Navigating Genres
A lot of narrative improv is genre based and sometimes we can find it daunting to jump into the unfamiliar. But you can have fun in any show if you have some of the basics down and learn to love the fear with the new as opposed to panic with the unknown. Let's explore genres together!
Play like Brené
Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston who rose to fame from her Ted talk on The Power of Vulnerability. She’s spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy. We'll be playing with her wisdom - gamified through improvisation - and taking the time to talk about what we notice in ourselves as well as our work.
by KATY SCHUTTE
Improv Decolonized 101
Decolonize Your Improv: No, seriously. Rewire, Reclaim, Reimagine, and shake up your scenes. This workshop invites improvisers of all levels to dive into the art of improv through a decolonized lens. We’ll question old-school norms, unpack power dynamics, and explore new ways of creating stories that feel true, liberating, and wildly inclusive. Whether you’re looking to deepen your craft or just want to play in a space that values truth and transformation, come as you are. This room is for everyone. No, seriously—everyone.
Musical Long Forms
Sometimes all a scene needs is a song. But also sometimes all a scene needs last is a song. In this workshop, let's all learn different tools and techniques in creating improvised musical long forms, from song structure to using songs at the right time, you'll definitely leave this workshop with a high note!
Generational Bridges
Multi-generational families always play a big role in Asian societies. Generational Bridges is designed to bring in this cultural perspective from the East. This workshop focuses on building fruitful scenes with relationships across generations. It encourages participants to listen fully, be present in the moment, and support their scene partners to find the "fruits" in our differences and similarities. Improv can create bonds and empathy in unexpected ways, strengthening our connections to one another while reminding us of our humanity.
by LÊ KIM THANH
Dance it Out!
More often than not, if a character is invited to dance as part of a scene, it will be done deliberately 'badly' or 'comedically', but in scenes and songs we commit honestly and just let the comedy find itself. So why not with dance? This fun and physical class will teach some basic dance principles and invite you to honestly commit to trying to dance well - then see what happens! No dance skills or experience required.
Subtext: Improvising Between the Lines
So much of theatre and movies isn't so much about what is being said but what isn't being said. Doing this in improv when we are creating in the moment is quite challenging but bringing subtext to our scenes can elevate our scenes and shows into something magical. It requires deep listening, an understanding of body language, and a vulnerability of performance that can be difficult to capture.This workshop will explore the idea that the words we say can be made secondary to the feelings and stories we share dancing in between those lines of dialogue.
Free-form Improvisation
This workshop explores the makings of the unique style of Big Bang free-form improvisation. This mindset is built on the concept of "follow the funny" and proposes that every single moment, beat, line and movement in a show can be deconstructed and used to lead you to the next scene. During this exploration and deconstruction of content, a language and pattern are established that help define form where previously there was no form.
by WILL LUERA
How to Cook Chicken Soap for the Soul
The Soap Opera is a staple across Asian culture. From achim drama in Korea, to dinner time tv in Taiwan and Singapore, we indulge in over the top plot points, overcomplicated relationships and unwelcome in-laws with our family over tv dinners. Come join Tim as he works through solid technique exercises grounded in Mandarin theatremaking that bring out the storytelling to write your own soap opera.
In this 6-hour intensive, you will learn:
building strong relationship-driven narratives
tension building
monologue delivery
by TIMOTHY YEO
Being a Dream Partner
Improv is rarely a solo endeavor. This workshop will focus on how you can become the best possible partner your teammates could imagine. Games and exercises showing how to listen to what your partner really wants, and turn them into a rockstar. If we’re all doing this for each other, we’re a team of rockstars and we all win!
by JILL BERNARD
Truth in Song
Learn how to improvise songs in the moment based on your personal truths, opinions and stories. Practice organic ways of rhyming, creating melody and finding the structure of a song as you go along. In a supportive and relaxed environment we will help you create musical theatre inspired by the styles of Sondheim and Jason Robert Brown and weave rich tales and scenes through teamwork and group mind. Suitable for intermediate to advanced improvisers with zero to lots of experience in musical improv. Ability to sing is not a pre-requisite.
by KATY SCHUTTE
Hard Topics
This workshop will highlight what happens to us as performers when a scene becomes scary, offensive, or insensitive, and we freeze or lose ourselves. We explore some approaches to get the agency back when we find ourselves somewhere uncomfortable, tools for improvising mindfully and finding a proactive voice for you and your show. We will learn the SwagHat format. A living room-style discussion, and then we perform scenes inspired by the conversation.
TRIGGER AND CONTENT WARNING: this is a class on scenes when you find yourself dealing with topics of race or socially and politically charged situations - which means it will include discussions and scenes dealing with race, gender* and other very personally sensitive areas and how to move forward thoughtfully, respectfully and meaningfully when you find yourself there.
