Classes at the UCB Training Center — Los Angeles

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New improv and sketch writing courses now enrolling! Upcoming courses listed in the right-hand column. Begin registration by clicking on your desired course at right.

Named "Hot Farm Team" by Rolling Stone, "Best Improv" by Los Angeles Magazine and "Best Comedy Club" by AOL, the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre is widely recognized as home to today's funniest actors and writers. Among our esteemed alumni include several performers and writers for Saturday Night Live, The Office, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, 30 Rock, Parks & Recreation, Community, Chelsea Lately, The Hangover, Old School, Blades of Glory, Hot Tub Time Machine and countless other films, commercials and television shows.

Fueling these successes is the Upright Citizens Brigade Training Center. Working actors and writers teach UCB Theatre's proven style of long form improvisation and sketch comedy writing at one of the largest and most well-respected comedy schools in the nation.

Emphasizing agreement, teamwork, listening, brainstorming, sharing and exploring, the foundation of the Upright Citizens Brigade Training Center is not only the starting point for good comedy but also clearly relevant to all lines of work.

Improvisation Program

Learn the basics of long-form improvisation: a performance in which a group of actors creates interconnected comedic scenes, on the spot, from a single audience suggestion.

Our core improv program consists of four courses:

• Improv 101: Improv Basics
  An introduction to UCB Theatre's improv philosophy. Learn about "yes, and", playing to the top of your intelligence, listening and reacting in the moment, making character choices and finding "the game."
• Improv 201: Game of the Scene
  Identify the first unusual thing, discover and heighten "the game," the strategy of "if this is true, what else is true?" and create "second beats" of your scenes.
• Improv 301: Harold Structure
  Learn the "Harold." a series of interconnected scenes inspired by a single suggestion. Characters, ideas, and themes appear and reappear throughout the piece and eventually connect, completing the piece.
• Improv 401: Harold Structure
  Continued study of the Harold.

We teach our students to build their scenes around "the game." We define "the game" as the single, specific comedic idea that makes a scene funny. Students work together to discover that specific idea and then explore it as many different ways as they can imagine throughout the course of one improvised scene.

Courses typically consist of eight 3-hour classes plus one performance at UCB Theatre. Typical tuition is $350 per level.

Click on your desired course at right for more specific information including dates, location, instructor and cost.

Sketch Writing Program

Learn to write and refine short, comedic scenes. Build these scenes around "the game," a single, specific comedic idea. Our core sketch courses expose students to a variety of written sketch formats.

Our core sketch program consists of two courses:

• Sketch Writing 101: Introduction to Sketch Writing
  Learn to pick a game and define it early, to heighten, to write a variety of common sketch formats, to collaborate with other writers, and the importance of rewriting.
• Sketch Writing 201: Assembling a Maude Packet
  Continue writing sketches, this time with the goal of assembling a packet of your best material. Continue collaborating with other writers.

Our sketch courses are designed to help our students develop a writing portfolio, the discipline to rewrite their work, and their individual voice. Our courses also allow our students to experience writing in a professional environment, giving them an opportunity to both give feedback to others, as well as incorporate feedback into their own work.

Courses typically consist of eight 3-hour classes. Typical tuition is $350-$375 per level.

Click on your desired course at right for more specific information including dates, location, instructor and cost.

Beyond the Core

Besides our core classes, we offer advanced study programs, master class courses, specialized workshops, performance courses. In sketch we offer courses in specialized areas of writing that include writing a one person show, writing in the style of Saturday Night Live, sitcom writing, and preparing a writing packet.

Check our available classes and our message board forum for news about these special courses.

More Information

If you have any questions, please read our FAQ or message board forum. If you can't find your answer, please contact School Manager Lindsay Hendrickson by email at lindsay@ucbcomedy.com or by phone at 323.908.8702.