Improv Games and Acting Skills: Creating Characters & Scenes as a Comedy Troupe

Improvisation, or "Improv" is fun way for actors of all levels to  challenge themselves in a safe, supportive environment.  
In this class we are making up our own characters, lines and stories.  The first rule of Improv is to say "Yes..and" (meaning we accept our classmates' ideas and add our own) so we can never be wrong!  We always start our sessions with a simple (and often hilarious) group game to get to know each other and warm up our imaginations, bodies and voices.  We then move on to some simple structures designed to build skills which we will then use in original scenes with partners and/or larger groups.  Yes, all of this does fit in an hour!

Some games we play and structures we use in this class may be familiar to students who have taken my acting classes or other acting classes before.  Others will be completely new because I have made them up myself during my 30+ years of acting and teaching.  Whether you have been in this class for over a year or this week is your first week, I can promise that I will explain every game and prompt throroughly, and I always welcome questions and suggestions.  And I can promise there will laughter and plenty of opportunities to create and share.

A TYPICAL DAY IN CLASS INCLUDES:
-group game or warm-up 
-skill building exercises
-Improv structures and prompts to get our imaginations going
-Opportunities to present monologues, work with a partner, and longer-form improv structures in which everyone in the class becomes a character and plays a part.
-Time to discuss and debrief, share what we enjoyed and appreciated as we worked together, and make suggestions of games and structures we would like to try or repeat in the future.

A BIT ABOUT MY TEACHING STYLE and OUR CLASSROOM CULTURE:
I see my students as fellow artists and creative collaborators.  Each artist in our ensemble has important ideas to contribute.
We are here to have fun and support each other.
We are here to try things we have never tried before in a safe environment.   Things that come easily to one person may not come easily to another.  We make time and space for everyone to do their creative work.
We are learning about how to communicate and work with friends in addition to gaining specific acting skills.
I offer every learner CHOICES at each stage of our process.  This may look like choosing whether to go first or not, choosing a character, or suggesting a theme or topic, or choosing whether to communicate an idea through movement or with voice, etc..  The important thing is that each learner can trust their needs will be respected.
I am here to faciliate and to notice when learners are ready to take on leadership, and encourage and mentor them in that process.
I am intentional about giving positive feedback to all of my fellow artists.
I love to laugh and I thoroughly enjoy this class.