Improv Comedy, Sketch Writing, Acting and Screenwriting Classes in San Diego, California
Live Zoom Workshop 3-5pm (UK) 28th 29th & 30th Dec-22
Join us in learning improv skills in character building, scenes & how these games can develop life enhancing abilities you can take forward into everyday life.
My friend Zee is putting on this exciting course!
More info at the link below!
ABOUT THE SHOW:
“Decisions are destiny!”
This family-friendly comedy from the Exuberant Theatre Company lets you take control of the story!
In Adventure Story: Improvised!, expert physical theatre actor Sean A. Mulvihill uses real-time audience suggestions to create a hilariously satisfying tale in the vein of the popular adventure films of recents years.
See a new hero come to life and grapple with villains and surroudings based on your ideas! Lovers of Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider, Pirates of the Carribbean, Austin Powers, National Treasure, or The Alchemist will absolutely adore this show–and it is different for every audience! The show is educational too, with the audience learning the finer points of genre Hollywood storytelling.
Bring the whole family and make your adventure come alive!
Running Time: 55 minutes.
Come unmasked. Discover yourself in community and in play. Transform perfectionism through spontaneity. Transcend social defenses through trust in your actual peers. Feel an unusual-to-you sense of attunement in a group of neuro-atypical people like you.
Improv is a unique and hilariously effective avenue for gifted self-development. It’s a place for gifted people to show up openly – laughing together and supporting each other. It’s a place where you’ll be accurately mirrored, where you can feel secure.
Gordon Smith of Gifted and Growing, and Lisa Bany, Chief Improv Officer of Improv Therapy Group have collaborated to develop a curriculum focused on the specific needs of gifted adults.
This class offers an eight-week experience in which we come together (on zoom) with our gifted peers to explore, experiment, and play. Through Improv games and exercises we cultivate openness & playfulness, relaxation & self-care, emotional intelligence & empathy, and creative storytelling & expression
Together, we practice spontaneous group creativity and connection. A core improv principle is the concept of “Yes, And”. This simple, profound concept gives us a chance to explore parts of ourselves, our minds, and our relationships that gifted people don’t get to do often enough, if at all. Imagine a room full of gifted people, relaxed and laughing together – true social mirroring, genuine social safety, and that means you get to be yourself, co-create, grow, and play.
Here are. a few examples of our weekly themes:
Magic words — improv for acknowledging the realities of others, letting ideas be heard, and encouraging spontaneous and exploratory expression
In the now — improv for active listening and reacting in the moment
Perfect is boring — improv for letting go of being right and in control, and enjoying what is imperfectly created
Brain yoga — improv for challenging our habitual ways of thinking and opening up new cognitive pathways
Repeal inhibition – Improv for social openness and playfulness
Heal thyself — Improv for relaxing and taking care of yourself
I second that emotion — Improv for amping up emotional intelligence and empathy
Our stories, ourselves — Improv for creative storytelling and expression
Check out a blog about them at: https://accidentaltomatoes.com/2022/06/13/season-3-episode-16-improv-therapy/
Learn about their classes at: https://improvtherapygroup.com/improv-for-gifted-adults/
The employment dream is changing. Professionals are resigning in droves, causing many unfilled positions and organizational stress. But executive leaders can adapt.
Pushed to the brink by a healthcare catastrophe that has brought the country to its knees, under-appreciated and under-respected professionals across the United States are arriving at a consensus: the new “dream job” doesn’t necessarily have to be at a prestigious organization or come with a considerable salary. No, the new dream is to perform meaningful work at a firm where growth opportunities are attainable, competencies are enhanced, and collaborative contributions are recognized. Simply put, professionals want the opportunity to grow and develop their management skills to face new challenges.
And professional staff – and not just at the menial level – are finding that this dream is both attainable and worth departing a firm to pursue.
Enter “The Great Resignation.” Professionals, managers, and even executives are abandoning their positions at record rates, with businesses experiencing a historic voluntary termination rate of 3.4%1. Resignations are widespread, affecting thousands of professional employees. The problem might even be more prevalent than many thought, as a 2021 study conducted by Monster found that 95% of U.S. employees are considering changing jobs, and 92% of them are willing to switch industries to make that happen.
McKinsey & Company appreciates the shift: “[Staff] want a renewed and revised sense of purpose in their work. They want social and interpersonal connections with their colleagues and managers. They want to feel a sense of shared identity. Yes, they want pay, benefits, and perks, but more than that, they want to feel valued by their organizations and managers. They want meaningful—though not necessarily in-person—interactions, not just transactions.”
So, what are senior business executives responsible for running major organizations supposed to do?
I know that reading the news these days can be particularly horrifying, yet hard to avoid. With social media we are informed immediately when something tragic happens. Once we receive the initial facts about who slapped who or who invaded who, we then naturally are curious, learn more about the situation, and takes sides. Once we have made our decision about which party is the good one and which is the evil one, we then do more “confirmation bias” research, finding more news and opinions that reinforce our own. This is the normal way of living in the world. Our ego tells us, “If I am right, then someone else must be wrong.” But, as the spiritual book A Course in Miracles asks, “Do you prefer that you be right or happy?” The implication is that we cannot be both. We must choose which is more important to us: holding a grievance or having our inner peace. It is here where improvisation can assist us.
