VIRTUAL IMPROV COURSE
THE SLOW TRAIN TO WEIRDVILLE
This 4-week course will help you understand the mechanics of comedy through the construct of game. To do this, we will focus on creating patterns to develop comedic premises that we can explore through initiations, play, and edits.
APPROACH
Improv and comedy are interconnected. Like yin and yang. Nature and nurture. Laughter and the rule of 3s. Whether we like it or not, audiences across the world associate improv with comedy. That is because when we improvise, we are creating. And creativity is the natural byproduct of play. Whether it is an improvised play, short form games, the Harold, or Free Form, the root of everything is play.
This isn’t to say that we can’t do improv that is dramatic, or that you need to feel comfortable calling yourself a comedian. Despite how our audience feels, comedy has become, for many improvisers, an afterthought of their performance. Some improvisers even react negatively when they are confronted about the comedy they create, as though being funny is some kind of an affront to the art that they just created out of thin air.
The comedy we create serves a purpose, even in our drama; we need the comedy to contrast the tension. We need the tension to contrast the joy. And we need the joy to bring an audience to the shows. So rather than avoiding it, let’s learn how to create it, figure out how to use it, and understand when to leave it out.
Because there’s nothing worse than a show that is trying too hard to be funny – except a show that is trying too hard not to be.
COURSE DETAILS
- Thursdays in February
- 18:00-20:30 (GMT +2)
- 110€ (Includes 12-Page Workshop Supplement)
- Course Held on Zoom
Learning goals
- Develop a Comedic Approach to Improvisation
- Understand and Recognize Patterns
- Initiating Scenes w/ Premise
- Framing Premise Internally & Externally
Let’s PLAY!
Sign up for the course below!
I’ll send you a confirmation email and invoice for the course once your registration has been received.
praise for the workshop
I really enjoyed the exercises about finding a pattern (word association within a theme) and expanding it (heightening and “finding a funnel”). Also, when we actually got on stage and doing scenes, I liked the fact that Trent side coached a lot and let us practice spotting the game in a slow pace. I felt like I was allowed to gradually and slowly build the foundation for finding the funny instead of having to spot it immediately (which is very hard and pressuresome [okay, did I just create a new English word…]).
– Friendly Improviser, Barcelona
The workshop with Trent Pancy was among the best workshops I ever took. Trent manages to merge the best of both worlds: Chicago style, game-based improv and European relationship-and-character focused scenes. He makes you learn new stuff while at the same time polishing the skills you already have. He is an extremely fast thinker, has a sharp eye, gives valuable individual feedback – and it’s simply tons of fun working with him. I loved every second of the workshop!!!
– Claudia, Germany
Trent’s enthusiasm for all things improv is infectious. He has the unique gift of keeping his workshop super fun while immersing you in a dizzying amount of theory and improv insights. It was awesome! Thank you Trent for giving me so much more freedom and confidence to work with on stage!
– Elizabeth, Germany
This workshop has lots of little games and exercises that Trent developed himself, so even though I’ve been doing improv and taking workshops for almost ten years now, it felt very fresh and exciting.
– Amir, Israel
Trent turned a group of ten complete strangers in only a day and a half into an improv machine. He taught us ‘pattern’ and ‘game’, essential tools for freeform improv. It felt wonderful to get in the same improv mindset with so many people in such a short period of time. Also relevant: Trent is a very funny and kind teacher.
– Joost, The Netherlands