Master Class in Improvisation taught by Precipice Improv Theater - Bethesda

Improv Master Class

In this master class we will explore answers to the questions: "What entertains and moves an audience?" And "What will the audience find satisfying at every moment in a scene and play?"

In answering these questions, we will develop reliable techniques for

• starting scenes regardless of the format that is used,

• maintaining audience interest in a scene after conveying the exposition,

• finding an ending to scenes that is not predictable but seemingly inevitable, and

• stringing scenes together to create a satisfying larger structure for virtually any improv format.

In addition, the teacher, Gary Jacobs, artistic director of Precipice Improv Theater, will work individually with participants to identify the one point of focus for each improviser that will make the greatest positive difference in their work. And actors who work together will have the opportunity to work with Gary on specific areas of interest to their troupe.

Enrollment is strictly limited. So you are encouraged to sign up early. The workshop is taught by Gary Jacobs, producer of the Bethesda Improv and Comedy Festival, and artistic director of Precipice Improv Theater and the Center for Narrative Improvisation since 1995.

About the teacher

Gary's work focuses on improvising great scenes and plays that harness the wild energy of anything-goes, short-form improv in the service of a dramatically and comedically satisfying story. His theater company, Precipice Improv Theatre, improvises one-hour comedic plays with the depth, power, and emotional payoffs of a good play but with the comic energy and imagination of good short-form improv.

Gary was trained locally in the 1980s by actors from Arena Stage and Sylvia Toone, who started S.T.A.R., the first commercial improvisation troupe in the DC area, with whom Gary acted and eventually directed. He continued his improv training with actors from Toronto Theatersports and apprenticed for a decade with Second City director and teacher Michael Gellman, coiner of the term “long-form improv." Since then he founded several local improv troupes and taught improv locally through Precipice Improv Theater.

He has also taught improvisational theater at ImprovBoston, and was invited to teach improv for the actors at Bay Area Theatersports (BATS) in San Francisco, the Chaos Theater in Phoenix, Unscrewed Theater in Tuscon, the Ventura Improv Company in Ventura, the Improv Bandits in Aukland, New Zealand, and the Court Theater in Christchurch, New Zealand. He is writing a book entitled Principles of Improvising Plays and Scripts for Stage and Screen.

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