overview

This workshop is designed to help players identify when they are talking too much at the expense of more meaningful communication, connection, and story telling. The workshop is heavy on exercises to strengthen skills for pace, focus, and clarity to break improvisers’ common discomfit with silence, or simply the habit of “be good by talking”. As players become more comfortable with silence we highlight non-verbal communication and the increased value and joy from the smaller amount of dialogue and tone.

Use of silence, tone, and other non-verbal communication are usually skills associated with scripted theatre and often overlooked in a lot of improvisation workshops and performances. This workshops is not an ‘acting’ class, instead provides a set of specific non-verbal tools to help improvisers create characters, points of view, relationships, and therefore scenes that are more enjoyable to play and to watch.

My style of teaching is focused on a lot of ‘doing’ in small groups: learn the skill, do reps to embed the skill, and review. As a director, producer, and performer this particular workshop is based on exercises I have used to prepare troupes and performers for both improvised and non-improvised shows, and these exercises are regarded highly be performers.

Marketing Summary

You talk too much! Yes, you probably do, and this workshop will help you identify and break this habit so you’ll feel comfortable communicating more information with fewer or no words. If you want to create a stronger connection with your scene partner, and tell stories and perform scenes with more depth and tension this workshop is for you.

What you’ll get out of it: in the workshop we’ll practice simple techniques to slow down the pace of your scene, enforce patience with your scene partner, and focus on deliberately choosing fewer words to create more meaning and drive your story forward

Who is it for

This workshop is for participants who have a few years’ experience of improv performance

Duration

3 hours or 6 hours

An Unrehearsed Odyssey

Overview

An Unrehearsed Odyssey is a masterclass workshop specifically on group monologues – telling a shared story simultaneously.

The workshop itself focuses on the following skills: creating and holding a character using emotion and point of view to drive a shared monologue narrative for up to an hour, being comfortable to hold the stage alone for several minutes at a time, incorporating offers from fellow players while simultaneously providing offers to use in their monologues, listening for and using energy to give and take focus continuously through the story.

There are no ‘scenes’ in this workshop, and no interacting with any other player except through intertwining your stories together, so it definitely for improvisers looking for a challenge. This workshop rewards players who want to slow down in their performance and improve connection with fellow players on stage, create a range of genuine emotional reactions in the audience, and hone their storytelling skills.

There is an optional show format attached to this workshop that puts all of these skills to the test – telling a 60 minute shared story with no interaction with other players on stage. It is a very cerebral show, often played as drama rather than comedy.

Marketing Summary

Story telling is a fundamental part of human nature and one of the compelling motives for many us to get into improv in the first place. This workshop focuses specifically on group story telling, stripping back what we do on stage to just the bare bones of a good story: character, emotion, non-verbal communication, and use of language for each player, plus listening, focus pulling, and practicing the ability for a small group to create a compelling shared story simultaneously.

What you’ll get out of it: improved monologue skills, including confidence in holding the stage alone for several minutes, using emotion and silence to hold the audience’s attention and drive narrative; ability to dynamically design and deliver a series of monologues that take an emotional journey that will make an audience laugh or cry (your choice!); improved understanding and use of scene painting, including the full range of human senses and emotions, to elevate the non-verbal part of your narrative.

Who is it for

The workshop is for performers who have several years of performance experience and an understanding of the basics of narrative, scene painting, and character creation.

Duration

6-8 hours

Show

The show associated with this workshop is ‘A Fourfold Unrehearsed Odyssey’. The requires four (or three) performers. The show has previously been described as “Spoon River on steroids”.

Game of Life

Overview

Game of Life is a workshop to focus on core skills to create and maintain a relationship between two characters that is based on love and goodwill, or at least respect and positivity. Game of Life workshop is also used as a workshop-to-show format for troupes or Improv Festivals and has been performed at a number of festivals. Game of Life show

Game of Life workshop and show format were created specifically to address a common issue with duo shows where conflict was the primary scene motor. As an audience member I wanted to watch a show that had interesting characters that fell in love and were still together in 20 years, where we were able to watch the emotional heightening of their relationship at various milestones.

This workshop has been used to focus groups of beginner and intermediate performers on how to create characters and relationships that are sustainable and watchable. The workshop and show also introduces a key element from UCB’s ‘The Documentary’ improv show format, the presentational, which is a very fun way for the players to endow each other.

Marketing Summary

Game of Life workshop introduces players to core elements of creating and maintaining strong positive relationships with one other character, choosing a relationship ‘game’ to play over several scenes, and using emotional heightening to inform choices to move your relationship forward.

The workshop introduces you to ‘The Presentational’, an endowment that allows for players to go big when creating the characters and their relationships. You’ll also learn tool and tips to identify and understand the various ‘whys’ and points of view already defined in your characters and relationship, and therefore choose which way to move it forward.

Who is it for

Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced

Duration

3 hours – key skills, show mechanics, and show preparation only

6 hours – deeper dive into the key skills and foundations that can be applied generally, plus the show mechanics and show preparation

Show

Game of Life is new structured long form duo show that follows the major life milestones of 3-5 couples: preparing for their first date; the first date; the honeymoon; the 20th wedding anniversary; and finally “where are they now?”. Game of Life is heavily character driven and uses key elements from UCB’s ‘The Documentary’ improv show format, and is more suitable for performers with a medium to high level of experience.

The shorter ‘workshop -> show’ process is geared for more experienced players and, with a well defined show structure, allows players to try a new duo show format paired with players they may have never met before. The workshops help players remain focused on creating characters and their relationships that will last for a whole show rather than using edits or quick gags.

Because we’re following the couples through to their 20th anniversary the show format reminds the players to remain positive throughout, helping players more quickly find and play the relationship game rather than defaulting to conflict. As the audience selects which players will be paired for their 20 year relationship it becomes very easy to get past heteronormative couples.

The show is cast from workshop attendees, and allows for 6-10 performers.

Emotional Choices

Overview

This course focuses on using emotional choices to move a scene forward, making your character and relationships more grounded and realistic, and giving the relationship more ‘legs’ for longer scenes as well bringing your characters back in later scenes. This workshop introduces techniques and exercises aimed at deepening and leading with emotional authenticity in improvised scenes. By emphasising emotional intelligence and expression, participants learn to create more compelling and relatable characters.

This workshop is useful for students and troupes that find themselves playing scenes with lots of invented detail, or plot points, or telling each other how they feel rather than showing it. For troupes that love ‘game’ based improv this workshop is also useful to begin leading with internal emotional choices to create and frame game opportunities.

Marketing Summary

By slowing down, focusing on your scene partner and being aware of what is already in your scene,

What you’ll get out of it.

Who is it for

Beginner, Intermediate: improvisers who have some experience with the basics of scenework and relationships

Some of the workshops I teach

Unspoken Dialogue: Mastery Through Minimalism

Overview

Marketing Summary

Who is it for

Duration

An Unrehearsed Odyssey

Overview

Marketing Summary

Who is it for

Duration

Show

Game of Life

Overview

Marketing Summary

Who is it for

Duration

Show

Emotional Choices

Overview

Marketing Summary

Who is it for

Duration

Reclaim the Scene – Build Confidence Through Recovery

Overview

Marketing Summary

Who is it for

Duration