Next time you identify a villain in the world, try the improv game called, “What I Like About that Is…” You can play alone or with a friend. Take the opinion opposite to your own. Then say, “What I like about that is…” and fill in the blank. Find something, no matter how small, that you can like about the opposite point of view. It might seem insignificant, but if you can always practice this game when you are passionately angry about a topic, you may be able to maintain your inner peace, and see the humanity in your enemy. Not an easy game to play sometimes, but necessary if we want to model how to stay unified as one human race, no matter how different we may think and feel at times.
Required text for Level 3 Students.
Become great at performing long-form improv! We skip the basics and get into advanced topics like: being truly present, being authentic, dealing with difficult performers, being actually funny (!) and the rarely discussed but essential skill of being healthy.
Book Description from Amazon: Become great at performing long-form improv! We skip the basics and get into advanced topics like: being truly present, being authentic, dealing with difficult performers, being actually funny (!) and the rarely discussed but essential skill of being healthy.
Sean’s Take: In Will Hines’ retrospective look at his time as a student-then-teacher at Upright Citizen’s Brigade (an improv comedy theatre and school started by SNL’s Amy Poehler and others), he succinctly describes the artful side of longform, comedic improv. The master improv coach relates many entertaining stories that highlight his points, which are intuitive to experienced performers, but difficult to teach to beginners.
For example, he talks about how UCB Founder Matt Besser asked a group of improvisers why they wanted to do improv. After hearing a bunch of cliched answers about “listening” and “supporting scene partners,” Besser finally interjected, “Nobody wants to be funny?” He hit on one of the parodoxes of teaching improv–beginning students are often told by teachers, “Don’t worry about being funny,” but comedy is the main reason why audiences come to improv. Hines goes on to explain how to honor the fundamentals skills of improv while still being funny. He provides exercises as well, making this a valuable resource for teachers of improv. Click our Amazon Affiliate Link above to pick up a copy of this fabulous read!
Recommended Text for Level 1 Students.
This new, definitive edition of Chekhov’s masterful work clarifies the principles outlined in To the Actor concerning the pivotal role of the imagination in actors’ understanding of themselves and the roles they play.
Sean’s take: I have never read an acting book that so closely merged the imaginative work of Stanislavsky with the physical theatre work of the Italian-French tradition. If you are blocked creatively as an actor, Chekhov gives you so many tools to become unstuck. If you can’t think of anything to inspire a performance he asks you to move your body. If your body is exhausted you can use your mind. After reading Chekhov’s book, whether you are an improviser or an actor, you’ll never have a reason not to be creative again! Click our Amazon affiliate link above to get your copy today!
GET THE FILM AND THE MASTER CLASS FOR ONLY $35! THAT’S A $125 VALUE.
Improv for Therapists Course by Margot Escoot
An Online 5 Week Improv Class specifically designed for Mental Health Professionals. Sign up at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/improv-for-therapists-with-margot-escott-an-online-improv-class-tickets-272418760847
Psychotherapists are recognizing the therapeutic benefits in applying life skills they learn from improv games and exercises to personal challenges.
“Improv for Therapists” is designed for therapists of all disciplines to add/resharpen tools in your tool belt. These learning sessions are part lecture and discussion and part experiential exercises. By the end, you will better understand how to apply improv to not only your clinical practice, but to your own life as well.
Class details:
Classes will start April 22nd and concludes on May 20th. Classes will be online via Zoom with a break during each class.
We are excited to feature tier pricing for this class based on country’s economies.
-$200 Queen City Participant for upper & middle income economy countries.
-$150 Panther Participant for lower income countries.
-$100 Hornet Participant for low income economy countries.
-$400 Buy a spot for you and one for someone else.
If you have questions or issues with registering, please email Karla@queencitycomedy.com
Margot has offered two scholarships for this class. If you are interested in a representation or hardship scholarship for these classes or other offerings, please apply here:
About your Instructor:
Margot Escott, MSW, LCSW received her training at NYU and has been a psychotherapist for over 3 decades. She developed and presented workshops on “The Healing Power of Laughter and Play” for 25 years.
When she discovered Improvisational Theatre she saw the connection between therapy and improv and has been using applied improv for over a decade with people suffering from anxiety, depression, family therapy, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Autism Spectrum disorder and movement disorders.. She has been teaching Improv for People with Parkinson’s Disease and Care Partners for the past 7 years, in person and virtually. She received training in improvisation with Michael Gellman, Aretha Spolin Sills, Jay Sukow, Laura Hall and many other internationally known improv teachers.
She began her podcast, “Improv Interviews” speaking with therapists using improv and improvisers improv legends including SNL and Square Pegs writer Anne Beatts, Comedian and Whose Line is it Anyway host Colin Mochrie, Aretha Sills, Ed Asner and more. She loves improv and teaching to diverse populations. She believe that improv can be a very powerful tool in counseling serving people with mental health issues, substance abuse, dementia and movement disorders.
Social media or website info-Margotescott.com-Twitter. @escott_margot-Linkedin. linkedin.com/in/margot-escott-lcsw-40a733b1-YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCswWRH-dfN6AkjC0IwS6GMQ-PodcastImprov Interviewshttps://margotescott.com/podcast/improv-interviews-with-margot-escott-lcsw/