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Improv 401 — Harold Workshop

Thursdays 7-10pm starting Jan 07, 2010
Prerequisites: Completion of Improv 301 within previous two years
Cost: $350

Improv 401 serves as the end official \"end\" of our improv program. This course offers students the chance to strengthen their individual skills while giving them more practice with the long form improvisation performance known as the Harold. Additionally, the course will introduce new openings and exercises about playing without fear, emphasizing group ownership, and bringing more of themselves to their scene work.

One goal of the course is to help students perform stronger scenes. The instructor will use the first half of the course to identify and troubleshoot any weaknesses that the individual players may be demonstrating.

The other goal of the course is to allow students to continue to perform full Harolds. The instructor will use \"side-coaching,\" or feedback given during an improvised piece as it is happening, in order to facilitate success in the students\\\' improvised scenes. The instructor will also give notes after each performance in order to enhance and improve the quality of future performances.

This course meets for three hours a week for eight weeks. Students will perform in two class performances at the UCB Theatre – once halfway through the course and once at the end. Graduation is also contingent upon students seeing at least two improvised shows at the UCB Theater before the end of the course.

Class meets at MetaTheatre in West Hollywood

Joe Wengert

wengert, joe
Joe Wengert has been improvising for over ten years. After performing as a founding member of the first improv troupe at the University of Delaware, he came to New York City and studied at the UCB Training Center under Michael Delaney, Armando Diaz, Kevin Mullaney, Billy Merritt, Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, and many others. He has been a regular performer at the UCB Theatre since 2002 in shows such as Game Face, Your Favorite Thing, the Dark Side of the Moon Show, Krompf, Instant Cinema, Dillinger, and more. He can currently be seen performing at UCBTLA with house team The Smokes.

Joe has also performed at improv festivals in Chicago and Toronto, and he currently tours the country with the UCB Touring Company. He has appeared on VH1 and in national commercials. He is currently a writer for the Onion News Network.

Student Feedback

"Joe was one of the best teachers I ever had. He is fierce and patient and gave wonderful advice."

"Joe is focused and professional, his notes were dead on. He took something that could have been scary, and just made it exciting and fun."

"Joe's emphasis on playing to the top of my intelligence helped my improve dramatically over the eight weeks. Joe is a great, funny and inspiring teacher."

"Joe fostered an environment of support, where you felt free to take risks and try new things and everybody came together to support each other."