Dive into the heart of improv with the 2024 XL Happy Valley Improv Festival. This year, we're thrilled to offer a lineup of uniquely crafted workshops, each designed to enhance your improvisational skills, whether you're just stepping into the spotlight or already basking in its glow. With a cap of 16 participants per session, we ensure an intimate learning experience for $50 per workshop—except for our youth workshop, priced at $40.
Our commitment extends beyond the stage; all proceeds directly support our esteemed workshop teachers, covering their honoraria and travel accommodations.
This exceptional opportunity to learn from improv luminaries has been made possible through the generous support of a Tourism Grant from the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau and the County Commissioners, highlighting Happy Valley's vibrant cultural scene. Discover more about what makes Happy Valley a hub for adventure and creativity at www.happyvalley.com.
Mark your calendars: tickets are available March 1st for performers and March 15th for the general public. Don't miss your chance to be part of this extraordinary improv journey!
Our commitment extends beyond the stage; all proceeds directly support our esteemed workshop teachers, covering their honoraria and travel accommodations.
This exceptional opportunity to learn from improv luminaries has been made possible through the generous support of a Tourism Grant from the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau and the County Commissioners, highlighting Happy Valley's vibrant cultural scene. Discover more about what makes Happy Valley a hub for adventure and creativity at www.happyvalley.com.
Mark your calendars: tickets are available March 1st for performers and March 15th for the general public. Don't miss your chance to be part of this extraordinary improv journey!
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Brandon Hensgens
Workshop Title: Sound of Silence Workshop Time: Thursday, 3:00pm - 5:30pm Weaponize silence in your scenes to build tension and establish relationships without using words. It is all about using silence and being hyper aware in your scenes to help move it forward. If you ever feel stuck in a scene, find yourself with nothing to say, or you tend to ramble, then this is for you. This workshop is good for beginner and experienced improvisors. |
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Originally from San Diego, Brandon Hensgens is a performer, and coach now based in NYC. Since starting his improv journey in 2011, he has trained at iO West, Pack Theater, North Coast, Magnet Theater, and Finest City Improv. He has performed at various festivals and theaters around the country. Additionally, he has produced and hosted sold out shows all around San Diego, like Hamiltunes, Dungeons & Dementors, and the Roar Takeover. He currently performs at festivals and theaters around the country with his two person show, Jackie: The Improvised Martial Arts Movie.
Outside of improv, he is a graphic designer for Improv Utopia and a dumpling maker for eating.
Outside of improv, he is a graphic designer for Improv Utopia and a dumpling maker for eating.
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Chris George Workshop Title: Improv Taxonomy Workshop Time: Friday, 11:00am - 1:30pm Since antiquity, we've used our voices and instruments to make music, and as we've evolved, so has what is music, to the point where it is necessary to differentiate between sub-genres like "industrial early vaporwave" and "post-third wave newtone ska". In music we have technical conventions like time signatures, chords, and tempo, but often we resolve genre further with lyrics, style, and clothing. Improv has, short form v longform aside, managed to mostly avoid such genre, though inside baseballers know the difference between a "TJ & Dave-like slowplay" and a "Dummy-like character romp". Inside improv already exists a set of motifs, conventions, cliches, common language, and tradition that defines every show we do without even knowing it. In this workshop, we're going to take a long look in the mirror and then step through the looking glass into some improv-genre exploration. We'll look at some common artistic customs in our artform that transcend form, game, or suggestion. Using group dialogue, we'll map out three distinct "styles" of improv, outline the box the style contains, see what we can stuff inside, and if we can blow up the box. Improvise with purpose and intention - play the music loud and proud. This is a great workshop for intermediate to advanced players looking to stretch their creative muscles, try playing a different way than they do already, or just experiment with some new modes and methods. |
Chris George (he/him) is an actor, improviser, and chemist from Chicago, IL and an apprentice of Bill Arnett.
He is a graduate of the iO, Annoyance, CSz Advanced, and Chicago Improv Studio (CIS) training centers, and is a founder of the National Comedy Theater’s (NCT) Sunday Company, co-founder and former Assistant Artistic Director of Finest City Improv (FCI) (San Diego, CA), and co-founder and former festival chair of the San Diego Improv Festival.
He is a former faculty member of FCI and Sidestage Improv (now Mockingbird Improv) and has been a guest instructor at NCT, the Dallas Comedy Festival, Spectacles Improv Engine (Orange County, CA), Endurance Improv Festival (Madison, WI), Jacobs International Teen Leadership Institute (JITLI), Naval Justice School, University of Texas Dallas’ Advanced Improvisation Program, Longshot Theater Company (Biloxi, MS), Countdown Improv Festival, Kansas City Improv Festival, Palm Beach Improv Festival, San Francisco Improv Festival, CIS, Ottawa Improv (Canada), Highwire Improv (Baltimore), Omaha Improv Festival, Cornerstone Improv (San Diego), and Bridge Improv Theater (Tempe, AZ).
Past stage roles include Bottom (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Antipholus of Ephesus (Comedy of Errors), Birowne (Love’s Labour’s Lost), and Banquo (Macbeth), and Tim in the webseries Coffee Shop Squatters. He is a playwright of the mashup A Weekend at Macbeth's and the farce Fakespeare.
He is currently the director of Keystone Improv, iO theater's Deconstruction ensemble.
