Specialty Classes

We occasionally offer specialty classes. If you are interested in a particular topic please alert the school. Below are some examples of past specialty classes we have offered. Check the schedule for dates and times of any current specialty classes.

Previous Specialty Classes:

Impro Theatre Weekend Intensive
Instructor: Dan O’Connor
Duration: Two days, 10-4pm.

Film Noir
Based on Impro Theatre’s recent hit show LA Noir
Instructor: Brian Lohmann and Dan O’Connor
Duration: 8 weeks. At the end of the class, the students perform in front of an invited audience.

Shakespeare through Improvisation
Instructor: Dan O’Connor and Brian Lohmann
Duration: 8 weeks.
This class will explore how Shakespeare can actually help you to be a better actor and a more versatile improviser. Whether it is creating a character or establishing the “where” of a scene, the Bard is a great tool for improvisers. We will also look at how to improvise a play using style and story together and sustaining over 90 minutes without a script. Teachers, actors and directors can deepen their own experiences with rhetorical devices, character motivations and storytelling by adapting techniques that Shakespeare employed in his scripts through the art of spontaneous play.

Commercial Audition Intensive
Instructor: Jo McGinley
Duration: 4 weeks
This is an on camera workshop. Learn improv tools that can save your audition. Slating, Group Scenes, Partner Scenes, speaking to the camera, and Solo Scenes all broken down into how each one is different and what you can do to make them work. We will hone in on the trickiest scenarios and how to slow the ball down and make it work for you. You will see your work on tape throughout the class. Learn the technique of improv so you can build a foundation on which to be spontaneous.

Soap Opera Intensive
Instructor: Jessica Jimenez-Perry (daytime emmy award nominee for Guiding Light)
Duration: 8 weeks. At the end of the class, the students perform in front of an invited audience.
In this students will learn how to improvise an episodic Soap Opera.

Focus
Instructor: Jo McGinley
Once a Month on Sundays, 2-5PM
Quotes from former students about the Focus class:
“Jo’s Focus class is a truly holistic, interdisciplinary approach to removing clutter from our lives and our minds — the accumulated stuff getting in our way, stuff we could be dealing with but often don’t address due to avoidance or delaying tactics or piling up blame on ourselves because… we’re not getting things done. Clearing out even the smallest, most mundane obstructions can create a flow, making a space for other things to start in motion. Through class exercises, breathwork, sharing and support, it’s clear just doing stuff, like looking at where we are and stating what we intend to change, can make other stuff start to happen in our lives.”
“This class has, honestly, changed my life by clearing several areas where I have been stuck for years. Jo keeps you on track with kindness and you won’t ever forget that.”
This four session workshop is for those who want to tackle a specific goal, and then see improvement in that area over the course of our working together. Come to the first class with a specific goal in mind, or at least an idea of one, and we’ll create a game plan for you to follow over the following 3 months.
Special Notes:
1. You must attend each session as they build on each other.
2. There is a weekly check-in that is due to the Instructor via email.
3. There may be follow up phone calls with the instructor if the student needs extra information in between the once a month meeting.