Monday, December 14, 2015

November 14 Showaces

Saturday, October 31, 2015

Starting a Comedy Club at your School

Starting a Comedy Club at your School
Simple guide for Students, Parents and Teachers
By Walt Frasier, Improv Theatre, LLC

Does your school have an Improv Comedy Club? You should. We are using Improv Comedy all over the Tristate area to help bring arts back into school while teaching valuable cultural arts, language arts and character building skills. Students have so much fun as they study creativity (writing and thinking, storytelling), community (team, listening, respect) and leadership skills (public speaking, focus, self-respect, self-confidence). These skills create better students and prepare students for life. However, we like to focus on the tons of fun we have at every class, rehearsal and performance.

However you do not always need expensive teaching artists to create a great program at your school. You certainly do not need expensive props, sets, costumes or rights to perform found with most productions of plays and musicals. Your overhead (starting and operating costs) could be zero if you plan accordingly. FREE programs are always easier to sell to administration, right? Take advantage of this while you still can. Once you leave school rehearsal and performance space gets expensive. Use the resources your school and community provides.  

Here are a few tips to help you get a program started.

1)      GETTING STARTED. Share you interest in starting a program with some friends. Talk to parents, teachers and principal about your ideas. All you need to start a club is three or more students that are ready to play.
2)      SPACE. You will need to determine a place to meet. Talk to teachers and school officials. Find out who is in charge of the building use calendar. In one school we were slated to do a program. Everything was approved and we were already payed, but when we showed up the room was double booked. It all worked out but you can save your selves a lot of headaches by double checking all schedules work for everyone. If you cannot get schools to let you have space, you can always start in one’s home. A living room or den is more than enough space to play most games. Rehearsing outside is awesome when whether permits.
3)      TIME. You will need a schedule. Saying “lets meet sometime” never works. Get a weekly schedule. When possible meet more than once per week.
4)      ADULT SUPERVISION. You may or may not actually need a teacher to start the program artistically, but you will definitely need a parent or teacher to serve as chaperon. That is the reality of school space regulation, insurance etc. In one school a teacher volunteered their free period as they could still eat lunch and grade papers. Another school, the dean of students spear-headed the program, realizing its potential and the student need for such a program.  
5)      REHEARSALS. Organize your rehearsals into three sections - Warm-up, Technique and Performance. Start every rehearsal with a couple energy and team building exercises. ZIP ZAP ZUP is always my go to in classes and rehearsals. Then move to a technique game to build your team’s skill sets. Then play. Work on new games and review your favorites.
6)      PERFORMANCE. Always schedule a performance. The performance on the calendar at the beginning of your rehearsal process will help motivate and focus you and your team. The performance is the short term end goal. And the performance will be the gauge of your current progress. Plan on presenting a 45-minute show. That is about seven to nine games. Like rehearsals double check space and time needs. Try to rehearse in the space at least once. Consider sound and lighting needs.
7)      RECORD YOUR PROGRESS. These days every phone and laptop can serve a video camera. Record you rehearsals and show. Before recording others you will need release forms (permission slips form parents allowing recording and stating how you intend to use the footage). Comics record their work to self-critique their progress. Also keep a journal. Artists need a place to process all the information. This allows us to keep objective as we track our progress.
8)      ONLINE RESOURCES. As young comics you may have a limited knowledge of games and technique. While teaching artists can be a huge resource, there are tons of free resources online. YOUTUBE and other sites have videos of Professional Artists and amateur teams playing games. My company and others have blogs full of “How-to-play” postings.
9)      WATCH THE PROs PLAY. Many of us professional artists first started playing games after watching “WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY?”. We would get together with friends and just mimic what we saw on TV. Over time we would create our own games, or alternate versions of popular games. These days you can find dozens of professional Improv teams playing every night in New York. Most local towns have some sort of local comedy night. Not all are geared towards a younger audience but many are perfectly great for a teen audience. Every Saturday at 3pm we present Improv 4 Kids at the Broadway Comedy Club in Times Square, New York City. Families from all over the world stop by our interactive musical comedy based on audience participation and suggestions. Teens often attend our weekly Saturday 8pm shows. We also host daily field trips and tour schools nationwide introducing the art form. Go to as many live shows and watch TV and Film with an artist’s eye. Watch the HOW and WHY of a performance. I always say repeat successes and learn from your mistakes. You can save a lot of time learning from other’s mistakes too.
10)   SUPPLEMENT PROGRAM with Teaching Artists. You can do a lot of the work yourself but at some point you will want one of our teaching artists, or any number of our colleagues, to help guide you to the next level. We often present a show and workshop to introduce the program and help you get started. We can return to teach you some new games. We often help teams tighten up their skills before performance or a competition like Destination Imagination. If budget is tight sometimes a grant or donation from the community (individual or business) can allow you to expand your program beyond what school funds and tickets sales will cover. There are resources available to you now that will not be there as an adult. Maximize your potential and research all your options.

