Joe Bill Workshop Weekend

If you’ve ever wanted to study with one of the most respected improv minds in the world, this is your chance. Joe Bill, legendary teacher, longtime iO faculty member, master of power improv, duo work, and deep scenework, is coming to Unexpected Productions for two days only to teach three rare, high-impact workshops on December 27 and 28.

Opportunities like this don’t come around often. Joe’s workshops are known for transforming improvisers’ confidence, sharpening their instincts, and giving them tools that last a lifetime onstage.

Choose the path that fits your goals:
• One workshop $150
• Two workshops $275 ($137.00 each)
• All three $350 (the best deal by far)

Take one, take two, or take all three, and whatever you choose, you’ll walk away a stronger, bolder, and more grounded improviser. These sessions are rare, in demand, and expected to fill quickly. Don’t miss your chance to learn from one of improv’s most celebrated teachers.

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12/27/25 10am - 12:30

In Improvisation scenes, the ending often lies in the beginning. I will show you how to begin your scenes with focus & playfulness and how to begin to bring your inner Engineer & Jazz Musician into Harmony through the way that you listen. We’ll focus on the first 30 seconds of a scene to discover your characters (How they do, What they do, Who they are) evolving from the recognition of “How am I?” and “How are you?” & “How are WE?” I’ll help increase your awareness of the two types of dialogue (Circumstantial & Interpersonal) to give you the best chance to play an honest, grounded scene rooted in depth and discovery, AND how comedy & story come as a consequence of connection rather than goals you’re desperately chasing.

Maximum Students: 16

Prerequisite: Intro Level of Improv completed

Location: The Market Theatre 1428 Post Alley Seattle WA 98101

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12/27/25 1:30 pm - 4:00 pm

In each of our heads lives an engineer and a jazz musician. A lot of times when we improvise, the more we lead with our engineer, the more blind to Jazz opportunities we become…and vice versa. In this workshop, I will lead you through different exercises and improvised scenes with the goal of having you feel these two sensibilities come into harmony in your own head and between scene partners in order to bring honest, emotional presence when playing scenes for humor or story.

Maximum Students: 16

Prerequisite: At least one year of improv experience

Location: The Market Theatre 1428 Post Alley Seattle WA 98101

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Date: 12/28/25 10-12:30

This workshop will focus on the fundamentals of the ACTING part of narrative improvisation. We will practice skills that connect our internal process to our external words and actions, and yes, I will also use some neuroscience ideas to help introduce you to your Engineer and Jazz Brain and help you bring those sensibilities into harmony when you’re improvising scenes in a Narrative context! We’ll cover the importance of Listening Through Emotion, Psychological Awareness and Narrative Strategy, Forwarding Relationships, Manifesting Story, and Comedic Promises so that both Story and Comedy are a consequence of the connection between characters that we care about. We’ll also touch on Comedy Through Connection and Hot Reads as techniques we can use in the moment to engage each other, our story, and our audience. I will also offer some personal and general feedback to help you apply these skills going forward in your Improv life!

This will feel very much like an acting class because it is!

Maximum Students: 16

Prerequisite: At least one year of improv experience

Location: The Market Theatre 1428 Post Alley Seattle WA 98101

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About the Instructor: Joe Bill is widely regarded as one of the best teachers of Improvised Storytelling and Scenic, Longform & Duo Improvisation in North America today. He is one of the founding members of Annoyance Theater Chicago where, for 12 years, he performed in and/or directed more than 60 different shows. Joe is ½ of the first touring Improv Duo in North America, BASSPROV, created in 2000 with Mark Sutton. They are still performing at Festivals and theater engagements globally 24 years later. Since then Joe’s been touring all over the world teaching, directing, and improvising with several other amazing Duo Partners like Patti Stiles (Our Play), Jill Bernard (SCRAM!), Stacey Hallal (Stacey & Joe, We Slept Together) Lee White (Paradigm), Heather Urquart (Blues Hammer), Felipe Ortiz (Les Disciplinos) and David Razowsky (Razowsky & Bill), ALL in different, original formats and styles. He's touring his solo scripted show, written as he successfully took on and survived Surgeries & chemo associated with 3 different cancers from late 2022 to early 2024, Joe Bill: Surviving Consciousness, (Lessons learned from Cancer, LSD & Michael Jordan) all over the U.S. and the world. In April 2024 he debuted it at the Auckland Imrprov Festival in Auckland, NZ. He has since preformed it at Festivals and Theaters across the USA and will record it at Curious Comedy Theater in Portland, OR in early 2025. He is the creator and host of Story Chain, a virtual (and now sometimes live!), 90-minute, international story sharing event that he developed in 2020 during the Pandemic. He was the Director of Corporate Training at iO Chicago for 15 years and started training and performing there in 1985. He was a Guest Artist in Residence at The Second City Training Center & Conservatory where he taught intensives in Duo Improvisation and Improvisation for Actors for 10 years.Award (Best-Taped Live Performance - The Minnesota Wrecking Crew), with The Imponderables nominated for the same award.

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