Improvising an Amman Movie
Improvising an Amman Story: Divine Drama and BDE: Big Divine EnergyThis workshop is all about stepping into the world of larger-than-life characters and epic supernatural stories. Inspired by the high-energy, dramatic Amman storytelling tradition, we’ll dive into scenes full of gods, curses, revenge, blessings, and divine intervention. You’ll create vivid, powerful characters and explore what happens when the human and the divine collide. Expect big emotions, intense stakes, and moments that shift from epic rage to sudden redemption.
by LAXMI PRIYA
The Fireball Theory
This workshop presents Jill Bernard's Fireball Theory and offers exercises to help you improvise faster and harder than you can judge yourself. You will learn to metaphorically hit the scene running and outrun the explosion of self-loathing and doubt like an action movie hero outruns a fireball thus defying the laws of physics. Please wear closed toe shoes to this workshop.
by JILL BERNARD
How to Talk Cock Sing Song Play Mahjong
Musical improv games are often seen as the hardest type of improv games. FAKE NEWS. IT ISN’T. Come join Timothy as he spill all his tips and secrets to becoming an Ace at musical improv games. We will play iconic shortform games like Irish Drinking Song and Hoedown. On top of that, we will also be introducing the game Ask Auntie, ASAP improv's take on the classic game Bartender, that has Asian festivals in delight and singing in cacophony each time its played on stage.
The workshop will cover the following basics:
Basic voice work such as projection and pitching
Rhyming scheme and structure
Key elements improvising a song
p.s. you don't need to be able to sing.
by TIMOTHY YEO
If It Makes You Happy
Too often improv feels like a chore, filled with right decisions and good and bad choices. In this session with Jill Bernard, participants will learn the joy and success that follows doing exactly what tickles them. Please wear closed toe shoes to this workshop.
by JILL BERNARD
Falling in Love on Stage
Fall in love with your scene partner and their characters. This workshop will focus on scenes that don't require you to invent but instead discover the subtle choices that your scene partner makes and then fall in love with those choices unconditionally, flaws and all. From within these simple choices and blind love will emerge the comedy that comes with real relationships.
by WILL LUERA
Monologues for Improvisation
Improvised Monologues can capture and heighten any improvised scene. Whether it is improvised poetry, storytelling or incorporating monologues into genre based improvisation, Shaun will give you the tools to present character driven and real story monologues.
by SHAUN LANDRY
Short and Sweet - A journey through short form improv
Short-form improv is fun, fast, and exciting! Short-form teaches you to get to the point faster, know what makes a scene interesting, practice characters, stick to a single thing, and work together towards the same goal. Whether you want to learn and practice short form or pick up some techniques to improve your long-form play, this workshop is for you. Good short-form games require good scene work within a set of confined rules. Good short form does not rely on gimmicks or repeated moves and characters from our backlog. Instead, it requires knowing game mechanics to free your mind to play in the moment (and even knowing when to bend the rules to benefit the scene). In this workshop, we will cover different categories of short-form games, practicing a selection of each type to learn the mechanics of how to play within each framework.Short Version:Explore short-form improv focusing on strong scene work and free play within structured games. Develop clarity, collaboration, and fast thinking skills to improve short- and long-form play.
Culturally Proud
Every one of us carries a rich tapestry of cultural stories, traditions, and experiences. Culturally Proud is a workshop that invites you to embrace and celebrate your cultural identity in improv. Through discussions, guided exercises, and scene work, you’ll learn how to bring elements of your heritage, customs, and perspectives into your characters and stories, creating scenes that feel deeply personal and universally resonant. This workshop encourages you to explore how cultural diversity adds depth and relatability to your improv while connecting you to your own roots and those of your fellow players. Let's add more cultural flavors to our improv!
by LÊ KIM THANH
Music as a Scene Partner!
In this workshop, we'll explore how music can actively influence your moves when you’re in a scene, rather than solely underscore them. Too often, music directors are seen as mere supporters whose role is to heighten the actors' choices. But what if we flipped that dynamic? When we truly listen, music can inspire character or location choices, emotional shifts, and even dynamic storylines.
This workshop is about saying “yes, and” to your music director too (!), treating music as a dynamic, collaborative scene partner, and allowing it to guide you into new directions and build something even stronger together.
Be generous, be present, be the best
Look into the eyes of your partner and give them the best time. Worry less about what will happen and focus on what you have right now and give your teammates the best time and they in return will do the same for you ensuring everyone has a great time. In this workshop you will gain skills in supporting your scene partners in serving the right now on stage.
Physical Surrealism—Impro in Movement
The main objective of this workshop is to train tools from dance and physical theater to create from and with the body. We'll work to develop the body's creativity and the relationship between movement and image, movement and ideas, and movement and words. By combining dance and theater, we can add poetic ways of telling stories, expressing emotions, and creating imaginary worlds with unconventional bodies. Students will take away creative devices from the body that they can apply in their individual and group improvisations. The workshop will offer a break from realism and open the door to surreal, imaginative creation.
