Dive into the heart of improv with the 2026 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.
Our commitment extends beyond the stage; all proceeds directly support our esteemed workshop teachers, covering their honoraria and supporting the ongoing costs of producing the festival.
This opportunity to learn from these great improvisers from around the country 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 supporting the ongoing costs of producing the festival.
This opportunity to learn from these great improvisers from around the country 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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Elana Fishbein
Workshop Title: I Am Your Blank, But That's Not All Workshop Time: Thursday, May 14th | 3:00pm - 5:30pm Every character has the capacity be a protagonist. If we look closely enough, they all have wants, needs, baggage, and fixations.... just like real people! In this workshop we'll use scenes, exercises, and tag-outs to explore and widen the world, bringing depth to each and every character. |
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Elana Fishbein is an improv teacher, performer, and director at the Magnet Theater in NYC where she can be seen with the Armando Diaz Experience. Elana has written and performed for The Truth and Story Pirates podcasts, and is the creator/director of The Schmooze, a living room style improv show featuring a cast of performers ages 69+. Previous projects include: Kiss Punch Poem, Pepita (Best of the Fest, San Diego), and the two-woman play, Sisters Three (NYTimes Critics’ Pick), devised entirely through improv. She has designed curricula and facilitated improv workshops for theaters, corporations, non-profits, and educational institutions around the world. Elana holds a Masters in Educational Theatre from NYU. For more info check out elanafishbein.com.
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Colin Thorton Workshop Title: Improvising Fast and Slow: An Exploration of Drift Workshop Time: Friday, May 15th | 11:00am - 1:30pm Great improvisers know how to shift gears. In this workshop, you’ll explore the concept of drift—moment-to-moment discovery whether you're improvising quick, premise-driven scenes or slower, more patient organic scenes. By learning how to follow the drift, and balance speed with stillness, you’ll expand your range and unlock new possibilities on stage. Torn between the high-energy punch of UCB and the grounded discovery of iO? In this class, you don’t have to choose—you’ll practice both, and learn how to weave them together into a dynamic, flexible improv style. |
Colin Thornton is the Artistic and Education Director of Improv Cincinnati, where he teaches, performs, and coaches. He has been improvising since 1999—starting with the college team he founded, then honing his craft at iO and the Annoyance in Chicago, before building a thriving improv community in Cincinnati. Colin is the author of Overcoming Fear: A Guide for Budding Improvisers, cohost of the Improv Touchstones podcast, and founder of the Improv Leadership Summit. You can find his blog articles at improvleadership.substack.com.
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Navaris Darson
Workshop Title: The Wonder of Why Workshop Time: Friday, May 15th | 2:30pm - 5pm "Why” is an incredibly powerful tool that can elevate your improv skills and performances to a higher level. It makes improv scenes more specific, and it’s often where "the funny” comes from. Join Groundlings Sunday Company alum Navaris Darson for this exciting workshop that hones in on how exploring the WHY grounds emotional choices, fuels relationships, and makes each improv scene unique. Open to all skill levels! |
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Radhika brings over 10 years of teaching improv, and embracing different cultural perspectives to performing Improv.
Please note- This workshop will involve movement, music, and a call to heightened emotions- no dance/music/over-emotionality experience required!
Radhika Rao is a bilingual actor, improv artist, and theater arts/improv/communications coach based in San Francisco, California. Radhika is equally at home in the hyper scripted world of Shakespeare as she is the unscripted world of improv or contemporary theater.She is a cast member in the Improv Duo “Gamesome Frolic” and Bollywood Inspired Troupe- "Kuch Kuch Bollywood" She was also featured in the web series "Hiraeth" and "Strings Attached” available on Prime Video. She performs her solo show “Not Therapy” regularly- a show that brings audience and performers together in healing outside therapy rooms, through stories, games and laughter.
Please note- This workshop will involve movement, music, and a call to heightened emotions- no dance/music/over-emotionality experience required!
Radhika Rao is a bilingual actor, improv artist, and theater arts/improv/communications coach based in San Francisco, California. Radhika is equally at home in the hyper scripted world of Shakespeare as she is the unscripted world of improv or contemporary theater.She is a cast member in the Improv Duo “Gamesome Frolic” and Bollywood Inspired Troupe- "Kuch Kuch Bollywood" She was also featured in the web series "Hiraeth" and "Strings Attached” available on Prime Video. She performs her solo show “Not Therapy” regularly- a show that brings audience and performers together in healing outside therapy rooms, through stories, games and laughter.
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Greg Tavares
Workshop Title: The Join Workshop Time: Saturday, May 17th | 11:00am - 1:30pm This is a workshop about the top of the scene – that first moment when you feel either that great connection with your scene partner or that sinking feeling that you are alone in the universe. Don’t you want more of that great feeling and less of that sinking feeling? I call that great feeling at the top of a scene when you know you are together and everything is going to work out – The Join. It is about supporting, not understanding. It is about belonging to each other, even when you don’t know how. It is about moving before you talk. Every scene starts with a join, so you might as well learn The Join. |
Greg Tavares has spent his life doing improv and even wrote a book called Improv for Everyone designed to help anyone who wanted to learn how to improvise. He has performed 1000’s of improv shows and taught hundreds of workshops. He is the Co-artistic director of Theatre 99 in Charleston, SC and the co-founder of The Charleston Comedy Festival. He has also written a couple books. In the audiobook I Am the Horrible Thing he tells the story of his brush with death on a Costa Rican beach. His book, Daddy Issues: How to Stop worrying and love being a Dad, was written from personal experience and takes a funny and blunt look at becoming a father when you never wanted kids. He has been doing Duolingo French for 3 years, but still can’t order a beer using the language.
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Jaime Moyer
Workshop Title: Ditch the Pitch - How to Avoid Planning & Plot Workshop Time: Saturday, May 17th | 2:30pm - 5:00pm This unique workshop will break down the art of improvisation to its simplest form: uncomplicated agreement. Through a series of exercises Jaime will help bring back the fun and playfulness of agreement and listening, as well heightening and game. In two person all the way to group scenes, things get complicated when plot enters the mix, Jaime will advocate for exploring relationships and character over plot every time. This class is a must for improvisers who want to remember why the basics are the basis of good scene-work, and how to avoid conflict and control. This class will help awaken the spirit of following the follower so together we can build something great! Jaime will side coach and help bring your scene-work to its fullest potential! |
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Jaime is an alum of Second City Detroit, and is an actress, writer, and teacher who resides in Los Angeles. She has taught (and performed) all over the country - some favorite spots include: Washington Improv Theater, Dallas Comedy House, The Arcade Theater, The Blue Brick Theatre, Go! Comedy, Comedy Arena, The Siren, Planet Ant and The Sketch School. Abroad she has taught at Angel Comedy in the UK, ICC Theater in Denmark, and Improv Utopia Ireland. As a television actress Jaime has had recurring roles on AP Bio, Modern Family, The Big Show Show, Night Court, and Disney's hit show KC Undercover. Some of her other credits include appearances on Parks and Recreation, 2 Broke Girls, Detroiters, Future Man and more. She has voiced characters on the hit animation shows Bob's Burgers and The Great North. Jaime appears in one episode of the new show Mid-Century Modern, on Hulu! Find out more about her on her website: www.JaimeMoyer.com