[4-Week Workshop] Instructor Snack Pack: Four Weeks, Four Improv Skills!

Adding the 'how' in the 'now' brings the 'wow'! We’ll explore how adding the 'how' makes it fun and easy to embody active characters living in the present in an interesting world. By using adjectives and adverbs, we unlock greater specificity and possibility in our characters, relationships, objectives, and locations. It’s not just a playground - it’s a “Zen-like playground”; “posh janitor”; “boisterous chess”; “dainty, delicate high-fiving brothers.” We’ll see how these details shape the way characters present themselves (voice, emotion, physicality), react to one another, and engage with an environment that’s anything but drab!

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Finding the W in CROW may seem like an easy task, but what if you find yourself stuck somewhere you hate? Learn what goes into choosing a strong location, how to find it fast, and how to communicate it to your audience and scene partners in fun and fresh ways.

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Get out of your individual brain and work with your group to make scenes more dynamic, interesting, and fun for the players and the audience. Follow the collective and give in to the hive mind as small choices emerge into big ideas. A little woo-woo, but a lot of woo-hoo!

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The great improviser Jason Mantzoukas once said, "80% of Improv is owning the stage." He's right-- no matter how good your ideas are, you need to conduct yourself onstage with the confidence and presence of a professional actor, from the moment you enter the stage to the moment you exit. In this workshop you will receive NO feedback on your ideas, characters, games, or jokes. We will explore and drill, with lots of personal feedback: using your voice, body, and movements to command the stage. We'll work on hosting, being on the back line, and stage presence in scenes. Everyone will receive personal feedback on their mindless habits, their projected attitudes, and anything else we discover about your personal stage presence. Come kick your performance to the next level.

Class Day and Time: Tuesdays from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Workshop Dates:

July 8, 2025

July 15, 2025

July 22, 2025

July 29, 2025

Prerequisites: Having taken an improv course covering the basics like Intro to Improv or Improv 101 is recommended. This workshop should not be your first formal improv instruction.

David Zboray is a member of Robot Love, one of Sea Tea Comedy Theater’s original House Improv Teams established in May 2016. His past experience includes: BAT style audio only improv with HAT; musical improv keyboard accompanist and occasional singer in Fruits and Veggies; 2-person improv with Allie Rivera as Left Brain Right Brain; various shows including Improvised Horror and on the fly scores for Movie Dub. Since starting his improv journey in 2014, David’s attended 47 improv workshops at various schools and improv festivals and eagerly read numerous improv books. David studied improv at Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) under gurus like Billy Merritt, with Will Hines at his World’s Greatest Improv School (WGIS), and with multiple wonderful teachers at Sea Tea Improv Studios.

Allie Rivera is a writer and improviser based in Hartford who performs regularly at the Sea Tea Comedy Theater. Her writing has been featured in the LGBTQ+ magazine CT VOICE. She also works in insurance, but that’s mostly to feed her Kit Kat addiction.

Nate Gagnon is a comedian, performer, instructor, and producer at Sea Tea Comedy Theater where he has served as Associate Artistic Director since 2018. You can find him performing with Knucklepuck, various sketch ensembles, and hosting the monthly experimental comedy night, “Show Lab”. Nate has written, produced, and performed in original works at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, as well as the Hartford Fringe Festival, where in 2022 his show MOWFs was selected as Best of Fringe.

Julia Pistell has performed in hundreds of improv shows across the country. A founding member of Sea Tea Improv, she was a member of both undefeated CT Cage Match teams, as well as the undefeated Upright Citizens Brigade Indie Cage Match championships. She is in the Advanced Study program at the Upright Citizens Brigade and has studied under Will Hines, Shannon O'Neill, Chelsea Clarke, Ryan Karels, Erik Tanouye, and more. She has also studied unusual improvisational forms with Hot Cocoa Productions such as Campfire, Disaster Movie, and Spoken; is a co-creator of the parody show "Sex and the Sea Tea"; and assistant directed Knuckle Sandwich Production's "Disney Reality Show." Julia's improvisational technique focuses on finding character philosophies and combining narrative styles with games. She has taught improv through Sea Tea Improv and the Hartford Stage to adults and teens alike since 2010. She and Summar Elguindy brought eight all-star teens to Chicago in 2014 to perform improv, sketch, and stand-up comedy.

All Sea Tea Improv courses and workshops are subject to our education policies:  https://seateaimprov.com/education/education-policies/

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