He is a graduate of the iO, Annoyance, CSz Advanced, and Chicago Improv Studio (CIS) training centers, and is a founder of the National Comedy Theater’s (NCT) Sunday Company, co-founder and former Assistant Artistic Director of Finest City Improv (FCI) (San Diego, CA), and co-founder and former festival chair of the San Diego Improv Festival.
He is a former faculty member of FCI and Sidestage Improv (now Mockingbird Improv) and has been a guest instructor at NCT, the Dallas Comedy Festival, Spectacles Improv Engine (Orange County, CA), Endurance Improv Festival (Madison, WI), Jacobs International Teen Leadership Institute (JITLI), Naval Justice School, University of Texas Dallas’ Advanced Improvisation Program, Longshot Theater Company (Biloxi, MS), Countdown Improv Festival, Kansas City Improv Festival, Palm Beach Improv Festival, San Francisco Improv Festival, CIS, Ottawa Improv (Canada), Highwire Improv (Baltimore), Omaha Improv Festival, Cornerstone Improv (San Diego), and Bridge Improv Theater (Tempe, AZ).
Past stage roles include Bottom (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Antipholus of Ephesus (Comedy of Errors), Birowne (Love’s Labour’s Lost), and Banquo (Macbeth), and Tim in the webseries Coffee Shop Squatters. He is a playwright of the mashup A Weekend at Macbeth's and the farce Fakespeare.
He is currently the director of Keystone Improv, iO theater's Deconstruction ensemble.
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Josh Nicols - SOLD OUT
Workshop Title: Tools For The Top Workshop Time: Friday, 2:30pm - 5pm This class is focused on helping you start scenes with active & playable choices. It will offer a variety of techniques that will be both challenging and fun for performers of any skill level or style. These tools are designed to get maximum return on minimal thinking. They will often get performers into characters and scenes they've never been before which helps to transcend student's patterns and plateaus. The variety of tactics also creates insightful opportunities to diagnose areas of growth for students both from personal discovery and individual feedback. These tools are simple enough that they can be utilized immediately and made into helpful habits quickly. Students will work muscles in character creation, relationship, listening, yes anding, physicality, emotion, point of view, and being in response. |
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Josh is the Education Director and co-owner of RISE Comedy. He has been a professional improv teacher, producer and performer for 30 years. He has studied under instructors from iO West & Chicago, The Annoyance Theater, Groundlings, UCB, and Second City. He has performed and taught at comedy theaters and festivals all around the country and abroad. From short form, long form to award winning improvised full length plays Josh has performed, coached, directed and produced 1000s of shows and still loves it.
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Ify Nwadiwe - SOLD OUT
Workshop Title: The Game of the Scene Workshop Time: Saturday, 11:00am - 1:30pm What's the game of the scene!? This workshop is all about learning and working through UCB's Game Theory, which is finding the first unusual thing in a scene, exploring it, and heightening it. We're going to work towards feeling comfortable identifying the game of a scene and playing it out with our scene partners. Ify Nwadiwe has been performing improv for almost two decades, most notably at the Upright Citizens Brigade with The Big Team (fka White Women) and on many comedy podcast favorites like Comedy Bang Bang, Improv4Humans, and Spontaneanation! |
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Justin Peters & Kelly Buttermore - SOLD OUT
Workshop Title: Improv Without Ideas Workshop Time: Saturday, 2:30pm - 5:00pm 9 out of 10 improvisers think too much on stage. We'd argue that the best scenes are often those in which we hardly think at all. In this positive, high-energy workshop, we'll show you how to put your brain away, exist in the moment you're creating, stop worrying about "taking care of the scene," and embrace the virtues of going from A to A. Kelly Buttermore and Justin Peters are two of America’s top independent improvisers. Veterans of the New York improv scene, for the past decade they have spent most of their time on tour, performing and teaching as their duo From Justin to Kelly at theaters and festivals across the country and around the world. Their signature form is the Walter, a minimalistic monoscene that emphasizes silence, eye contact, and total commitment to the moment. Off stage, they promote a DIY ethos that encourages improvisers to find their own voices and own their own work. Based in New York City, they also spend a lot of time in Florida, where they produce the annual Countdown Improv Festival and are partners in The Commodore, a new comedy theater in Tampa. They probably have shirts for sale in the lobby. |
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Youth Improv Workshop
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Tanya Morgan
Workshop Title: ON THE SPOT! Creating Compelling Characters Workshop Time: Saturday, 9:00am - 10:30am Want to master skills that help you create compelling characters on the spot?! Of course you do! In this workshop students in grades 7th-12th will learn the art of developing characters with depth and richness just by using their Voice, Body, and, most importantly, their Imaginations. Come explore your creative potential in this character workshop that is sure to be both fun and challenging. |
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Latanya (Tanya) Morgan is Southern New Jersey based actor, writer, director, teaching artist, improv performer, acting/improv coach, applied improv corporate trainer and theatre owner/operator. She began her career acting on stage, in films and commercials more than 20 years ago. She spent time as a writer and performer on one of the most popular Philly sketch teams, The Rhubarbs. Tanya performs improv comedy monthly with indie improv teams: Daddy Issues, The NCrowd, NYTEShift, No Diggity and Not Yet Rated. Tanya also continues to act in stage plays and in commercials whenever she can.
Follow Tanya and Sawubona Creativity Project
https://www.instagram.com/sawubonacreativity/
https://sawubonacreativityproject.org/
https://www.instagram.com/ts_morgan/
Follow Tanya and Sawubona Creativity Project
https://www.instagram.com/sawubonacreativity/
https://sawubonacreativityproject.org/
https://www.instagram.com/ts_morgan/