Go for it. Never be afraid to fail. Never take no for an answer in pursuit of your dream. “Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett said. I like to say MAKE BIG MISTAKES. The bigger the mistake the better you learn from it. And when you take some risks the rewards are big. The sooner you start this journey, the sooner you get better. Not everyone will become a professional artist. Very few do. But the fun you will have and the skills you learn on this journey will change your life. ALWAYS BE CREATING!


Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Monday, August 31, 2015

LMAO NYC FALL Classes Start September 12 at the Broadway Comedy Club NYC



LMAO NYC FALL Classes Start September 12 at the Broadway Comedy Club NYC


CLICK HERE for calendar of classes. Select Date / Time for discounted registration
questions about classes? Email eightimprov@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, all classes held at the Broadway Comedy Club 318 West 53rd Street NY NY 10019. Close to all Columbus Circle and  Times Square trains and buses.

LIST of FALL OFFERINGS for ADULTS

MORNING IMPROV JAM – Adults 18 & over
Saturdays 10am October 3 – November 21
Come out and play. Moderated by Patrick Reidy, Walt Frasier and/or other professional teaching artists from the ranks of LMAO. Every week we play warm-up, technique building and performance games. Last 30-minutes of every class is players’ choice. Class is poled for their favorite game and we play it! Free Coffee, Bottled Water and other Breakfast snacks provided upon arrival. Regular participants invited to monthly performance showcases on the stages of the Broadway Comedy Club NYC.
Drop in for $30 or pay $100/month.
Teacher – Varies every week
CLICK HERE for calendar and discount registration
NEW TEAM FORMATION SESSIONS
Sundays NOON October 4, 11, 18, 25
4-week program is designed to bring individual players together to create new teams. Looking for a new team? Looking for new teams to play to expand your reach? These sessions are designed for an intermediate level performer looking for direction. Patrick Reidy has directed many NYC teams and currently serves as Artistic/Casting Director for LMAO and numerous long-form showcases at the Broadway Comedy Club. Fee includes team-up, team direction, rehearsal space and guaranteed stage time on one or many status. After session completion, teams can continue to participate at showcases and negotiate additional direction as needed.
$100 for 4-week session
CLICK HERE for calendar and discount registration
MUSICAL IMPROV 1
Sundays 2pm October 4, 11, 18, 25
Every week, Walt Frasier will introduce and jam to various Musical Improv song styles – Jig, Blues, Rap, March, Doo-Wop, Madrigal, Opera, Broadway Musical, and more. Every session will begin with a simple vocal warm-up. To continue warm-up class will improvise a popular musical style or review of a style from previous week. We will have 1-2 new forms introduced every week – complete with info sheets on chord structures, rhyme scheme and tricks to master that song style. Class will end with jam of students’ choice. Those that attend all four classes will be invited to showcase November 1.
$100 for 4-week session
Teacher Walt Frasier
CLICK HERE for calendar and discount registration

