Santa Barbara Improv Workshop

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, [...]

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 [...]

I came across this group a couple of weeks ago, and they’re doing interesting work with improv. They are the Applied Improv Network, and the’re focused on applying improv skills in organizations. The key sentence from their mission statement is:
Our members are business professionals and academics who use improv tools, experience, and theory for human [...]

Playimprov.com is an online magazine that’s focused on the LA improv scene. It has class and performance calendars from a variety of groups, some of which are outside of the LA area. There are quite a few articles and short videos, a forum, and an Amazon based bookstore.
All in all this is a [...]

The New Improv Page website tries to keep current with improv groups, festivals, and workshops all over the world. Their games list is actually a set of links to other sites that maintain their own game lists. They’ve also got a pretty handy RSS feed to notify you of any additions or changes to [...]

One of the more complete lists of improv games that I’ve found on the web is at http://www.humanpingpongball.com/. I use it as a resource for planning a class or a show. You can download a PDF of the games, but since they’re still adding content, I browse and perform searches right on the site.