improvarama

Oh my, this has been a long time. So sorry about that. Life gets busy and relationships change and work piles on and...before I know it two years goes by without checking in on some important things. How's your improv life? Occasionally someone will find this blog and ask me about improv workshops. Yes, I do them. For the past 8 years they have been in the Boulder and Denver area of Colorado. I'm still here, and yet all that might change. I'm contemplating a moving to the Philadelphia area. We'll see. In any case, if you have questions about improv or if you know 5 or more people who would like to get together to play with improv (in the Boulder area for now) let me know and we can make that happen. It'll be fun! - Doug Smith

I'm still improvising the whole emerging Improvarama scene. I plan to involve others thru a series of workshops and build new kinds of improv, especially in the long form. I also plan to use Improvarama as a place where we can create and share improvisational music.  I recently saw a great performance at the IO West in Hollywood:  Visiting IO West Have you explored how much you can learn from improv? The more that I explore drama, improv, music, and the arts the more opportunity I find for learning and applying that learning across my other  fields of pla y. This week I was in Orange County doing some training and it provided the perfect opportunity to see one of the great active improv venues in the world,  IO West  (formerly known as Improv Olympic West) on Hollywood Boulevard. An outgrowth of the  IO Theater  in Chicago that was founded by Charna Halpern and fueled by the late Del Close (a Chicago legend an "inventor" of the now classic long ...

It's been a busy year. How did a whole year go by without keeping up with this improv blog? Maybe it's because I've been writing on other blogs, traveling around the country, doing short films, and acting in a couple of plays. Yeah, let's go with that. If you are interested in attending an improv workshop in the Boulder - Longmont - Lafayette - Louisville area of Colorado let me know. We tend to do those workshops whenever we have enough people interested. Maybe someday I'll schedule weekly sessions that are open to drop-in playing. For now, as other theater companies have no doubt discovered, space is the problem. Finding the space. So if you also know a spot that would be conducive to improv games and activities, that would be affordable, and is available - let me know. We'd love to play. -- Doug Smith

Improv Workshop in Denver Are you ready to energize your acting and creativity? Join us for a fun filled, game driven, community building afternoon of improvisation. You will work and play with an improv coach and a group of people ready to take your talent to the next level via improvisation. Build your acting skills, practice your creativity, and develop new ways of expressing yourself in group settings. Using a wide variety of improv games, expert coaching, and acting exercises you’ll be able to: Explore and practice improvisational basics Develop a “where” a “why” and a “who” inside a scene Build your self-confidence Improve how you work with other people Learn how to create longer-form improv sketches Create fun and collaborative stage environments Develop believable characters Increase your on stage energy Learn the basic techniques of improvisation Stop  going  for the laugh and  get more laughs The workshop runs from 1:00 pm ...

Next Improv Workshop will be in Lafayette, CO on May 3, 2014. Stay tuned for the details. If you'd like to be on our email list for notifications, please contact us here: doug@improvarama.com Thanks! Doug Smith

We're putting together a workshop for the Boulder / Lafayette / Louisville area for early in May. Be sure to check back -- we'd love to have you there. -- Doug Smith

No boots required! Join us for a fun filled, game driven, community building weekend of improvisation. You will work and play with an improv coach and a group of people ready to take your talent to the next level via improvisation. Build your acting skills, practice your creativity, and develop new ways of expressing yourself in group settings. Using a wide variety of improv games, expert coaching, and acting exercises you’ll be able to: §   Explore and practice improvisational basics §   Develop a “where” a “why” and a “who” inside a scene §   Build your self-confidence §   Improve how you work with other people §   Create fun and collaborative stage environments §   Develop believable characters §   Increase your on stage energy §   Learn the basic techniques of improvisation §   Stop going for the laugh and get more laughs §   Practice the art of instant drama Camp runs from 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm...