All workshops are $26.50.
FRIDAY – JUNE 8th
12pm – Mainstage – What if? – Craig Cackowski
Every comedic scene has a premise…some are initiated, some are discovered. Learn how to communicate your premises effectively to your scene partners, how to notice premises that arise organically, and how to heighten those premises to further the scene.
Craig Cackowski has been involved with the iO and iO West Theaters as a performer, coach, teacher and director since 1992. As a teacher, he is the three-time winner of the Del Close Award as Teacher of the Year. As a performer, he can be seen weekly at iO West in Quartet and The Armando Show, and monthly in My First Time With Cacky, with a different celebrity guest each show. In Chicago, Craig performed with the Second City Mainstage and ETC, as well as with Baby Wants Candy, Carl and the Passions and the original cast of Close Quarters. Film and television appearances include Community, How I Met Your Mother, Workaholics, and Year of The Dog.
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12pm – DCT – New Earth Army Mark II: Embracing the Real You – Annie Kouris & Levin O’Connor
Judgment of yourself is keeping you shackled to the same old safe choices, but you have so much more to share. In order to expand as an artist you must open yourself up on and off stage. You have let the “rules of improv” help you become a better performer on stage, now let them make you a better person off it. Accept who you are, say fuck off to all the labels life has put on you and start to embrace the artist and person that you really are. BE ALL YOU CAN BE.
Annie Kouris & Levin O’Connor met in the fall of 2005 as cast members of the iO West Harold team The Jungle. They immediately recognized in each other a deep passion for the art of improvisation and have been teaching, performing and touring together ever since. They have embraced an ensemble approach to the artwork with a focus on the group over the individual.
These days, when they aren’t touring with their show, Now? with Annie and Levin, they perform with the two-time Del Close Award winning team USS Rock N Roll and are both currently members of the faculty at AMDA, MI’s Westside Comedy Theater and iO West. Insert funny sentence to entice you to take the workshop. Thanks!
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12pm – The Loft – Learning Improv For the Camera – Derek Miller
A fun and easy way of adapting your improv for on-camera situations.
Derek Miller is an iO alumnus of 17 years. His team Opening Night! The Improvised Musical has topped 600 shows and has taught at iO for the past ten. This fall, Derek stars on the TBS hour-long comedy, The Wedding Band. You may of also seen him as Phil on Secret Girlfriend for Comedy Central and every character on The Hills: According to Me for MTV. Last year he completely improvised a role for Transformers 3. For the past decade, Derek has worked with various casting agencies as a session director specializing in comedy and has transferred his skills to on-set improv coaching and doing punch up for some of the industries biggest directors. He has also appeared on over 30 commercials as an actor (he can currently be seen as a gentile father and a douchebag nurse.)
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2pm – Mainstage – Teaching and Coaching Improv – Craig Cackowski
Been improvising for a while and ready to pass on your knowledge to others? Let veteran teacher Craig Cackowski help you put together lesson plans, learn how to give notes/side coach and create a harmonious and supportive creative environment. This class will consist of lecture, Q & A, as well as exercises run by YOU, the prospective teacher.
Craig Cackowski has been involved with the iO and iO West Theaters as a performer, coach, teacher and director since 1992. As a teacher, he is the three-time winner of the Del Close Award as Teacher of the Year. As a performer, he can be seen weekly at iO West in Quartet and The Armando Show, and monthly in My First Time With Cacky, with a different celebrity guest each show. In Chicago, Craig performed with the Second City Mainstage and ETC, as well as with Baby Wants Candy, Carl and the Passions and the original cast of Close Quarters. Film and television appearances include Community, How I Met Your Mother, Workaholics, and Year of The Dog.
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2pm – DCT – You’re Creating a New World: Discovering and Using Theme – Nick Armstrong
In this exciting workshop, improvisers will learn how to create a whole new world. Defining the rules, developing memorable characters, learning why everything needs to be important and have high stakes, discovering thematic ideas living inside this new planet. Improvisers will learn how to start discovering the bigger thematic picture of the show.
Nick is an Actor, Improvisor and Writer living in Los Angeles, CA. On TV Nick is currently on AMC’s Story Notes and has been on the Emmy-Award winning shows The Office and Grey’s Anatomy. He has also made appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live and Parks and Recreation. Onstage Nick has trained at The Groundlings and iO West. You can catch him performing regularly at the world-famous iO West in Hollywood, CA on the famed genre-based group Kind Strangers and LA’s Best Harold Team King Ten.
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2pm – The Loft – Impressions – Phillip Wilburn*
When you audition for a sketch show usually you are asked to do some impressions, but if you don’t have any, where do you start? In this workshop you will get tips on how to do an impression. Where to start? Who to do? What works? We will work on impressions you have, and ways to find other impressions for you. If you bring ideas of someone you want to imitate Phillip will give you the starting point for that impression.
Originally from Texas , Phillip is known for his ability to imitate almost any voice, from Tom Cruise to George W. Bush, and everyone in between. The LA Times said Phillip’s George W. Bush is “played to squinty eyed perfection.” He produces and stars in viral videos that have been featured on MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann ,Hardball with Chris Matthews, CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, ShowBiz Today and Funny or Die. His TV Credits include How I Met Your Mother, The Middle, The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live and CONAN. Phillip can be seen on stage in Top Story! Weekly at iO West every Sunday night at 9. For more info go to www.phillipwilburn.com.
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4pm – Mainstage – Casting Workshop – Cecelia Pleva
Find out how to make the most of being cast as a day player for late night talk shows with Jimmy Kimmel Live! casting director Cecelia Pleva.
Before moving to LA to cast for Jimmy Kimmel Live! Cecelia was the casting director for “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”, Adult Swim’s “Delocated”, Robert Smigel’s unaired cult-favorite “Prozo the Clown”, Comedy Central’s “Upright Citizen’s Brigade” and “Strangers with Candy”, “David Cross: Let America Laugh” and the independent film “Approaching Union Square”.
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4pm – DCT – The 4th Rule of Improv – Joe Spence
So you’ve taken a couple improv classes, and you’ve learned that there are a few guidelines that everybody tries to follow when they improvise. Then you saw a couple shows and you notice that everyone appears to be following those “rules”, but there is something that separates the shows that your teachers put on from the showcase your friends invited you to…and you can’t quite put your finger on it. This workshop spotlights an approach to improvisation that will allow improvisers of any level to conquer that feeling of “trying to keep up” and give any improviser that has some amount of training the confidence and ability to hold their own and play with anybody. The 4th Rule of Improv will erase the fear and mystery of how to survive in an improvisation…with anyone.
Joe Spence is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory, The Training Center at iO West, ComedySportz LA, and has also studied at UCB. He has been a resident performer at the highest level and a teacher or assistant instructor at The Second City Studio Theatre, iO West, and LA Connection. Joe has been teaching the 4th Rule approach in Southern California and the Midwest to improvisers from age four to fifty and very much enjoys the ability of the art form to take an artist to places they never knew they could go to.
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SATURDAY – JUNE 9th
10am – Stop Begging Your Friends : Improv Promo 101 – Mainstage – Kevin McShane
You’ve got a fantastic show full of truly gifted, funny, and visionary improvisers, yet there’s often more people onstage than in your audience. Why? Because you’re not marketing your show properly – if at all. In this workshop, Kevin McShane shares his tips, tactics, and outspoken opinions on how to effectively market your improv show to the general public. Mixing lecture, Q&A, and real world case studies, Kevin will help you put more butts in the seats and finally start drawing the audiences you deserve.
NOTE: This is a lecture/discussion workshop. There will be no scenework.
Kevin McShane has overseen promotion for a host of iOWest shows, including Trophy Wife, Irish Mutts, Middle Seat, and the iO Festival itself. Outside of the theater, he has over a decade’s worth of PR and marketing experience for clients ranging from BellSouth to DreamWorks. Someday, he hopes to walk away slowly while something blows up behind him.
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10am – DCT – Emotions in Improv (aka Express Yourself) – Katie Nahnsen
This workshop is all about emotions.. and emotions are comedy GOLD! Exercises will focus on creating characters and scene work with an emotional point of view. Topics include: create an emotional POV by playing the character’s want, using emotions to heighten the game of a scene and committing to a character by staying true to your point of view.
Katie Nahnsen is an LA based actor, writer, improviser and teacher. She was a series regular on the syndicated comedy Sports Action Team, which was distributed by MGM and aired on HDNet and NBC affiliates across the country for two years. Katie’s written and performed in plays, improv and sketch comedy revues throughout the nation and is a Moth StorySLAM winner. Notable groups include Baby Wants Candy, CatNip, Virgin Daiquiri, Spirit Cat and the Late Night Late Show. In Los Angeles, Katie’s performed at iO West, The Second City LA, UCB LA and The Groundlings. In Chicago, she’s performed at iO Theatre, The Second City, The Annoyance, and The Neo-Futurists. Katie loves teaching improv and acting classes not only to comedians and actors, but also to corporations and children in foster care as a way to improve communication and self-esteem.
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10am – The Loft – Micheal Bay Comedy Class – Derek Reid*
Tired of overly intellectual improv that is all talk and no action?! Wanna learn how to turn your sketches into comedy dynamite?! Then you need some Michael Bay in your Comedy! This class will explore techniques to give your improv and writing that bang that will make the audience explode with laughter. A hands on workshop that will involve stage craft, improv and writing exercises. Let’s blow sh!# up (in slow motion)!
Derek is a writer/performer for Top Story Weekly. Director of the featured House Sketch Team Hashtag. Currently improvising with Robert Downey Jr.Jr. and creative director for the ethnic sketch group Dead Honkey.
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12pm – Mainstage – Two, Three & Four Person Scene Workshop – Bob Dassie
This class will concentrate on the foundation of scene work and how it applies to more complex relationship-based scenes. Focus will be on making strong choices for the sake of the scene regardless of how many people are on stage.
Bob Dassie has been involved with the shows WeirDass, Dasariski, Quartet and Trio, all of which explore the possibilities of small groups with relationship-based scenes.
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12pm – DCT – I Don’t Know What’s Going On, But I’m I Like It! – Annie Kouris & Levin O’Connor
The problem with your improv is that it looks a lot like improv. You’ve learned the basics. You know what works in a scene and what doesn’t. It is time to start trusting yourself and your scene partner and let go of the need to know what is going on all the time. In this two-hour workshop we will focus on how to approach scene work and Harold play so that you can discover unique, specific and delightful characters that are instantly engaging to watch rather than improvising generic, loosely scripted scenes full of the same broad choices. It is time to let go of doing what you think it right and instead to start truly improvising.
Annie Kouris & Levin O’Connor met in the fall of 2005 as cast members of the iO West Harold team The Jungle. They immediately recognized in each other a deep passion for the art of improvisation and have been teaching, performing and touring together ever since. They have embraced an ensemble approach to the artwork with a focus on the group over the individual.
These days, when they aren’t touring with their show, Now? with Annie and Levin, they perform with the two-time Del Close Award winning team USS Rock N Roll and are both currently members of the faculty at AMDA, MI’s Westside Comedy Theater and iO West. Insert funny sentence to entice you to take the workshop. Thanks!
Click here to register online now.
