Course Catalog
Improv Training
Welcome to the Bird City Improv course catalog. Below is a list of all our regularly offered classes and workshops. More information about workshops and residencies can be found in the "Services" menu.
Bird City Improv classes are designed to be a fun, affirming, and inclusive learning experience. We pride ourselves on making improv accessible and engaging for everyone in all experience levels. We practice Anti-Oppression and Liberation by teaching a multicultural history of improvisation, offering diverse learning resources, eschewing stereotyped characters and problematic narratives, honoring student boundaries, advocating personal wellness, practicing compassion, and creating spaces for honest discussion.
If you are interested in bringing a course of study to your theatre, school, or community, please contact or call us.
Fun Workshops | Improv for Beginners
Intro to Improv | Affirmation Station
In this workshop workshop students learn the basics of improv and build their communication skills. Duration: 1.5 hours
Core Curriculum | Improv for Everyone
IMPRO 101: Relationships | Self-Love Improv
In this beginner class, students learn the basics of improv, how to go with the flow, and establish boundaries. Duration: Six Weeks
IMPRO 201: Characters | Embodying Self
In this intermediate class, folks learn how to create unique characters with strong points of view with mindful movement. Duration: Six Weeks
IMPRO 301: Comedy | Unmasking Mischief
In this intermediate class, folks learn how to be funny, navigate conflict, and avoid problematic humor. Duration: Six Weeks
IMPRO 401: Drama | Keeping It Real
In this advanced class, folks learn how to play realistically with honesty, mischief and trauma-informed practices. Duration: Six Weeks
IMPRO 501: Narrative | Myth Making
In this advanced class, folks learn how to create a fully improvised play and hold space for community-focused theatre. Duration: Six Weeks
Arts Activism | Theater for Change
ACT 101: Satirize the System | Comedic Advocacy
This advanced training for experienced improvisers is an introduction to social justice improv. This class uses social satire and humor as a vehicle for liberation and allyship, punching up and attacking systems of oppression, creating theatre that is socially conscious. This class is an introduction to social justice improv. Duration: Six Weeks
ACT 201: Staging Social Satire | Theater for Change
This course is an exploration and application of social justice improv techniques for artists interested in producing their own satirical shows. Special emphasis will be placed on style and form. It is open to improvisers that have successfully completed "101: Satirize the System," previously titled "Social Justice Improv." Duration: Six Weeks
ACT 301: Writing Political Comedy | Co-Creative Power
This course is a simulation of a writers' room dedicated to liberation, justice, and satire. This class uses non-hierarchical collaboration, co-creative rehearsal techniques, and decentered authority to generate written content. It is open to improvisers that have successfully completed "101: Satirize the System." Duration: Six Weeks
Semester Studies | Improv for Scholars
Improvising Change | Practicing Anti-Oppression
Open to all who are interested, this college-level class uses embodied practice, roleplay and research to facilitate dialogue about advocacy, social justice, and allyship. Duration: Twelve Weeks
Improvising Stories | Engaging Community
Open to all who are interested, this college-level class uses storytelling, roleplay, and research to better understand audience engagement that invites conversation and supports communities. Duration: Twelve Weeks
Improvising Dialogues | Social Entrepreneurship
Open to all who are interested, this college-level class uses improv, roleplay, and research that support healthy relationships and explore each individual's ability to communicate. Duration: Twelve Weeks
Therapeutic Play | Improv as Self-Care
Open to all who are interested, this college-level class uses improv, actor techniques, and research that are life affirming, trauma-informed, and help individuals to express their needs. Duration: Twelve Weeks
Humor Studies | Comedy & Culture
Open to all who are interested, this college-level class uses improv, comedy, and anthropological research to better understand ethics, cultural contexts, and why we laugh. Duration: Twelve Weeks
Teacher Training | Guidance for Educators
Arts Activism | Social Justice Improv
In this workshop we deconstruct power dynamics in the creative process and learn ways of engaging non-violent storytelling. Duration: 12-20 hours.
Unmasking Mischief | Comedy & Culture
In this workshop we practice being culturally responsive as we craft comedic moments, inviting others to laugh with us. Duration: 6-12 hours
Theatre of the Heart | Empower Creativity
In this workshop we explore improv as a way to devise theatre and better illuminate the creative process. Duration: 3-12 hours
School Programs | Empower New Artists
Improv Drama Club | Student-Led Theatre
In this workshop students learn how to use improv to create original stories and powerful pieces of theatre. 5-10 Day Residency
The Writers' Room | Co-Creating for Stage & Screen
In this workshop workshop students learn how to support each other in the writing and rehearsal process . 5-10 Day Residency
Decoding the Script | Active Analysis & Story Exploration
In this workshop students learn about dramaturgy through active analysis, improv, and stage direction . 5-10 Day Residency
Corporate Improv | Engaging Social Capital
Improv Happy Hour | Laughing with Co-Workers
In this workshop we build community through games, laughter and storytelling. Duration: 2-3 hours
Applied Improv Techniques | Communication Skills
In this workshop people learn to decrease stress and social anxiety by applying the principles of improv in conversation. Duration: 3-6 hours
Engineering Comedy | Re-Imagining Social Strategy
In this workshop people learn to re-imagine social entrepreneurship and outreach through the power of humor. Duration: 6-12 hour
Justice, Equity, Diversity & Imagination
Improv & Inclusive Collaboration
In this workshop people learn how to apply the principles of improv to diverse, inclusive, and equitable spaces. Duration: 3-6 hours
Comedy that Makes a Difference
In this workshop people learn how to use comedic advocacy to inform and persuade their audience. Duration: 3 days
Improvising Change & Practicing Anti-Oppression
In this residency people gather to sustain ongoing change in their organization that is rooted in love and equality. Duration: 3 Months
Special Topic Classes | Improv for Nerds
Sketch Comedy | Writing the Funny Stuff
In this intermediate class, students learn how to write short comedy scenes like those on Saturday Night Live. Then, students learn how to rehearse and produce their self-generated comedy in a collaborative environment. Duration: Twelve Weeks
Group Scenes | Ensemble Improvisation
In this class, folks learn how to navigate scenes with three or more people. It is open to students that have successfully completed three improv classes or have commensurate experience. Duration: Six Weeks
Song & Sound | Musical Improv
In this class, folks learn how to create musical solos, duets and ensemble numbers, acapella and with the accompaniment of a pianist, support scenes with the voice, and stage an entirely improvised musical. Duration: Six Weeks
The Writers' Room | Creative Writing & Collective Care
In this class, participants of all experience levels learn to engage the power of the written word, through fun, explorative exercises, invitations to share, critical response processes, and nourishing community dialogue. Duration: Ten Weeks
Mindful Movement | Yoga & Improv
In this class, participants learn how to engage the spiritual practice of yoga, the nine viewpoints, and improvisational theatre to co-create as an ensemble and explore the body. Duration: Six Weeks
The Deconstruction | Scenes on a Theme
In this advanced class, students learn multiple approaches for exploring theme through an improv structure called The Deconstruction. It is open to students that have successfully completed four improv classes or have commensurate experience. Duration: Six Weeks
Improvising Tarot | Divination & Co-Creation
In this class students will learn about divination as a branch of critical improvisation studies, where self-understanding is co-created through dialogue, mythology, and sacred symbols. Duration: Eight Weeks
