About our Workshops
Arcade Comedy Theater offers workshops for beginner and advanced improvisers on a variety of subjects, inspiring performers to continue their education and approach the art of improv from different directions. Workshops have been taught by nationally-known improvisers and instructors, including Kevin McDonald, Laura Hall, Rick Hall, Jimmy Carrane, Paul Grondy, Maribeth Monroe, Jaime Moyer, Rob Belushi, Tim Stoltenberg, Susan Messing, Rachel Mason and more.
Upcoming workshops
Connect with Comedy IRL
Create connection while having fun at Arcade Comedy Theater! Teens and their adults will develop their improv skills, a.k.a. making things up on the spot, through this 2.5-hour workshop. Foster confidence while learning skills like listening, collaboration, and support through a series of workshop activities and improv games. At the end, we will bring it all together in a Grand Finale Improv Jam! One ticket includes registration for one adult and one or more teens (age 12-17 years old).
Past workshops
Visiting Artist Workshops with Brian James O’Connell — March 15 & 16, 2025
VISITING ARTIST WORKSHOPS WITH BRIAN JAMES O’CONNELL
March 15 & 16
Brian James O’Connell is a filmmaker and teacher based in Los Angeles. His directing credits include: KILLER VIEW, ANGRY WHITE MAN starring Matt Berry, and BLOODSUCKING BASTARDS starring Pedro Pascal (*and was the Opening Night Premiere at Slamdance). BOC (as his friends call him) also co-wrote BLOODSUCKING BASTARDS with his comedy collective Dr. God and wrote KILLER VIEW. His other writing credits include: the SYFY animated series Hell Den (Maria Bamford, Matthew Lillard), MOCKpockalypse (Sam Richardson, Brendan Hunt) and Pitchslap (Joel McHale). With multiple projects in development, BOC is most excited about pitching a dark sci-fi comedy TV series based on THE ANARCHIST COOKBOOK.
Brian is proud to be a Co-Founder of The Pack Theater, LA Weekly’s BEST OF LA Pick for “Best Theater Company” two years in a row, a Founding Board Member for Camp Improv Utopia & a current board member for Highwire Improv in Baltimore, MD.
DIRECTING IMPROV with Brian James O'Connell March 15, 3-6 PM PM, $50
The Directing Improv Workshop will train up and coming improvisers who wish to move into directing or coaching but have very few practical ideas of how to go about it.
Workshop begins at 3pm and will last approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes.
This workshop will tackle:
● how to de-construct a scene mathematically
● how to approach a scene from the inside out
● how to demonstrate the lesson to the student by performing their position in the scene without embarrassing the student
● how to utilize one’s personal performing history to troubleshoot the scene at hand
● how to choose the proper curriculum for the appropriate team
● how to utilize social media tools to construct a proper rehearsal schedule
● the difference between teaching and coaching
● how to protect yourself from being taken advantage of and what are your “rights” as a coach
This workshop is not applicable for Early Bird or BOC Bundle discounts
Register For Directing Improv →
THE IMPROVISED MOVIE with Brian James O'Connell
March 16, 2:30-5:30 PM
$100 ($75 Early Bird until 2/28)
Created by the legendary iOChicago improv team THE FAMILY under the direction of Del Close, The Improvised Movie long form structure is a fun, fast-paced stylized piece that will strengthen your understanding of story, plot, narrative structures & genre tropes through the creative use of applying cinematic language to the theatrical stage!
Brian James O’Connell has a BFA in Film Editing from the world famous UNCSA School Of Filmmaking (Jeff Nichols, David Gordon Green, Craig Zobel) and is a 3x feature film writer/director whose distributed films star some of the biggest names in entertainment such as Pedro Pascal and Matt Berry. Let BOC use his combined 50 years of filmmaking and improv experience to help you learn an artistically rewarding long form piece that is also a box office smash for your audiences!
Workshop begins at 2:30pm and will last approximately 3 hours.
Get the BOC Bundle BY CLICKING HERE and save on both this workshop and THE LADDER workshop at 10am
Register For The Improvised Movie →
THE LADDER with Brian James O'Connell
March 16, 10 AM - 1 PM
$100 ($75 Early Bird until 2/28) SOLD OUT
3 worlds. 12 characters. 21 scenes. This is The Ladder.
