This improv focus course is about building engaging, worthwhile narratives from your scenes. Learn about improvising a story over several scenes and the techniques for moving from one scene to the next.
Previous improv experience is necessary for this course. Either you’ve done a beginner’s improv course before (with anyone, not just us) or you’ve been casually doing improv for a little while (e.g. the Jam).
What is Narrative in Improv?
Narrative in improv is the story you tell through the characters in your performance. As an example scene scenario, an employee at a bank may make a banking error, attempt and fail to fix it, cover it up, and then get a promotion for it. In this example, a series of events have taken place to create a story. That same narrative could be played out over many scenes instead of one to make a short improvised play. The outcome is the same in both cases: a clear, linear story was told.
What you’ll be doing in this Improv Course
You’ll be looking at creating complete narratives, and understanding the methods that make that possible.
Beginning, Middle, End
Narratives tend to have an established structure. This course won’t look at the different kinds of storytelling structure, but will give you the tools to establish your narrative, stick to it, and find an ending that makes sense for it. Improvising a story and finding an ending that fits nicely can be incredibly satisfying.
Moving Between Scenes
Being able to move from one story point to the next at the right time can affect how engaging a narrative is. You’ll be looking at the when and how of moving from one scene to the next, and a few of the different ways that it can be done.
Moving from one scene to the next in improv is often known as “editing”. It may sound technical, but editing scenes can be an exciting exercise. We can use it to follow an established character into their next situation, to “flashback” to something related to the current scene (kind of like a cut-away gag), to heighten a scenario to its logical conclusion, and much more.
Teacher: Barnish and Carmichael
Barnish and Carmichael are an improv duo who have been performing their own show together regularly for over 4 years and are part of Absolute Onions, who perform a narrative improv show.
They have been taught by ComedySportz, ImproQuo and a whole host of other UK based and international teachers.
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When and Where
Date & Time
Tue 5th Sep, 20236:00PM to 9:00PMDuration: 4 weeks, Tuesdays
Venue
Methodist Central Buildings
Central Hall, Oldham Street
Manchester
M1 1JQView on Google Maps »
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an Improv Focus Course?
Focus courses are short courses that focus on a single aspect of the craft. They accept a limited number of students so that everyone can get plenty of practice time. These courses give you the opportunity to practice improvisation in great depth with guidance from an experienced teacher.
These courses will run frequently throughout the year, will usually be repeated, and can be taken during, between and after the 8-week courses. Regularly attend focus courses to expand and deepen your improvisational skills long term.
What is an Improv Curriculum Course?
A curriculum course is any of our "Level" courses. (These are often shortened to "L1", "L2", etc.) These courses are always 8-weeks long and cover a broader aspect of comedy improvisation, such as short-form, long-form and performance; they can be considered benchmarks for where you're up to in your improvisation journey.
Will there be a showcase?
Most focus courses will not end with a showcase at this time. We will occasionally be able to align a focus course with a curriculum (i.e. Level 1, Level 2, etc.) course, but this is not to be assumed.We aim to change this in the future. As we grow, and more courses take place simultaneously, we will eventually be able to arrange showcases for these types of courses.
I can't make every session. Should I still sign up?
You should sign up if you think you'll be able to make at least 3 of the 4 sessions. Any fewer than that and you may find yourself falling behind.
Payment Terms
We can be flexible with payment and so if you’d rather not pay in full now, you can pay a deposit to lock in your place and pay the rest later. Payment must be completed before or at the first session of the course.“Highly enjoyable, engaging, enlightening and above all EXCELLENT!”
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