IMPROV COMEDY WORKSHOPS

Improv Drop-In Workshops with Norm Holly
Sundays – 10am to Noon. Cost: FREE or Pay-what-you-can on site.

SNL writer and current showrunner Katie Rich is offering this two-day online workshop where she will give you some tips and advice on the whole sketch packet submission process, as well as personal notes and punch ups in a mini writers’ room so you walk out with a sketch that will serve as a cornerstone for your packet.

PLEASE NOTE:
This is an online class via ZOOM.
Students will be expected to submit a 6-10 page sketch of their choosing two days prior to the first class.

Katie Rich is an Emmy-nominated and Peabody award-winning writer, actor and producer who attended Northwestern University before joining Chicago’s Second City. There, she wrote and starred in three Mainstage reviews, including the critically acclaimed “South Side of Heaven.” After Second City, Katie joined the writing staff of Saturday Night Live, where she worked for seven seasons. She left SNL in 2020 and served a co-ep on the Warner Brothers/DC Studios show Kite Man: Hell Yeah! 

You can see her in various commercials, on Netflix’s It’s Bruno!, or hear her on a ton of animated shows like Our Cartoon President as well as audio shows like HBOMAX’s The Batman Audio Adventures, The Flash: Midnight Circus and NPR’s Live From Here on which she was also a writer and producer. She has written for and consulted on many award shows such as The Emmys, The Academy Awards, The Golden Globes, The ESPYs, and NFL Honors as well as The White House Correspondence Dinner and various Comedy Central Roasts. Katie currently lives in Los Angeles where she is the co-showrunner of the hit animated show Harley Quinn and just inked a deal with WB/MAX to develop a multi-generational animated half-hour comedy.

Goodness, we sure do dislike object work, which is a damn shame. But what if objects were beautiful clues that hid so much more of a deeper meaning that ultimately fueled your scenes? Let’s dive deep and enjoy the ride. Out of the tiniest choices magic comes.

Susan Messing, a New Jersey native and graduate of Northwestern University‘s Theater School, has been doing improv stuffs for almost 40 years. She is an alumna of the iO Theater, Second City’s Mainstage, a founding member of Chicago’s infamous Annoyance Theatre, and an  Artistic Advisor of The HOME Theater.

Susan created and has taught her unique curriculum at the iO, The iO West in Hollywood, The Annoyance, The Second City, The HOME Comedy Theater, and around the country.

Susan has also taught at Loyola University, DePaul University, The School at Steppenwolf, and is currently facilitating at The University of Chicago.

Her stand up act with her puppet, Jolly, was featured at The HBO/US Comedy Festival in Aspen, Comedy Central’s Premium Blend, and NBC’S Late Fridays.
Her most impressive bit movie role was as a bad stripper in “Let’s Go To Prison!”. Her critically acclaimed show, Messing With A Friend, ran for over ten years at The Annoyance, and she currently tours the US and the globe performing and teaching with the brilliant John Lehr or the delicious Rachael Mason. She has been feted by The Chicago Improv Festival as ‘Improviser of the Year,’ ‘Best Improviser’ by The Chicago Reader, and ‘Funniest Woman in Chicago’ by Chicago Magazine.

We sometimes think of improvising as talking on stage, but talking is where everything can fall apart. The words won’t make us safe and only words leads to surface level play. This workshop will explore ways to make the words less important.

INSTRUCTOR REQUEST:
Although anyone can register, priority will be given to those that have not taken a workshop with TJ before at our theater. If you have taken a workshop with TJ with us before and we end up having to give up your spot, we will notify you and provide a full refund.

TJ has been performing, teaching or directing improvisation in Chicago for 30 years. He is best known as one half of the improvisational duo TJ and Dave. Although no one knows which half.