Improvisers must learn to be efficient with their use of character and relationship to tell a story. Whether in use as a class/rehearsal exercise, an improvised show format or structure for a scripted one act play, The Ladder is a wonderful tool to hone an improviser’s focus to a razor sharp edge on what are the most important parts of a staged theatrical piece: character, relationship & story. No matter what form your team is doing, it is important that you learn the basics of being able to appear to be performing a piece on purpose.
3 worlds. 12 characters. 21 scenes. Thousands of possibilities.
Workshop begins at 10AM and will last approximately 3 hours.
Get the BOC Bundle BY CLICKING HERE and save on both this workshop and THE IMPROVISED MOVIE workshop at 2:30pm
WANT TO ATTEND BOTH WORKSHOPS?
BOC BUNDLE *the best bang for your buck*
THE LADDER (10am) and THE IMPROVISED MOVIE (2:30pm) with Brian James O'Connell
Both Workshops for one price $150 ($140 through 2/16) SOLD OUT!
THE LADDER begins at 10am and will last approximately 3 hours. BOC Bundle participants will have a lunch break at 1pm.
THE IMPROVISED MOVIE begins at 2:30pm and will last approximately 3 hours.
Visiting Artist Workshops with Kornfeld & Andrews — Saturday, November 16, 2024
VISITING ARTIST WORKSHOPS WITH KORNFELD & ANDREWS
Arcade Comedy Theater is thrilled to welcome New York - based Improv Duo Kornfeld & Andrews as Visiting Artists for our 11th Anniversary Weekend, November 15-17, 2024!
On Saturday, November 16th Rick Andrews and Louis Kornfeld will each offer two incredible workshops on developing improv skills in listening and scene development. Each workshop will be offered twice so If you want to take both, buy the bundle!
Saturday, November 16, 2024
11 AM - 1:30 PM &
2:30 - 5 PM
Workshop Registration $75
EARLY BIRD $60
(Available through 11/15)
Limited to 15 participants per session
Registration is Required
RICK ANDREWS
Really Really Active Listening
Almost every strong choice on stage can be traced back to listening—listening to your partner, and listening to the choices you've made in the scene. What separates great improvisers is their ability to take every small moment, look, gesture, word choice, tone, pause, movement and use it to intuit even more of their scene partner's headspace. Not just what could be true, but rather what do I think my partner thinks is true? The more of each moment we capture in our awareness, the more powerful our scene work will get.
LOUIS KORNFELD
Slice of Life
For most people improv comedy means not much more than wacky characters and outrageous situations. But there’s a whole other side to this art form too; one that focuses on the comedy of day to day life, and one that rewards a more naturalistic approach to playing. This workshop is all about the art of the light touch; letting your scenes breathe and your characters be real people. Because the comedy is in the small details all around us, once we make the choice to engage it.
WANT TO ATTEND BOTH WORKSHOPS?
Get a seat in both workshops and a ticket to their 7 PM headlining show for $110 Early Bird
Online Comedy Workshops (2020–2021)
What students are saying:
“Creative approaches to the zoom performance window, and prepared practical tips in a few different categories.”
"I left the workshop feeling in a much better mood than when I came in, and I had a lot of fun and laughs during it as well."
"I enjoyed [learning about] a different element to improv that we haven't had to think about on our own before. I also enjoyed speaking about how space, movement and shape can impact the scene and your character in the format of Zoom."
Online Comedy Workshops
Try new ways of performing comedy with interactive, online comedy workshops in improv and writing!
Short and to the Point
Tuesday, Oct 20, 6-8PM ET
Free yourself from the trap of run-on sentences! Long, rambling sentences can be confusing and make it harder for your scene partner to latch on to your core idea. In this workshop, we will work on utilizing short, clear sentences to build stronger improv scenes. Iconic laconic improvisation is one workshop away.
Taught by Chris Laychak
Registration $25
The Gameplan
Wednesday, Oct 28, 6-8PM ET
Categorize and conquer! In this workshop Matt Solter presents a flow chart for funny: he'll go through the major types of scenes and present strategies tailored to each. You'll get shortcuts to finding a fruitful game in each type of scene as well as a blueprint for heightening. Matt will also offer tricks for finding your way out of the pitfalls of those "trap" scene types we're taught to avoid, so you can perform the best teaching/negotiation/etc. scene that's ever been improvised!
Taught by Matt Solter
Registration $25
Playing Bold: Women's History Month Edition
Tuesday, March 16, 6-8PM ET
Mindy McHale's popular online workshop is BACK with a special Women's History Month edition excluisvely for women and femmes. If you’ve ever lingered on the back line, hesitated before making a move because you worried you couldn’t pull it off, let an entering character take over a scene, or simply felt mired in self-doubt while improvising, this is the workshop for you. Mindy McHale will lead you through exercises to help break your mental barriers and lose the limits you’ve consciously or subconsciously set for yourself; and guide a supportive and judgment-free discussion of what those limits are and where they come from, including discussion of how these struggles can be shaped by gender. Skills practiced will include following your gut, comfort being alone on stage, active silence, and handling freeze-ups.
Prerequisites: Basic improv experience. This workshop is available exclusively for women and femmes age 18 years or older.
Instructor: Mindy McHale
Registration: $25
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: Deena has been improvising and teaching improv for over 15 years. She trained at The Second City Cleveland and at both The Second City and Annoyance Theater in Chicago. Deena is the creator of This Improvised Life, a part improvised, part written story-telling hour and Mental Illness and Friends!, A Live Comedy Talk Show. She is also the co-founder of Mass Hysteria Improv Comedy Fest, a comedy fest run by women, for everyone. Deena was recently named one of Ohio's funniest women by Cleveland.com and was also honored as a CJN Difference Maker for the work she has done using comedy to promote mental health awareness and to destigmatize mental illness.
There are currently no workshops scheduled
At the moment, we don't have any upcoming workshops on our calendar. If you'd like to know the moment we announce a new one, join our mailing list. We only send out about one email a week, and it's filled with updates about upcoming classes and workshops.
Short Form Zoom Gauntlet
Saturday, October 3, 1-3PM ET
Prepare and perform an online short form improv show all in one day with this workshop from Arcade Comedy Theater's student team coach Beth Geatches. This workshop provides a crash course in the mechanics of some of the most popular Zoom short form games that will be the basis for a set in a livestreamed show that evening for the workshop participants to perform in. Learn how games like Oscar Winning Moment, New Choice, Shift Left, Freeze, The Onion, and line games translate to online performances, and how improvisors can adjust their play in these games to optimize the online format. Let Beth's experience coaching Arcade's short form student team Select Start to pandemic-prov glory set you on the path to your own short form success online, and reap the benefits only hours later!
Workshop is 1-3pm (also check out our 4-6pm longform workshop!), performance is at 9pm with an online call time of 8pm.
Taught by Beth Geatches
$25 per person
Long Form Zoom Gauntlet
Saturday, October 3, 4-6PM ET
Prepare and perform an online longform improv show all in one day with this workshop from Arcade Comedy Theater's student team coach Jocelyn Hillen. This workshop provides a crash course in the mechanics and best practices for a modified La Ronde specialized for improvising over the internet, all in preparation for a livestreamed show that very evening you will perform in! Refine your Zoomprov techniques, refresh your scenework skills, and get a performance fix all in one lovely Saturday!
Workshop is 4-6pm (also check out our 1-3pm short form workshop!), performance is at 9pm with an online call time of 8pm.
Taught by Jocelyn Hillen
$25 per person
Short and to the Point: Workshop
Tuesday, October 20, 6-8PM ET
Free yourself from the trap of run-on sentences! Long, rambling sentences can be confusing and make it harder for your scene partner to latch on to your core idea. In this workshop, we will work on utilizing short, clear sentences to build stronger improv scenes. Iconic laconic improvisation is one workshop away.
Taught by Chris Laychak
$25 per person
The Bat
Thursday, May 28, 6-8PM ET
Learn the fundamentals of an improvised radio play.
Taught by Nick Jaramillo
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS: Participants will need access to a computer with a stable internet connection. The workshop will be conducted over Zoom, which requires creating a free account.