LIST of FALL OFFERINGS for TEENS

AFTER SCHOOL TEEN IMPROV FUNTENSIVE
THURSDAYS 4pm October 1, 8, 15, 22
4 weeks of professional level Improv Comedy training for teens. The goal is to prepare this group of talented teens for a live performance in four weeks. Warm-up, technique and performance games played and mastered every week. No experience necessary but instruction is geared towards an advanced beginner / intermediate level.
$100 for 4-week session
Teacher Walt Frasier
CLICK HERE for calendar and discount registration
COMEDY 4 TEENS 13-17
Saturday Mornings 10am September 12 – October 31
Bonus Class Nov 7 10am ; Performance Showcase Nov 14 10:30
8 weeks includes instruction in Improv & Stand-Up Comedy. Every week students will play Warm-up, technique and performance games. Last 30-45 minutes of each class is a pseudo open mic session. Students start by sharing a story with the class, then through direction, improv and re-write craft that story into original stand-up comedy monologue material.  Some students turn the stories into sketches. NEW this fall, we will be inviting our more experienced student to create sketches to be filmed and shared via YOUTUBE (must get parent approval for each student)
$200 for 8 week program
Teacher Patrick Reidy
CLICK HERE for calendar and discount registration

LIST of FALL OFFERINGS for KIDS / TWEENS

COMEDY 4 TWEENS (Comedy 4 Kids II) AGES 10-12
Saturday Mornings 10am September 12 – October 31
Bonus Class Nov 7 10am ; Performance Showcase Nov 14 10:30
8 weeks includes instruction in Improv & Stand-Up Comedy. Every week students will play Warm-up, technique and performance games. Last 30-45 minutes of each class is a pseudo open mic session. Students start by sharing a story with the class, then through direction, improv and re-write craft that story into original stand-up comedy monologue material.
$200 for 8 week program
Teacher Andrew Del Vecchio
CLICK HERE for calendar and discount registration
COMEDY 4 KIDS Ages 7-10
Saturday Mornings NOON September 12 – October 31
Bonus Class Nov 7 NOON ; Performance Showcase Nov 14 12:30
8 weeks includes instruction in Improv & Stand-Up Comedy. Every week students will play Warm-up, technique and performance games. Last 30-45 minutes of each class is a pseudo open mic session. Students start by sharing a story with the class, then through direction, improv and re-write craft that story into original stand-up comedy monologue material.
$200 for 8 week program
Teacher Liz Lord
CLICK HERE for calendar and discount registration

TEACHERS & STAFF

waltfrasierbizcard
Catch Walt Frasier this Summer on TruTV’s “Friends Of The People” now in their 2nd season. Go to Netflix – RIGHT NOW!!! – to see Walter in Lilyhammer (Season 3, Episode8) as the American comic performing at Steven Van Zandt’s Norwegian club. Also now on Netflix – Blue Bloods (Season 3, Episode 8) see Walter in spandex body suit in first 5 minutes as Arnie the Homeless Avenger. Royal Pains (Season 6 Episode 3) as the Choking Victim. Past credits include sketch bits on Letterman (9 episodes Various sketch bits), Stankervision (MTV2 Sketch Comedy), Naked Brother’s Band (NICK and short THE JOKE with George Lopez), Hair Trauma (WE) and numerous commercials including Dr. Oz’s Fat Pants. Theater Credits include Off Broadway, Touring and Regional Theater, Opera plus over 4000 professional Improv Comedy Shows with EIGHT IS NEVER ENOUGH (AKA LMAO Off Broadway. Improv 4 Kids, Improv 4 Teens, Absent Minded Comedy).
 
