IMPROV COMEDY WORKSHOPS

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

Directing I Workshop with Norm Holly
Wednesday, Nov. 5th – 7pm to 10pm – $80
(No Class Thanksgiving week)

Directing II Workshop with Norm Holly
Thursday, Dec. 4th – 7pm to 10pm – $80
(4 week class. No Class Dec. 25 or Jan 1st)

“Patterns and Their Influence” with Liz Allen
Monday, November 17th – 7pm to 10pm.  Cost: $55

Patterns give structure to scenes and long-form. Patterns are everywhere – word patterns, thematic patterns, overarching ensemble patterns – but they’re often underutilized. Or ignored. Sometimes it’s easier to see patterns in hindsight. In this workshop, we’ll apply techniques for managing patterns and their influence in the moment.

“Refresh Your Point of View ” with Liz Allen
Monday, December 15th – 7pm to 10pm.  Cost: $55

Sometimes improvisers feel stuck in the same category of choices, despite working with different ensembles or doing different styles of improv. Often, players feel stuck in a role within an ensemble. This workshop focuses on being re-inspired by expanding character choices, refining risk-taking, and speaking from unexpected perspectives.

“Improv for Commercials” with Jimmy Callahan
Tuesday, December, 2nd – 7pm to 10pm.  Cost: $150

Do you want to book that commercial? In this workshop you will learn how to transition what you’ve learned as an improviser into making money as a commercial actor from one of the biggest booking commercial actors in the business.

Jimmy Callahan has filmed over 100 national commercials the past 22 years between Chicago, LA, & NYC, and will help demystify the entire experience of booking commercials. You’ll learn how to identify & embrace your “type”, how to get a callback and book the job, and what to do behind the scenes.
Jimmy will reveal some of the secrets to success, as well as what commonly sabotages actors in the room. You will learn how to improvise within commercial copy and how to deliver what the ad agencies are looking for to book the job!

Whether you are a beginner or a veteran who needs a new perspective to hone your technique, there is something for everyone in this workshop!

Jimmy Callahan has been acting professionally for the past 22 years, filming over 100 national commercials in Chicago, LA, & NYC. TV/Film credits include: Come As You Are, Okie, Blue Bloods, CHI Med/PD/Fire, The Jim Gaffigan Show, & Daredevil. He studied/performed at The Second City, iO, & Comedy Sportz in Chicago, and has toured the Midwest as a stand-up comic. He has performed in several scripted & improvised shows, including: Brain Humor,  Starship Improvise!, and the long-running hit, Flanagan’s Wake. Jimmy has taught at The Second City, Beth Melsky Casting (NYC), The PIT (NYC), The Green Room Studios (CHI), The Actors Training Center, Vagabond School, Elmhurst College (IL), and has privately coached actors in CHI, LA & NYC.

“Sketch Packet Punch-Up” with Katie Rich
Two-Day Online Class
Tuesday, December, 9th and 16th – 7pm to 10pm (CST).  Cost: $200

This online class will be held over Zoom. Link to the class along with materials and an assignment will be sent prior to the 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.