12pm – The Loft – What I Learned From Del: The Crazy Wisdom of Improv – Ed Greenberg
“Greenberg’s instinct for the work is infuckingcredible.” Del Close. This workshop is about how to create more dynamic improvisation using core concepts articulated by Del Close: building a strong on-stage reality; going for the unlikely choice; trusting the silences. You’ll discover new ways to access your unique point of view as an actor, director, comedy writer, or engaged/engaging participant in the human experience. “I can’t give you Del — but I can come pretty close… Ed Greenberg.” Charna Halpern.
Ed Greenberg was hired by Del as an actor at The Committee (where he performed in the first long-form piece that inspired the name “Harold”), he co-led workshops with Del and succeeded Del as main stage director of The Second City, Chicago. He is currently Executive Director of Laughter for a Change, a non-profit organization that uses improv for positive social change in LA and around the world. Ed blogs on improv related topics at www.laughterforachange.org.
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2pm – Mainstage – Position Play – Miles Stroth SOLD OUT
In this short workshop I will explain the four primary scene types that all scenes can be broken down into. I will show you how to listen for, and nail, your scene type and position in the first ten seconds of a scene. Most scenes that go bad go bad in the first ten seconds. Lets get started on fixing that.
Originally from Chicago, Miles has been improvising for over twenty five years. Miles worked with the late Del Close for eight years. Miles has been running his own workshop here in Los Angeles for over five years. Check the site milesimprov.com for details. Get on this people!
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2pm – DCT – One Person Show Workshop – Eric Hunicutt and Molly Prather
If you’ve ever had the inkling to do a solo show, this workshop is for you. In this workshop, the fundamental tools and common pitfalls of writing and performing a solo show are addressed. The two hour session will focus on storytelling and structure, as well as tips for the writing and revision process. Together, Molly and Eric have collaborated on several acclaimed shows, written & performed by Molly and directed by Eric, and individually both have written and directed numerous one-person shows.
Eric Hunicutt is an actor, director, writer, and teacher based in Los Angeles. As an actor, Eric has worked performing everything from Shakespeare to sketch comedy, as well as in television, film, and nearly twenty years of improv, including over ten years as a member of the acclaimed Chicago-based ensemble the Reckoning. Eric is a regular performer in shows at iO West, including The Armando Show and the Reckoning. As a director, he has developed and staged several original solo shows, directed productions at The Second City (LA & Chicago), Piccolo Spoleto Fringe (Charleston, SC), The Comedy Central Stage (LA), Upright Citizens’ Brigade Theaters (NYC & LA), and The Lost Studio. As a Guest Artist and Guest Faculty member at UC San Diego, Eric directed Neil LaBute’s reasons to be pretty and Adam Bock’s The Thugs. Currently, Eric teaches at Steppenwolf Classes West, Warner Loughlin Studios, iO West, and annually as a Guest Artist at California State University’s Summer Arts program. He is a proud alumnus of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a native tarheel.
Molly is a writer Her storytelling credits include ASSSSCAT, Armando, Worst Laid Plans, Stripped Stories, Sunday Night Sex Talks, Sit’n’Spin, Four Stories and a Cover, Quote Unquote, TopTale, and The Devil is in the Details. She is a StorySLAM winner at The Moth (Los Angeles and New York). Her solo shows That Girl and Fuck! Marry! Kill! have played at UCB LA & NY, Comedy Central Stage, iO West, Toronto’s Impatient Theater and the Piccolo Fringe Festival. Her solo shows have been named “BEST THING TO DO LA” – LA Weekly, “COMEDY PICK” – LA Times Brand X, “COMEDY PICK OF THE WEEK” – LA Weekly, “TO DO” – Backstage, “LAist FAVE” – LAist.
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2pm – The Loft – Everybody Get in Here…Other Options for Group Games – Dawn Hunnicutt
Group games can be the most simple, delightful pieces in a Harold, yet we often default to “everybody get in here” games or an everybody-against-one argument scene. In this workshop, Dawn explores different ways to attack the group game, it’s purpose in the Harold, and what it can do for a show that is going great or a show that is dying right before your eyes. Whether it’s silent, physical work, simple heightening of a pattern, or exploring something interesting that emerged in previous scenework or the opening, this is a workshop that will get you off your feet and up on stage multiple times so you can explore the possibilities and the beauty of a well-executed group game. All levels welcome.
