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Upcoming Workshops This Week
Can’t learning improv be like exercising?
That’s the question Fort Wayne Improv is answering. To me, learning how to improvise is like learning yoga. Yogis generally try to get better at yoga because it makes them feel good. There’s no goal of a particular angle of bend they want to achieve. There’s not necessarily an end goal to practicing yoga for most of them. They do it for the journey.
I’ve spent decades in academic institutions as both a student and a teacher. I used to teach high school science a long time ago. A traditional academic model worked for teaching science, because the water cycle is a thing that can be taught. It isn’t going to change based on a student’s experience of the water cycle. There aren’t interpretations of the water cycle, and you can probably learn the water cycle in a traditional way. Improv isn’t like that. A student’s personal experience with improv influences how they learn it, and it continually evolves and grows as the student does the same.
I have said the following statement hundreds of times teaching improv: “I could lecture you for 1,000 hours about all of my improv experiences and how I handled them, but it won’t be helpful to you because you won’t have those exact experiences.” For that reason, learning improv doesn’t fit the academic model.
I’ve spent years and years developing countless iterations of improv curricula that I wasn’t completely happy with. I realized it was because I was trying to fit improv into a standard academic model. Levels of classes that follow a schedule, usually between four and eight weeks. But what happens to students when they’re finished with the curriculum and they still want to keep practicing improv? What about the students who are there for the journey and the joy of playing adult make-believe? What about those just wanting to be a member of the community?
I didn’t have an answer to those questions other than to send students to a different school or encourage them to go to improv jams. I also realized after hosting many jams that with guidance, it’s not terribly difficult to jump in and start performing improv. And then I read the excellent book, How We Learn. I was particularly fascinated not only by the author’s explanation of why I might have been a chaotic studier in college, but also by how effective the educational strategy of pretesting is. I got a little obsessed with the idea that I was hand-holding improv students a bit too much with classes structured like a traditional curriculum. I decided it would be more beneficial to those students to get thrown into the deep end more quickly (or at least at their own pace). So, I structured our classes in a more experiential way. Our classes more closely resemble practicing in a gym or yoga/fitness studio than learning in a classroom.
The Classes (more will be added as we grow)
FOUNDATIONAL IMPROV (Recommended Level: BEGINNER)
If you’ve never done improv before, this is a great starting workshop. It focuses on practicing the basic principals of improv: confidence, listening, agreeing, and creating. Though this workshop is an excellent starting point for beginners, improvisers of any skill level can always use this workshop to brush up on their fundamental improv skills.
FLOW IMPROV (Recommended Level: ALL LEVELS)
This workshop focuses on helping you get out of your head and into the improv zone. It will focus on high-energy, rhythmic, collaborative exercises. It’s fast-paced and best for shaking off a stressful workday, getting in the improv vibe, and having fun.
TECHNICAL IMPROV (Recommended Level: ALL LEVELS)
This workshop focuses on the more technical aspects of improv. While Flow Improv relies on your heart and gut instincts, this class focuses on the aspects of improv that are in our heads, such as object work, environment building, and staying consistent in a character.
MOTION IMPROV (Recommended Level: ALL LEVELS)
This workshop focuses on the physical nature of improv and how you can get the most out of your body instead of just relying on your dialogue. This workshop challenges you to explore and to heighten your physical comedy.
GAMES IMPROV (Recommended Level: ALL LEVELS)
This workshop focuses on short-form, fast-paced improv. You will play a lot of short-form games and learn where to find the built-in comedy in the game. Even if you consider yourself a long-form improviser, learning how to play games in improv is a valuable tool in your improv toolbelt.
GROUP IMPROV (Recommended Level: INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED)
This workshop focuses on improvising in group scenes of 3+ people. The more improvisers in a scene, the more chaotic a scene can get. This workshop is focused on helping you find your way into a larger group scene and being a valuable participant in a larger scene.
POWER SCENES (Recommended Level: INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED)
This workshop focuses on high-stakes scenework, emotional truths, and staying in the moment, even in the face of a difficult scene. This workshop is designed to challenge you and push your boundaries.
Here’s why Fort Wayne Improv’s classes work:
- There’s less of a commitment of time and money required from you, as you can just drop in to any class that’s on the schedule.
- You can IMMEDIATELY start taking classes instead of waiting for a new block of classes to start.
- Only you really know why you came to improv and what you want to get out of improv. Some folks want to increase their social IQ. Great. This structure is perfect for that. Some folks want to meet fun new people. Great. This structure is perfect for that. Some folks struggle with social anxiety. Great. This structure is perfect for that. Some folks want to get better at improv with their sights on performing onstage. Great. This structure is perfect for that.
- Our classes are drop ins, so you can take them at your pace on your schedule. If you want to take eight classes in a month, great. If you want to take one, great. If you want to take two classes one month and five the next month, great.
- It operates more like the proven educational strategy of pretesting, which we think fits improv almost perfectly.
- You get to meet and improvise with a variety of people in the community instead of being stuck with the same group for multiple weeks.
- There’s less of a “one size fits all” feel to our classes, as we encourage you to make your own path.
- Like a yoga studio, we have recommended levels of classes: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. If you’ve never taken improv before, you can certainly try to take an advanced class, but we recommend finding an appropriate level for you.
- There’s not an “ending” to our classes, where you’re spat back out into the world with no ability to continue engaging with improv or the theater.
- Unlike with most sports, you can learn a lot from improvising with other people both above AND below your skill level, so it’s valuable to have a variety of experience levels in a class.
- If you’re interested in performing, we structure our performance workshop so that you’re able to get coached before and after your performances so that you can make adjustments and learn in a more experiential way.
- Because this is a departure from the way a lot of improv schools handle classes, if you prefer a more traditional improv learning model, we DO still offer intensive, traditional intro to improv workshops a couple times a year.
Workshops happen weekly, so start when and where you can. Our workshops have levels from BEGINNER to ADVANCED to give you an idea of the difficulty levels of the exercises we’re doing. However, the workshops are modular, so you can start anywhere you’d like. For the same reason I probably would start with a BEGINNER yoga class, that’s probably your wisest entry point.
Yep! There are a couple of different ways to perform. We have a monthly student improv jam for our members. If you’d like more personal coaching with the goal of helping you and your troupe develop a set, we’ve considered that. We’ll eventually have a performance level class that allows you and your troupe to get coaching onstage in front of a live audience.
Yep! We do occasionally offer intensive intro classes for folks who want to learn in a more traditional environment.
We understand that some folks love to track their progress (we’re also guilty of this). We also understand that there is a LOT of crossover between the improv community and the Dungeons & Dragons community. We wanted to combine those two hobbies in a fun way, so we’re in the process of developing an app that gamifies your improv learning. Each class you attend at Fort Wayne Improv will earn you XP in different skills based on the category of that class. This allows you to track your own improv journey, to level up your skills, and to work on different areas that you think need work. ImprovQuest is an app that allows you to track those stats in a fun way! Coming as soon as possible!