Improv Training
Welcome to the Bird City Improv course catalog. Below is a list of all our regularly offered online classes and workshops. To view our current offerings check out our Current Offerings page.  

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 business, school, or community, please contact or call us.

Drop-In Workshops | Improv for Beginners

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Intro to Improv | Free Workshop

In this workshop workshop students learn the basics of improv and build their communication skills. Duration: 1.5 hours

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Core Curriculum | Improv for Everyone

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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

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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

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IMPRO 301: Comedy | Unmasking Mischief

In this intermediate class, folks learn how to be funny, navigate conflict, and avoid problematic humor. Duration: Six Weeks

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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

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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

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Arts Activism | Theater for Change

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Special Topic Classes | Improv for Nerds

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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