Dawn studied short-form improv for many years before landing at iO West to study an art-form that intrigued her greatly. An alum of iO and current mainstage performer with the house team Waterloo, her two-person show Kismet (Michael Garcia), her three-person team Scrunchy (Carla Snowden, Jeff Passino), and the veteran team The End (Sterling, Graci, Wing, Cavedon, Babbitt, Ehart, Castle), Dawn brings her years of experience and training with teachers and mentors such as Eric Hunicutt (not related), Craig Cackowski, James Grace, and Mike Betette to the iO Festival this year in hopes of inspiring improvisers of all abilities to engage in group games with a sense of fearlessness and joy.
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4pm – Mainstage – Recognizing the Needs of a Your Show – Mike Coleman
This workshop is for experienced improvisors who are currently performing in groups, you will be learning to diagnose what your show needs and how to make that happen.
Mike Coleman is a founding member of the all star improv group Beer Shark Mice! He also performs with iO West shows Joel Murray and Friends and Celebrity. Mike has been in numerous films and television shows including starring in SPIKE TV’s first original sit-com FACTORY.
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4pm – DCT – The Viewpoints in Improv – Eric Hunicutt
Introduction to the practice of Viewpoints, a movement-based discipline and vocabulary originally developed in the world of dance, since applied to acting, and now to improviastion. This workshop offers basic ways to apply Viewpoints work to scenic improvisation, character work, and ensemble building. Eric has taught The Viewpoints & Improvisation for over three years in association with Steppenwolf Classes West in Los Angeles.
Eric Hunicutt is an actor, director, writer, and teacher based in Los Angeles. As an actor, Eric has worked performing everything from Shakespeare to sketch comedy, as well as in television, film, and nearly twenty years of improv, including over ten years as a member of the acclaimed Chicago-based ensemble the Reckoning. Eric is a regular performer in shows at iO West, including The Armando Show and the Reckoning. As a director, he has developed and staged several original solo shows, directed productions at The Second City (LA & Chicago), Piccolo Spoleto Fringe (Charleston, SC), The Comedy Central Stage (LA), Upright Citizens’ Brigade Theaters (NYC & LA), and The Lost Studio. As a Guest Artist and Guest Faculty member at UC San Diego, Eric directed Neil LaBute’s reasons to be pretty and Adam Bock’s The Thugs. Currently, Eric teaches at Steppenwolf Classes West, Warner Loughlin Studios, iO West, and annually as a Guest Artist at California State University’s Summer Arts program. He is a proud alumnus of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a native tarheel.
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4pm – The Loft – Sketch Comedy Bootcamp – Keith Saltojanes
Time to up your game and get serious about sketch comedy. Learn what only years of experience and classes could possibly teach you, but condensed into two hours. We will cover: writing sketches that kill EVERY TIME, art of pitching, different sketch types, get more views for your online videos, art of the readthrough (there is one), strengthen your sketch performance and show, and more awesome weapons of sketch comedy. Bring a sketch to class and leave with it show-ready. Prepare yourself for sketch battle by first going through bootcamp.
Keith Saltojanes is a Los Angeles-based comedian and member of Brute Squad, a Headliner House Sketch Team at iO West. His videos have been featured on FunnyorDie, UCB Comedy, and the Huffington Post and he has performed to sold-out houses across the country and at UCB and iO West locally. Along with performing and writing, he has taught classes in comedy for Fox Animation Studios, CBS Television, and Electronic Arts with the workshop he founded, Improv-LA.
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SUNDAY – JUNE 10th
10am – Mainstage – Auditioning for Co-Star Roles and Beyond – Dorian Frankel SOLD OUT
This workshop will cover the inside scoop to successful auditioning with Casting Director Dorian Frankel.