Momentum: Fartlek Improv
Fartlek Improv is a playful deep-dive into pacing, emotional depth, and scene building. Inspired by interval training, we’ll kick off with quick, one-minute scenes—fast, instinctive sprints—then expand them into ten-minute versions using the same starting and ending moments. Over six hours, we’ll build narrative muscles, explore character arcs, and find richness in simplicity. We’ll finish where we started—with that one-minute scene, now full of depth, rhythm, and connection. It’s improv training for storytellers who like to move.
by LAXMI PRIYA
Be Yourself: Finding Your Voice in Improv
It's all too easy to dismiss ourselves, to say that we aren't good at what we do, that our ideas just don't measure up. Too boring, too obvious. Not clever, not charming. We just don't have the same "stuff" that we admire in others. Too easy to tell ourselves that we should hide ourselves in a cave.This workshop will get us to face the fact that we all have stories worth telling, that we all have ideas worth sharing. We will learn to take up space, to speak from our perspectives, and to believe in our own contributions.
Notice Everything
During improv shows, our scenes can often suffer from too much going on, or from vital cues not getting picked up. The stress of being onstage gets to us and we either try to overcompensate by adding more, or miss the offers our partners make. But how can we keep our brains from going into overdrive and truly stay in the moment with our partners, reacting to what is already there rather than inventing new things? How can we trust that what we have is enough? This workshop will focus on exercises that will help slow us down, quiet our inner critic, heighten our perceptiveness and keep us attune to the rich world that has already started unfolding in our scene. We will create scenes that prove that we are all we need.
Improvise the Ping Pong Style
Improvise the Ping Pong Style draws inspirations from the fast, instinctive rhythm of ping pong. Just like in the game, improv demands presence, sharp reactions, and a focus on your partner—not a pre-made plan. As Del Close said, “Improv is much closer to ping pong than it is to chess.” In this workshop, we’ll explore how to stay in the moment, listen deeply, and follow the flow of the scene. It’s about trusting your instincts, and discovering the joy of responding—one move at a time. Ps: you don't have to play ping pong to participate.
by YUEHAN LIU
Musical Improv for Beginners
Learn how to create melody, lyrics and song structure in the moment. Through games and scenework we will learn techniques for rhyming, emoting, finding the right time to sing, identifying and creating choruses, bridges and verses plus a whole lot of silly stuff. Ideally students will have done some improvisation before, but there is no prerequisite to be a good singer!
by KATY SCHUTTE
Stories that Move Us
Stories That Move Us invites participants to explore the power of personal storytelling through improv and Playback Theatre. Using tools of deep listening, empathy, and spontaneous performance, participants will transform real-life experiences into powerful stories. This workshop fosters connection, authenticity, and healing, creating a supportive space where everyone is encouraged to share and be heard. Whether you’re an experienced improviser or a newcomer, this session is all about building community through creative expression and empathy.
Truth & Beauty
In this workshop, Jill Bernard will take you through a series of exercises that inject your work with a little bit of truth and beauty. Having the ability to create improv that is honest and vulnerable adds another layer to your work, a little bit of cake underneath your frosting to take your work from light entertainment to something with resonance. Please wear closed toe shoes to this workshop.
by JILL BERNARD
The Impulsive Body
Improvisers like to think with their heads - and often forget about thinking with the body. Let's discover the movement within... using physical work from a variety of Asian and Western disciplines. This workshop's objective is to shake off years of office culture conditioning, the racing thoughts of half-paying attention, and tapping into our more animal, natural selves instead.
by ANNIE LOW
Split Screens & Funky Scenes
Impro has a magical, immersive and convergence-y quality that few other artforms can imitate. We not only see different worlds come to life, but quick shifts in perspective and impressive ways in which the improvisers blend the codes of theatre and film for their audience. Some of the most fascinating ways in which we can tell our story is through simultaneous scenes; when it works, we see several improvisers performing different scenes seamlessly onstage at the same time, never missing an ounce of information while staying in their separate world. But how can one initiate these complex scenes without them being mistaken for an edit or the entry of a new character? This workshop will unlock a whole new world of scenework; we will experiment with splitscreens, barndoor edits and we will discover through trial and error a bunch of other funky parallel scenes in the process!
by KELLY AGATHOS
Anthropomorphic Characters
Step by step within the framework of various tasks you will learn the difference between — being an object (maximum realistic), being an anthropomorphic character, and being a person with the characteristics of an object/animal. Expand the spectrum of the characters you can play. The greatest compliment Kaspars had ever received after this workshop was"I used to be scared and insecure about playing anthropomorphic characters in scenes. I didn't like it. But this class changed all that! Thank you!"
The Art of Saying Nothing
Ready to say more by saying less? The Art of Saying Nothing is a workshop for anyone who’s ever felt limited by language—whether English isn’t your first, or your brain just blanks mid-scene. We’ll use physicality, mime, and gibberish to explore how much storytelling can happen without words. Starting with traditional scenes, we’ll gradually reduce dialogue, play with gibberish, and land in fully silent scenes. You’ll sharpen your instincts, boost stage presence, and connect beyond language. Whether you’re loud, shy, fluent, or figuring it out, this workshop invites you to express yourself—body first.
by POL SUBIRANA