Santa Barbara Improv Workshop

There’s a pretty good glossary of improv terms at the Improv Encyclopedia. Some of the definitions are a little thin and some are circularly referential (what is advancing?), but overall it’s got a lot of good information.

I had a chance to read Chris Compton’s article Every Part of the Buffalo from the playimprov.com newsletter. It’s a great discussion of not dumbing down to the audience, not getting caught up in your head, and using what you know in a piece. I particularly liked his suggestion of naming characters using the [...]

Okay, this is wacky. A recently formed New York improv group is having trouble coming up with a name, so they plan on auctioning off the right to name the group. You can read their info at their website, nameourimprovgroup.com. The auction will take place on eBay, starting Monday, July 10, and run for 10 [...]

I just came across this group called bang. studio. They’ve got a level 1 class starting up this Monday, July 10 and I wanted to post a link to it. I don’t know much about them, so I can’t really say how they compare. They say they’ve been around 10 years and provide a ’supportive, [...]

So, last night the class started off with a surprise birthday celebration for me. Thanks to everyone who participated in setting that up. It was very thoughtful and a complete surprise. And, the Kettle Cake was particularly tasty.
Out of the 12 players, we had one brand new player, and one who was last with us [...]

I just came across this notice from the IO West (the west coast Improv Olympic franchise) about their writing classes. They’ve got two different level classes starting up this weekend in LA:
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Last chance to register for the Writing Level 1 class beginning
SATURDAY, JULY 8
8 WEEKS / SATURDAYS 12-3
$300
TAUGHT BY JOHN HINDMAN
WRITING LEVEL 1 offers a [...]

Here’s an interesting site where my worlds collide. Ask a Ninja is a site of very funny videos put together by a couple of LA improvisers. Each video is from 2 to 5 minutes long, and consists of the NINJA answering a submitted question. A new video comes out every couple of weeks. I’ve [...]

John is a magician, improvisor, teacher, speaker, businessman, and all around damn nice guy. He’s also a prolific writer and marketer. Part of his improv education happened with SBIW, but he’s someone who went out and actively educated himself on improv, and then built an environment in which he could continue to learn and [...]

There are still a couple of weeks left for the San Francisco Improv Festival. This festival has been going from June 15 and has shows through July 29th, so if you are up in the bay area during that time, check out the ensemble performance schedule. There are still a couple of workshops, so [...]

In future posts, I plan on discussing various improv related books that I have and am willing to lend out to anyone in the Workshop. However, as I was cleaning out a bookshelf today, I came across something I forgot that I own and just have to mention.
Comic Theory in the Sixteenth Century by Marvin [...]