Dorian Frankel currently casts NBC’s Parks and Recreation and Adult Swim’s Eagleheart on the Cartoon Network! She has also worked on sitcom classics The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development and many more. Dorian is an iO West Alum and played on the Harold teams Fluffers and Thirty!
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10am – DCT – Chess NOT Checkers: Physical Improv – Sinn Bodhi
Who better then a pro wrestler to learn about physical improv?! This workshop will cover: Physically understanding your character, awareness of your surroundings, how to evoke emotion, stage presence, controlling a live audience, seeing the gag.
Former WWE & TNA super star Sinn Bodhi aka Kizarny has pro wrestled across the world with every top pro wrestling company as well as hosting & sideshow, opening for mega rock bands such as Motely crue, Guns ‘N Roses, Godsmack & Stone Temple Pilots. Trained by WWE Legend Jake The Snake Roberts, Sinn Bodhi gives the unique perspective of technique, performing and character development relevant to all forms of performers. Sinn Bodhi is the creator of the comedy-variety-stunt-show FREAKSHOW WRESTLING. A show that blends all forms of live art in front of a live audience. Sinn Bodhi is guilty of thinking way, way, way outside of the box!
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10am – The Loft – Writer’s Block Killer – Sketch Workshop – Leann Bowen
Want to write a sketch but don’t know what to write? Do you have ideas but don’t know what to do with them or where to take them? This workshop gives you specific tools to generate ideas from scratch as well as build on ideas that seem like dead end roads. It’s so much easier than you think. The first half of the workshop is dedicated specifically to generating ideas. You will learn several foolproof exercises that will give you a ton of ideas. The second half of the workshop will focus on how to build on these ideas to produce fully fleshed out sketches. In class, we’ll flesh out one of your ideas and you’ll walk away with a list of ideas, knowing exactly how to attack them.
Leann Bowen is writer, comedienne and improvisor in Los Angeles. Her sketch group, Just Mimsy, regularly performs at iO West and is a featured sketch group at The 10th Annual Los Angeles Improv Comedy Festival. Leann has written for several UCB sketch shows as well as UCB’s Sketch Cram. She studied sketch at UCB under Dominic Dierkes (Workaholics, DERRICK Comedy), Neil Campbell (Comedy Bang Bang, Human Giant), Dan Gregor (How I Met Your Mother), Chris Kula (MADtv) and at the Miles Stroth Studio under Eric Moneypenny (The Eric Andre Show, The Midnight Show), Heather Anne Campbell (SNL) and Sam Brown (Whitest Kids U’Know).
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12pm – Mainstage – Auditioning for Pilots – Jessica Makinson & Janet Varney
Not for the faint of heart. It used to be that pilot season was one of the toughest beasts to master as an actor. It’s still that rough, only now it’s year-round. Learn how to approach the season, your auditions and your worst enemy (otherwise known as yourself). Taught by two working actors/improvisers, Jessica Makinson (Halfway Home, Review with Forrest MacNeil) and Janet Varney (Entourage, Burning Love) this workshop will give you insight into putting all of your improv tools to work, how to stay zen in the midst of madness and keeping the focus on yourself. Includes tips at every step of the process from coaching and preparing to testing for studio and network. Register early and receive audition sides a day in advance to prepare material like you would for a real pilot audition.
Jessica Makinson water-skied her way into the hearts of 47 people on Arizona’s Canyon Lake from 1984-1996. That’s an average of almost 4 people per year! She has been seen as a series regular on Trigger Happy TV, Joe Schmo 2, Halfway Home and South Park. Most recently she appeared in two pilots picked up to series, as a series regular on Comedy Central’s pilot Review with Forrest MacNeil and as a guest star on NBC’s Animal Practice. Jessica currently performs with The Armando
Diaz Show as a proud alumna of the iO West Theatre.
