WORKSHOPS AND EVENTS
Francois Vincent - Longform Workshop: How to Improvise a Play
Saturday, September 11th
10 AM - 12 PM
ImprovBoston Main Theater
This workshop aims to teach improvisers how to create an improvised single-narrative longform. It's just one story with one set of characters. Creating an improvised play can be both challenging and rewarding, but you need the right tools to do it. Learn how to craft characters, settings and stories that will thrive when you have more time and more canvas to work with.
Dave Warth - You Always DO That
Saturday, September 11th
10 AM - 12 PM
ImprovBoston Studio
That go-to thing you always do in scenes? You’re getting tired of it. This workshop will help you identify the way you usually play, enlighten you as to why you might be making those choices, and give you options for other ways to approach scenes. While it’s good to know your type, it can be bad to get too comfortable. And while it can be great to play with your type, it’s often hilarious to play against it.
Joe Bill - The Bat
Saturday, September 11th
12:30 PM - 2:30 PM
ImprovBoston Main Theater
The Bat was developed by the iO Chicago House Group Georgia Pacific in the 90's under the direction of Joe Bill. It's a souped up, 'Blind Harold' (Harold done in the dark), and has been performed, in various incarnations, all over the world. It emphasizes bold vocal choices, listening, sound scape & sound effects, crisp scenes, jump cuts, concurrent and overlapping scenes, and mildly explores String and Chaos Theory. It is 100% fun. Joe workshopped the form for first time in 6 years at Improv Festival Oklahoma, and based on the success is now bringing it to ImprovBoston and elsewhere through the end of this year and into next.
Zach Ward - Organic Group Dynamics
Saturday, September 11th
3 PM - 5 PM
ImprovBoston Main Theater
Zach Ward improvises group games that DESTROY the wooshy grad school performance art pieces you've found yourselves in after first beat scenes! Do you want to be funny and exploit comedy in group scenes every time you perform? If you can be disciplined enough to improvise group scenes as an ensemble without speaking imagine the possibilities when you say your hilarious words. Zach coaches you to focus, listen, heighten, and deliver the funniest possible scenes -- as an Ensemble -- EVERY SINGLE TIME!
Rene Duquesnoy - MadSkillz
Saturday, September 11th
3 PM - 5 PM
ImprovBoston Studio
MadSkillz teaches how to rap for an improv show. Rene Duquesnoy, creator of the hiphop improv show The Beatbox, will teach freestyling techniques, short-form rap games (like Rap Line, Beastie Rap, and Audience & Hammer Time), and different effects used in The Beatbox. Learn how to enhance a scene by adding quick hiphop tricks. This class will help the long form and short-form improvisor alike, and culminate in a short performance, showcasing your new MadSkillz.
Rick Andrews - Improv on the Cusp
Sunday, September 12th
11 AM - 1 PM
ImprovBoston Main Theater
Feel like you’ve reached a lull in your improv? Stopped surprising yourself with your choices an offers? In this workshop, we’ll use some elements of self-surprise to get you playing more spontaneously and help you find new discoveries. We’ll work on how to be comfortable in scenes where we’re not quite sure what’s happening, and how to spin that uncertainty into playful gold.
David Marino - Saving the Environment
Sunday, September 12th
11 AM - 1 PM
ImprovBoston Studio
How can I do mime and create environment when I have to worry about character, emotion, relationship, and all that other stuff? Good question. But, knowing where you are and how it affects you can actually HELP you ground your character, cement your emotions, and establish relationships. In this class you will learn to use your scenic environment to define your character, provide motivation, and forward the scene. Let the environment save you!
Joe Bill - Power Improv Scenes and Feedback
Special Yes And Practice Group Workshop
Sunday, September 12th
4 PM - 6 PM
ImprovBoston Studio
This workshop will focus on the keys to playing a great Improv Scene: Powerful Opening Moments, Proactive Listening & Reacting and Definitively Working The 3 Points of Character Focus to forward into the middle and through to the end of the Scene. Feedback will focus on identifying tendencies and habits that aid or block the keys to successful scenes, as well as opportunities for growth towards becoming a dynamic Improviser. Improvisers of all experience levels will find this workshop extremely useful, without feeling hindered by those with less experience or intimidated by those with more experience. I’ll show you the tools to employ to show up with confidence with ANYONE on stage in Scenic Improvisation or Scenic Game.
