Comedy Improvisation: Commanding Your Audience

Week 1: Spontaneity and Follow the Fun. This week it’s all about getting to know each other and remembering how to play. Play is the lynchpin of all human wellbeing and is often overlooked or forgotten after childhood. High-pressure studies or careers, digital overload and city living conspire to make us serious and defended, resulting in narrowed options and a lack of flexibility in attitude and creative thinking. This first session guarantees to bond everyone in the room using fun and laughter. Week 2: Acceptance and Agreement. Here we learn the core improvisation principle of ‘Yes, And’. When people accept each other’s ‘offers’ and build on a moment together, they find themselves in a world of infinite imagination and creativity. You’ll practise being positive and taking the risk of accepting whatever’s proposed. You’ll discover how not to automatically say “No” or ‘block’ what’s offered as you mutually ‘feel out’ a situation’s potential. Week 3: Listening and Status. The group learns a crucial improvisational art: deep listening. Being in the present moment, even when new concepts are on the table, results in every idea being heard and acknowledged. We also have fun with another improvisational tent pole: status. All communication is inevitably accompanied by nuances of status, and this week we enjoy navigating power plays with good humour and wit. You’ll nail moving forward in conversation while holding a differing viewpoint. Week 4: Honesty, Trust and Giving Gifts. This week we explore what makes the group and its individuals tick and how each of us can reach in and find the best in ourselves. You’ll examine the concept of having an ‘inner critic’ and how to acknowledge, then push past, self-doubt in the low-risk setting of the comedy classroom. The group will become adept at making contributions with confidence and humour as we practise accepting offers with enthusiasm. Week 5: Positive Mental Attitude and Commitment. Following on from the previous week’s work, the group makes a leap forward in presenting itself and its ideas with good humour and positivity. Using a range of approaches, including body-language techniques, ‘yes, and’ exercises and academic ideology, you will find new levels of compassion for others and confidence in yourself as you invent, propose and reinforce your standpoint confidently and comedically from moment to moment. Week 6: Practical Presentations and Collaborations. The final week is an entertainment-based reinforcement of everything you’ve learned. The whole group will revisit lots of fun exercises and games and you’ll find that you command the space with a feeling of joy. Notice how much you can now let go of your ‘fight, flight or freeze’ reflexes and see with pleasure how far you’ve come since Week One. This final session focuses on having the most fun with your new friends.