Sunday 30th March | 6.30pm – 10pm
After the success of our fantastic Panel & Jam as part of last summer’s Improv Appreciation Weekend, we’ve brought this format back to get more expert thoughts on improv, this time kicking off with a talk from David Escobedo of the Improv Boost, followed by a Q & A with a panel.
Talk: The Inclusive Origins of Improv – David Escobedo
If you have ever performed on a team where the collective has the power to contribute to the show equilaterally, you may have a lesbain couple from Chicago to thank for that. We just don’t hear about it among the swell of white, heterosexual, male teachers who tend to dominate festival circuits.
Panel: the panel will follow up on themes from David’s talk, including perspectives from UK improv and impro in theatre settings.
Jam: join the panellists for an improv jam to close out the Little Improv Festival!
More about the jam: an improv jam is an event where anyone can put their name down to take part in an improv scene or game onstage, supported by our hosts. This leads to new combinations of improvisers who may not have worked together, or even met, before, and is also open to completely new improvisers! You are also welcome to just sit back and enjoy the show.
More about our speaker:
David Escobedo has been coaching and practicing improv for over 30 years. He has trained at iO West, Second City, Westside Comedy and taken classes from teachers like Jay Sukow, Paul Vaillancourt, Tai Campbell, Katy Schutte, and Steve Green. His passion for improv includes achieving a Master’s Degree in the performing arts where he studied improv, as well as in the process of completing his doctoral thesis titled, “Improv Trains Us to See and Be Humans: how improv training carries benefits off the stage through Ensemble Collaboration.”
More about The Inclusive Origins of Improv (talk):
The ensemble practice of improv differs from the style of impro created by UK practitioners like Ken Campbell or Keith Johnstone. The more collaborative style of improv which includes tag outs, the Harold and short form games originates in social work from a practitioner sometimes referred to as “the mother of improv.” This “mother of improv” studied with Neva Boyd at the Hull House, a space designed to serve the impoverished neighborhoods of Chicago. This lecture will talk about the LGBTQi+, female and BIPOC/BAME origins of improv as it developed into the Armandos, Living Rooms and Zip Zap Zops we practice today. If you have ever performed on or watched an improv team where the collective has the power to contribute to the show equilaterally, you may have a lesbian couple from Chicago to thank for that. This lecture draws back the curtain to explain how improv began in the hands of immigrants but became dominated by the privileged.
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