Artistic Director, PATRICK REIDY is an actor, comedian, musician, and improviser in NYC.  He can currently be seen as a host and improv comedian at the Broadway Comedy Club for the Eight Is Never Enough and LMAO-NYCInteractive Comedy Shows as well as touring with their family friendly cousin, Improv 4 Kids.  He is also an established improv teacher, having taught for the Comedy Hall Of Fame and independent residences throughout the five boroughs.  As a sketch writer and performer his work has been featured onFunny Or DieCollege Humor, and the Absent Minded Comedy Show.  He is a graduate of Salem State University and has studied improv, sketch-writing, stand-up, and screenwriting at the Upright Citizens BrigadeThe Peoples Improv Theatre,andThe Annoyance Theater.  Yes, and he would love to help you with your next artistic project!
Follow Pat on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/thepatreidy

DelVechhio_Andrew_1548_xret

Andrew Del Vecchio is a New York based actor, improv performer, and improv teacher. After graduating Celebration High School and being part of it’s inaugural season of the Off Book Productions theatre group he received a degree in Theatre Performance from the University of South Florida. He has been performing with Eight is Never Enough since the spring of 2011 and has also been teaching with the Comedy Hall of Fame Foundation for over 2 years. Notable projects: Critters Castaway (Busch Gardens Tampa), FILM: The Last 5 Years, Lie Maintenance, Rhapsody, The Amazing Spider-man 2 TV: Deception ONLINE: Fine Fiiine Production. You can follow him on his Facebook fan page or on Twitter, Instagram, and Vine at @AndrewJDV
Liz Lord has been a cast member of Eight is Never Enough presents Improv for Kids and LMAO since April of 2012. After receiving her theater degree from Earlham College, Liz came to the city to act, direct, and teach.  Favorite roles include Ophelia in Hamlet, Liz in Chicago, and She in The Loveliest Afternoon of the Year. She loves performing in new work as well, and has been on stage for many of New York Cities various theater festivals.  Liz has directed adults and children, and is the co-artistic director of the newly formed Three Bridges Theater.  Teaching has always been one of Liz's favorite endeavors. She has worked with Americorps to bring arts education to low income families, taught literacy through acting with the Central Park Historical Society, and acted as an assistant director for the Sports and Arts in Schools Foundation.  Her favorite teaching position, however, has been teaching stand-up and Improv to kids with SGF Productions. 

STUDENT INTERNS

Steven Prestia

Steven Prestia is currently with Lauren Singer Talent.  He has appeared in various local plays and musical theater productions in addition to his comedic talents.   He can be seen in the indie film “The Great Kevini” and will soon appear on the HonestlyAmelia.com web series (S2 E4).  He is currently an Intern/Assistant Teacher with Improv 4 Kids on Saturday mornings and can be found performing at the Broadway Comedy Club with the Eight is Never Enough comedy troupe on select Saturday afternoons.
Brandon Ford has been a student of EIGHT IS NEVER ENOUGH / LMAO since high school, where Brandon was a leader in the in-school weekly classes at Springfield Gardens, Queens, NY. Upon graduation high school, Brandon joined the team at schools and the Times Square club, performing along side the pros in K-12 out-reach shows and assistant classes and workshops.

Friday, April 24, 2015

WEDNESDAY TEEN AFTER SCHOOL COMEDY CLASS at #Broadway #Comedy #Club #NYC #2015

FOUR Wednesdays in MAY 4-6pm TEENS 13-17 yo $30 ONE CLASS / $100 4 weeks NOW ONLINE FOR JUST $75 via https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe.c/10000763/prm/NYIT Broadway Comedy Club NYC 318 West 53rd Street New York, NY 10019 BTWN 8th/9th Ave Near times Square and Columbus Circle cf573-improv4teensbannerweb COURSE DESCRIPTION This 4-week Funtensive Class will give teen students valuable skills in Creativity (writing & thinking), Community (Team, Listening, Focus) and Leadership (Public Speaking). A great way to get the arts back into student's lives, these classes fill the void left by many NYC schools. More than a cultural arts experience, the Improv training is invaluable Language Arts and Character Building. We use this fun activity to overcome insecurities, develop intense focus and create great speakers. Our students become students leaders at their schools.

