The Improv Resource Center offers classes and workshops in Chicago. We also travel around the country and around the world teaching at festivals and theaters everywhere.
Core Improv Program Starting in January 2017
Want to learn how to do the Game of the Scene? Check out this 24 week improv program beginning in January.
Personalized Improv Training
Get personalized improv training by the hour either in person in Chicago or via Skype wherever you are in the world. Work through a customized plan to meet your specific level and goals or arrange to take the Improv 101 or Improv 201 with a small group of your choosing. Find out more about personal improv training.
Touring Workshops Available
Workshops are available on the following topics.
- Improvising from the Gut – observe your scene partner and use their behavior and emotions to provoke yourself and inform the scene.
- Surprise Yourself / Unleash Your Improv – When you improvise, do you surprise yourself? In this workshop, we will explore adding a little chaos into your scenes on purpose. Change the subject, state your opinion emphatically before you know what it is, make up a long story in the middle of a scene, over react to mundane things, exit or enter a scene without a reason. If these things sound like a bad idea, this workshop is for you. Real life situations are messy and unpredictable, so maybe, just maybe, your scenes should be as well.
- Improv Bootcamp – intensive training which focused on specific skills
- The Game of the Scene – discover what’s funny about your scene and follow the logic to establish, explore and heighten your game
- Emotional Yoyo – Build a game with your partner through impulsive emotional choices which leads to unique points of view
- Behavior First Improv – establish the mood and feeling of a scene first and then create circumstances which make your behavior a game
- Scene Blast – maximum reps with multiple coaches
Want to learn a specific form? We offer workshops and coaching for the following improv forms:
- The Harold
- The Monolog Deconstruction
- La Ronde
- Monoscenes (and one act plays)
Our Instructors
Currently all of our classes are taught by Kevin Mullaney, founder of the Improv Resource Center. Kevin has 20 years experience teaching improv for iO Chicago, the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York and Under The Gun Theater in Chicago. He has served as the Artistic Director for the Chicago Improv Festival, the UCB Theater in New York, and The Del Close Marathon. He is also the host of the Improv Resource Center Podcast.