Check out the upcoming topics:
Wednesday, September 25, 7-9pm
Monoscene, MonoWHAT? with Ruby Willmann
Does a 5-minute scene sound intimidating? What about a 25-minute scene? Learn from Ruby Willmann (Hideout Instructor) whose troupe the Escorts performed the mono-scene format for two years, how to establish relationships and characters strong enough to last a lifetime. Together we’ll pin down and practice strategies to overcome the complications and challenges that ensemble work tends to present.
Wednesday, October 2, 7-9pm
Yoga for Improvisers with Lauren Zinn Buck
What? Yoga can step up your improv game? Big-time. This isn’t pretzel-y yoga; it’s focus-y yoga. As in a practice that will get you out of your head and into your body (where the spontaneity comes from) and clear your mind of enough mental chatter to allow scenes and characters to FLOW THROUGH you, rather than be INVENTED BY you. This workshop with Lauren Zinn Buck (Merlin-Works instructor and yoga teacher) will be one hour of movement, one hour of improv – so you can feel the difference in your work. No yoga experience necessary. Bring a yoga mat if you have one. We’ll have extras.
Wednesday, October 9, 7-9pm
Crossing the Streams with Cody Dearing
Work less, and have more fun! Learn to relax in your improv scenes so that you don’t miss the wonderful gifts that are often right in front of you. In this workshop with Cody Dearing (ColdTowne education director) you will learn his simple and practical approach to finding a scene together with your scene partners. Discover “portals” full of wonderful details in your scenes so that you don’t have to invent as much, and learn what it means to “cross the streams”. By the end of the workshop you’ll be doing more with less.
Wednesday, October 16, 7-9pm
Generating Characters with Andrew Buck
All good storytelling returns, ultimately, to characters. Everything that happens in a scene is expressed through the characters involved. So how do we instantly create compelling, watchable, interesting characters? And how do we avoid turning into a cartoon? In this two-hour workshop, Andrew Buck (Mandinka, Manhattan Stories) will lead a gauntlet of character-based exercises designed to expand your range and deepen your detail. You'll leave with a cast of new imaginary friends in your head.
Wednesday, October 23, 7-9pm
Maximum Connection with Jessica Arjet
Connection is what let’s you into your scene partner’s head. It’s what allows you to work in unison. It’s what opens you up to that raw vulnerability that makes the audience fall in love. In this workshop Jessica Arjet (Hideout owner and instructor) will help you find that connection through a series of fun and powerful exercises in which you will open up to your fellow players and to the audience. This is a great workshop to take with your troupe mates or as an individual.
Wednesday, October 30, 7-9pm
Inspiring Scenes Through Stage Picture with Sarah Marie Curry
Learn how to develop depth & tension by moving with precision and becoming more aware of the stage picture you are creating. Sarah Marie Curry (Institution instructor) will show you how, through the basic use of theatrical stage direction and the influential Viewpoints work of Ann Bogart, you can develop a powerful new way to jump into the middle of a scene.
Wednesday, November 6, 7-9pm
Working From the Script in Your Head with Jeremy Sweetlamb
In this class we'll use scripted scenes from plays to help get us in a "theatrical" mindset. Then, we'll attack scenework with tons of personalized feedback on our way to discovering a few tricks to making us look like brilliant actors, and thereby brilliant improvisers whom everyone wants to play with.
Wednesday, November 13, 7-9pm
Yes! Say No! with Ruby Willmann
We're told over and over again to Yes And during our improv scenes, but what happens when the scene really just needs a big fat No Way? Ruby Willmann (Hideout instructor) will walk the razor's edge between a Yes that does nothing for your scene and a No that is the best Yes you could possibly want. Confused? Then this is the workshop for you! Come explore the relationship between denying, accepting and adding with a workshop that will be heavy on scene work and relationship exploration.
Wednesday, November 20, 7-9pm
Side Support Like a Boss with Kevin Miller
The bench is one of the most powerful places to be in an improv show. With the right entrance, line, or even sound effect, you can help the scene turn into something awesome. If you passively watch, meanwhile, you can leave your fellow improvisers hung out to dry. Merlin Works instructor Kevin Miller will teach you how to hone your instinct for an offer from the sidelines—know when to join the scene, when to stay off, and how to seamlessly become part of the show.
Wednesday, December 4, 7-9pm
Non-Narrative Longform: WTF? with John Ratliff
How do you make a show without a story? In this elective, ColdTowne and Institution instructor John Ratliff lays down the basic principles of the non-narrative improv performed by groups as different as Upright Citizens Brigade, The Reckoning, Mayfly, and TJ & Dave. We'll see how using a specific approach to a show can affect individual scenes and vice versa by running scenes in a number of different ways.
Wednesday, December 11, 7-9pm
Naive Games with Quinn Buckner
When is the last time you saw a good naive game played? Probably not lately because they're among the more difficult of games that require extra pracitece, so they don't usually get thrown into shows. Quinn Buckner of Rhinodino (a troupe focusing on short form and specializing on naive games) will give you a breakdown of popular naive games (Party Quirks, Three Things, Blind Date, etc.). You'll get some tips and tricks on skills like spacework, gibberish, listening/observing and learning to be calm in situations where you may not be able to directly talk to your partners.
Wednesday, December 18, 7-9pm
Magical Realism in Improv with Jeff Amos
Magical Realism is one of the most commonly misunderstood literary genres. More than fantasy taken seriously, this genre has inspired debate and fascinated readers for nearly a century. In this class with Jeff Amos (LA Improviser) students will be exposed to selections from classic magical realism texts (Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Juan Rulfo, Toni Morrison, and others) and through exercise will learn to use techniques of the genre as a spice in narrative improv and scene work.
For the current student discount code, email classes@hideouttheatre.com