Janet Varney or “Janet,” as she’s known by people who call her by her first name— works as an actor, writer, and producer in Los Angeles. She has appeared on such shows as Bones, Hot in Cleveland, Psych, How I Met Your Mother, recurred on HBO’s Entourage and as a panelist on Chelsea Lately. She also co-hosted TBS’s Dinner and a Movie for 7 years and is the voice for the titular character on Nickelodeon’s new Last Airbender series, The Legend of Korra. Janet writes and records for Mystery Science Theatre 3000’s Michael J. Nelson with Cole Stratton. She had her tonsils removed when she was seven.
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12pm – DCT – Advanced Solo Performance – Andrea Kittelson
For those who have performed a solo show before. Take your writing and staging to the next level. Employ metaphor, symbolism, literary devices and innovative staging for added emotional impact. Also, avoid common mistakes. If a larger stage is your ultimate goal, get started now by creating a show that wows. The workshop includes a pdf version of the book How to Put On Your Own One-Person Show – A Workbook to Help You Map and Present Your Piece.
Andrea Kittelson is an award-winning playwright, a Los Angeles theater critic and co-founder of Hyde and Turk Performance Works, a San Francisco-based theater company which produced, during its tenure, diverse works of theater and performance art. She holds an MFA in Theater Performance (writing, acting and directing) from SFSU. With six solo shows and hundreds of other works of theater under her belt, Andrea has come to understand what makes solo performances either flop or soar. Her book “How to Put On Your Own One Person Show” is used as the textbook in university programs and is a comprehensive and practical guide that addresses every aspect of solo performance from creation to production.
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12pm – The Loft – Winning The Group Game – Allan Johnson
The biggest thing that separates good and great teams is how they work as a group. In this workshop we’ll help find ways to get a group mind going and then provide some tips/ticks to spice up even the most boring “Everybody Get in Here”.
Allan Johnson is a graduate of the Upright Citizens Brigade Improv Program and writes/performs comedy all over Los Angeles. His group, Too Cool Jeff, won Best Improv at the 11th LA Comedy Festival and is a mainstay of IO West’s 7 Team Circus. In addition to improv/sketch, Allan also hosts the This Week In Today podcast. He has studied under Brett Christensen, Todd Fasen, Casey Feigh, Mike Leffingwell, Amanda Sitko and Allan Mcleod.
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2pm – Mainstage – Book a Job Already! – Brian Guest and Jennifer Cooper
Actors come to this workshop with a prepared 2-3 page comedy scene (reader provided). Perform the material in the workshop and get redirected using improv!! Also, have a chance to get all your questions answered about the theatrical casting process and what improv helps bring to the table when booking a job.
Brian Guest has been acting professionally for over 10 years and in the past year alone has booked such shows as “SHAMELESS”, “TORCHWOOD”, “HAWAII 5-0”, “FRANKLIN AND BASH”, “CSI: NY”, “SOUTHLAND”, and the SONY film"DETENTION" with Josh Hutcherson and Dane Cook. He himself trained atPLAYHOUSE WEST with JEFF GOLDBLUM for several years, as well as LESLY KAHN’S studio. He is passionate about mixing the craft of acting with the business knowledge of “how to book the job”. After coaching many actors, he has helped up and comers as well as established talent find their unique voice as an actor. He is enthused by the creative process, and looking to coach people equally excited about their craft.
Jennifer Cooper is a Los Angeles based casting director and owner of JENNIFER COOPER CASTING, which she opened in 2009. She has been involved in casting upwards of 200 episodes of network television as well as many films. Her television credits include COLD CASE, DRIVE, HAWAII FIVE-0, CSI: NY, and the upcoming Fox Series MOB DOCTOR. Jennifer has also cast several network pilots I WITNESS, APPLEBAUM and QUEAN. She has cast several films such as LEVEL 26, executive producers by CSI creator Anthony Zuiker, SCENIC ROUTE starring Josh Duhamel and Dan Fogler, HELL BABY written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, NORTH OF HELL produced by Darko Entertainment and most recently Joel Silver’s MOTOR CITY starring Gerard Butler.
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2pm – DCT – Don’t Invest, Invest – Peter Fluet
A workshop devoted to character work, game play, and scene work driven by an emotional point of view. Often we get trapped in plot or an uncertainty in where a scene should or can go. This workshop shows how by accessing our emotions and investing in them scenes becomes energized, as does the player.
Peter Fluet is a writer/comedian who has performed for Second City, Groundlings Sunday Company, and IO West. He has made appearances on Jimmy Kimmel live and many pilots that have not been picked up. He wrote, produced, and starred in the Actor Series on Funny or Die. He currently plays with Bandit and is a founding member of Orpheus Roy.
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2pm – The Loft – Taking Comedy to a Bigger Stage: The Internet – Jason Horton
Have a comedy sketch video or just plain old content that you either put up on the net, and would like it if people actually WATCHED it? Or maybe you have these great ideas for an Internet video but you don’t know how to go about putting it up? Wouldn’t it be nice to actually make money off of your hard work? The Internet is like the Wild West. You need a horse, a saloon, and guns. Oh, and more guns. Jason Horton & guests will run a comprehensive Q&A & clinic on how to optimize, monetize, and take your work online and turn it into a career.
Jason Horton is a Los Angeles comedian, actor, writer, & improviser. He can be seen in over 250 million viewed videos on the Internet, and written over 150 million viewed videos. He has written commercial content for Foot Locker, Sony, Netflix and more. He can also be seen in commercials for Honda, TV Land, Exxon Mobil, and in the upcoming horror feature film, Smiley. Jason has written two feature films that have been optioned, one that started as an Internet video. He is a former writer for Rogue Films online & UCBComedy Originals, and a staff writer/content creator at Maker studios, and has done creative consulting for movies studios and reality TV., and developed the rapid growing Two White Guys Podcast. Jason is a coach/peformer at iO West, performing with the Harold team Waterloo, coaches the Harold team Teen Police, and directs the House Sketch team Mr. Worm.
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4pm – DCT – Basic Improv – Jennifer Meyer
Come experience the fun of Improvisation in this basic introductory workshop! No prior training necessary. You will learn the basics of Improv in a friendly and playful environment. Wear clothes that allow you to comfortably move around.
JENNIFER MEYER is a Los Angeles based Comedian, Improvisor, and Voice Actress, specializing in characters and impersonations. Jennifer trained at The Groundlings theatre and is a graduate of The Second City in Hollywood where she co-wrote and performed in the sketch show “Fear and Laughing In Los Angeles”. Jennifer is also the creator, producer, and emcee of the “Schtick Em Up” Comedy show. So far “Schtick ‘Em Up” has performed for sold out houses at The Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, and The Comedy Store in San Diego. Currently, you can also find Jennifer performing in the musical Improv show “Girl Group” at comedy clubs all over Los Angeles – including The Second City.
Click here to register online now.
4pm – The Loft – Getting To The Point, The Going From There – Gian Molina
This workshop will focus on choices most performers avoid for fear that the scene will end, when in fact is where the scene becomes much more interesting. Finding the story from strong choices instead doing scenes trying to figure out the reveals. The scene will not end if you tell her you love her, so much more can happen from this point and so much we can learn about these characters.
Gian is an actor, musician, and improvisor born and raised in Los Angeles, Ca. Joined Ultimate Improv while still in high school and has been teaching and performing for over 10 years. He is currently performing with Bandit, who has a weekly show on the iO West Mainstage. Gian also is a co-founder of the Sunday Sunday Sunday Show and the 11th Hour Show hosted by Imaginary Friends. Some TV credits include G4’s Attack of the Show, Weeds, Reno 911, Community and Funny or Die Presents. Gian is proud to be a part of the Los Angeles Improv community.