I’ve been improvising since 1993 and in that time have worked with an extraordinary array of improvisers on both sides of the Atlantic. I’ve used the work of Keith Johnstone to develop my own teaching style: archetypal improv. This approach uses the best available research and techniques from literature, screen writing, cultural studies, psychology, and artificial intelligence to provide a framework for building complete improvised plays. These plays deliver complete narative arcs with rising tension, well defined plot strands, rounded, engaging characters, and plenty of opportunities for comedy.
You can find some of my thinking on improv in my badly maintained blog on the subject, called Thinking Improv.
Here are some of the troupes I’ve started:
- Six Wheel Drive, Santa Cruz, CA
- Both Feet First, Santa Cruz, CA
- Amazing Spectacles, Cambridge, UK
And here are some of the other troupes I’ve worked with:
- The Fun Institute (CA)
- Freefall (CA)
- Um Gee Um (CA)
- The Funatics (CA)
- The Spontenaity Shop (UK)
- The Freestyle Rep (NY)
- London Theatersports (UK)
- Spontaneous Combustion (UK)
As well as participating in improv as a form of stage performance, I’ve also used it as a business training tool. Here are some of the projects I’ve been involved with: