OLD SCHOOL IMPROV
with Michael McGeary and Andy Crouch
Sundays 1pm-3:30pm, September 25 through October 30 (six weeks)

Andy: I met Michael a couple months ago when he emailed about wanting to “get back into improv” after a long time away. We grabbed coffee and the first thing he showed me were these mimeographs (Mimeographs!) of the curriculum he developed when appointed by Del Close to direct  the Committee’s public improv workshop program in Los Angeles in 1968. Basically he was at ground zero for modern improvisation as a performer, co-director and a translator of Del’s wild vision and classic Viola Spolin games into a workable form (a little thing called Harold). Within minutes of talking to him I had two thoughts; the first was that I should be recording everything that he was saying and second, I HAVE TO SET UP A WORKSHOP WITH THIS GUY.

So we’re offering a six-week workshop that explores that original curriculum and the material that has formed the basis of modern Chicago-style improv. Delivered by the guy who was there at the beginning, and who has passionate, thoughtful and imminently relevant opinions about what improv WAS, IS and CAN BE.

I’ll be on hand to help keep the workshop moving and make connections between Michael’s work and what we’re trying to accomplish at the Hideout these days.

Michael: I want to revisit the approach to Improv we took in the very beginning, in the workshops with Del Close. In that first group of improvisers, our intent was to make immediate and extemporaneous theatre that anyone could do. Del’s ideas, by themselves wild and often chemically fueled, lacked format and language and a process by which they could be performed. The work of Viola Spolin was perfect for this, based in communication games and cooperative, noncompetitive activities that required no special training; it was easy for almost any ordinary willing person to do, a true theatre of the people.

This work was created for a reason. In 1968 we weren’t getting truth about life from TV, Movies, Plays, Magazines and Newspapers. We wanted to create a theatre of truth. With the Spolin games, Del’s revolutionary vision, borrowing bits and pieces of many disciplines, some loose rules like “Yes, and,” we made up this Thing. We called it “Harold.”

This workshop will be in the 1968 style and philosophy of theatre improvisation. You don’t need any experience; you’re already an expert! We will get back to the fun and self-discovery we had when there was no “industry” to worry about. I’ll show you some forgotten methods and devices for creating longform, like how we used improv to work out serious questions, to get past the judge inside and express! If you’re alive you will have fun; that’s all Improv is – fun being alive!

$215 / Six weeks, 2.5 hours per week / Limited Space / Class held at Hideout Studios – 2505 E 6th St, Unit C