Saturday 27th July | 10:00 – 17:00
Improv is everything—or at least that’s how it feels at some point. Once you study improv long enough, it blends into your everyday life. There is a reason for that! By learning about the history of improv, we can see that the shows we practice today were born out of social work and protest. The focus was on “people connecting beyond cultural and language differences.” And that practice builds community.
The ugly side of improv is that it became dominated by an elite set of voices. A specific narrative became prioritized and repeated over and over. In Los Angeles, you would commonly joke, “What do you call five white guys with beards in plaid button-down shirts, Converse shoes, and a hoodie? An improv team.”
We will talk about the origin of improv, of “game”, and how it developed (and mashed like potatoes) between Chicago and London. The history of improv is more than Spolin, Close and Johnstone.
This interactive workshop combines learning the history of improv with trying some of the techniques and approaches from different eras and styles of improv. You will come away with a new appreciation of how improv as an art form got to where it is today and lots of ideas on where it could go next.
About the Instructor
David Escobedo did his master’s degree in improv and is in the final year of a PhD on improv. Having practiced and coached improv since 1994, David has over 30 years of experience producing, performing and teaching improv. While living in Los Angeles as a professional actor, he took classes with Second City, iO West and other improv schools in the region. David runs the Improv Boost online which includes interviews, articles and animation surrounding improv.