TEACHER Walt Frasier (TV, Off Bway, 4000+ pro improv shows) has taught this Master Class in numerous NYC high schools,as well as training other teachers and providing his Improv 4 Teens book - IMPROV THIS - for FREE online as a resource for students and teachers. Previously Mr Frasier served as Director of Instruction for the Comedy Hall of Fame and recently gave Keynote at the New Jersey Association for the Gifted Child.waltfrasierbizcard

Catch Walt Frasier this Spring on TruTV’s “Friends Of The People” now in their 2nd season. Go to Netflix – RIGHT NOW!!! – to see Walter in Lilyhammer (Season 3, Episode 8) as the American comic performing at Steven Van Zandt’s Norwegian club. Also now on Netflix – Blue Bloods (Season 3, Episode 8) see Walter in spandex body suit in first 5 minutes as Arnie the Homeless Avenger. Royal Pains (Season 6 Episode 3) as the Choking Victim. Past credits include sketch bits on Letterman (9 episodes), Stakervision (MTV2), Naked Brother’s Band (NICK), Hair Trauma (WE) and numerous commercials including Dr. Oz’s Fat Pants. Theater Credits include Off Broadway, Touring and Regional Theater plus over 4000 professional Improv Comedy Shows with EIGHT IS NEVER ENOUGH (AKA LMAO Off Broadway. Improv 4 Kids, Improv 4 Teens, Absent Minded Comedy). 

GET COMEDY IN YOUR LIVES EVERY DAY BY BECOMING A COMEDIAN

William Fry, M.D., of Stanford University “Humor and creativity work in similar ways. by creating relationships between two disconnected items, you engage the whole brain.” Ken Robinson – Author of “Creative Schools” said: “the whole system of public education around the world is a protracted process of university entrance. And the consequence is that many highly talented, brilliant, creative people think they’re not, because the thing they were good at school wasn’t valued, or was actually stigmatized.”

FOOD STAMP DIET: THE MOVIE

Sunday, April 12, 2015

TEEN IMPROV FUNTENSIVE Wednesday Afterschool at #Broadway #Comedy #Club #NYC

FOUR Wednesdays in MAY 4-6pm
TEENS 13-17 yo
$30 ONE CLASS / $100 4 weeks
 NOW ONLINE FOR JUST $75 via https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe.c/10000763/prm/NYIT

Broadway Comedy Club NYC
318 West 53rd Street
New York, NY 10019
BTWN 8th/9th Ave
Near Times Square and Columbus Circle
  cf573-improv4teensbannerwebCOURSE DESCRIPTION This 4-week Funtensive Class will give teen students valuable skills in Creativity (writing & thinking), Community (Team, Listening, Focus) and Leadership (Public Speaking). A great way to get the arts back into student's lives, these classes fill the void left by many NYC schools. More than a cultural arts experience, the Improv training is invaluable Language Arts and Character Building. We use this fun activity to overcome insecurities, develop intense focus and create great speakers. Our students become students leaders at their schools. TEACHER waltfrasierbizcard

Walt Frasier (TV, Off Bway, 4000+ pro improv shows) has taught this Master Class in numerous NYC high schools,as well as training other teachers and providing his Improv 4 Teens book - IMPROV THIS - for FREE online as a resource for students and teachers. Previously Mr Frasier served as Director of Instruction for the Comedy Hall of Fame and recently gave Keynote at the New Jersey Association for the Gifted Child.

GET COMEDY IN YOUR LIVES EVERY DAY BY BECOMING A COMEDIAN

William Fry, M.D., of Stanford University “Humor and creativity work in similar ways. by creating relationships between two disconnected items, you engage the whole brain.” Ken Robinson – Author of “Creative Schools” said: “the whole system of public education around the world is a protracted process of university entrance. And the consequence is that many highly talented, brilliant, creative people think they’re not, because the thing they were good at school wasn’t valued, or was actually stigmatized.”

Monday, January 5, 2015

THE HOLIDAYS ARE OVER!