Prequisite: must have taken a Level 4 improv class at ColdTowne.

Students will build upon their knowledge of the Harold by exploring other improv show formats and structures. These structures include The Deconstruction, Close Quarters, Spokane, and other popular forms. Through practice of these structures, students will hone their abilities while also gaining an understanding of the various parts and workings of an improv form. Understanding how to produce the kind of show you want to put up by creating your own form will be essential for the final level. This class includes two student performances!

DREW WESELY graduated from ColdTowne Conservatory in 2008, started as a Teacher’s Assistant in 2011, and became an improv teacher in 2015. He graduated from ColdTowne Conservatory’s Advanced Graduate Improv Studies program in 2016. He hosted the ColdTowne Theater monthly improv jam, and currently hosts his independently operated weekly drop-in improv class/jam. Instructors from UCB, iO, The Annoyance and The New Movement have either coached or taught him in classes or workshops.

Level 1: Intro To Improv

Spontaneity. Playfulness. Listening. Trust. Honesty.

Learn the basic fundamentals of improv comedy and meet cool new people in the process! Our courses are designed to help students unlock their inner creativity in a fun and supportive environment. Whether you want to learn more about the comedic process to become a better writer/actor/performer, or you just want to loosen up and improve your communication skills while becoming more comfortable in your own skin, the lessons of improv we teach work to build your confidence both on-stage and off. This class will teach you how to celebrate who you are and to find truth in comedy through a series of improv and acting exercises that focus on honesty, spontaneity, playfulness, and saying “yes, and.”

AMY KNOP (she/her) is an experienced teacher and prolific performer, producer, and director of improv at ColdTowne since 2016 -- including as B. Iden Payne-nominated director of "My Own Worst Enemy", "It's Britney, Bitch", and producer of sold-out runs of "Angola," "Old Love," "The Rose," and more. She has toured with Prayer Circle Comedy (Denver Improv Fest, Dallas Comedy Festival, Big Little Comedy Fest), performed in multiple ColdTowne mainstages, co-captains Fallout's Saturday night house team, and been managing director of Austin Sketch Fest since 2019. She is a graduate of ColdTowne Conservatory and Advanced Studies programs and performs every Friday with "Austin Chronicle Best Of" nominees "A Very Special Episode." She loves welcoming new performers and showrunners into the Austin improv community!

Prequisite: must have taken a Level 4 improv class at ColdTowne.

Students will build upon their knowledge of the Harold by exploring other improv show formats and structures. These structures include The Deconstruction, Close Quarters, Spokane, and other popular forms. Through practice of these structures, students will hone their abilities while also gaining an understanding of the various parts and workings of an improv form. Understanding how to produce the kind of show you want to put up by creating your own form will be essential for the final level. This class includes two student performances!

DAVE BUCKMAN has directed, taught and performed at some of the world’s leading improvisational comedy institutions. After several years studying and teaching improv in Chicago, Dave served as Artistic Director of Boom Chicago in Amsterdam for 2 years, where he was fortunate to work with and direct some of the funniest people working in television and web-based sketch comedy today. After Europe, Dave worked as a director and teacher at The Second City in Chicago. He has directed MainStage shows at ColdTowne: Bigfoot, the musical, Austin Translation, Barney Biller Dark Night, The Roast of St, Nick, Eye for an iPhone and Shanty Town Lake. The Second City: Who’s yer Baghdadi?” (Cleveland), World’s Gone Wild” (Touring Company) and Deficit Comedy Jam (Touring Company) Boom Chicago: Your Privacy is our Business, Europe, We’ve Created a Monster, The Future is Here and it is Slightly Annoying. In 2002, he directed “Boom Chicago: RockStars” only the second stage-swap with The Second City’s Main Stage in its 50 year history.

Prerequisite: must have taken a Level 03 Improv class at ColdTowne.

If Chicago-style improv were music, The Harold would be the twelve-bar blues, the language that’s shared by all improvisers in this tradition. In addition to being a challenging and rewarding form in itself, The Harold is also a great teaching tool, and the skills learned in mastering it are applicable to almost every other form of improv. This level builds on and challenges all of the skills the students have learned up to this point. Students weave together multiple story lines and characters to create shows that are each a unique tapestry spun from what has come before. This class includes a student performance.

KAT ELLISON WILLIAMS has been improvising since 2018 and graduated from the Coldtowne Conservatory in 2021. He has played in many Coldtowne shows including Sextet, Hysteria, and Stool Pigeon. He loves live music, strange art, and the Harold.

Prequisite: must have taken a Level 5 improv class at ColdTowne.

In Level 6, you'll take everything you've been learning for the past year and apply it to creating and performing your class's own form. You'll also get a series of showcases at the theater that run concurrently with the class and culminate in a graduation show and ceremony. You get a certificate and everything!

This class includes a 4 showcase performances including a graduation performance.

DAVE BUCKMAN has directed, taught and performed at some of the world’s leading improvisational comedy institutions. After several years studying and teaching improv in Chicago, Dave served as Artistic Director of Boom Chicago in Amsterdam for 2 years, where he was fortunate to work with and direct some of the funniest people working in television and web-based sketch comedy today. After Europe, Dave worked as a director and teacher at The Second City in Chicago. He has directed MainStage shows at ColdTowne: Bigfoot, the musical, Austin Translation, Barney Biller Dark Night, The Roast of St, Nick, Eye for an iPhone and Shanty Town Lake. The Second City: Who’s yer Baghdadi?” (Cleveland), World’s Gone Wild” (Touring Company) and Deficit Comedy Jam (Touring Company) Boom Chicago: Your Privacy is our Business, Europe, We’ve Created a Monster, The Future is Here and it is Slightly Annoying. In 2002, he directed “Boom Chicago: RockStars” only the second stage-swap with The Second City’s Main Stage in its 50 year history.

Prerequisite: Must have taken an improv class at ColdTowne or elsewhere.

Strengthen your two person scenes using characters, relationships, and finding & playing “The Game.”

Building on the fundamentals from Level 01, students will begin to practice skills and techniques that strengthen their scenes and characters. Concepts will be introduced to help create deeper characters and relationships more quickly, while keeping things fun! Students will learn how to identify patterns within their scenes to create “The Game”: the engine that drives comedy in an improvised scene or sketch. This class includes a student performance!

KRISTIN HENN is a proud graduate of the ColdTowne Conservatory. Committed to continued training, she has taken additional classes and attended intensives regularly since 2009, including with The Annoyance Theater, IO Chicago, Improv Utopia,  and visiting performers  and practitioners from around the country. She holds a BFA in Directing and an MA in Theatre History and Criticism, both from Texas State University.

Prerequisite: must have taken a Level 03 Improv class at ColdTowne.

If Chicago-style improv were music, The Harold would be the twelve-bar blues, the language that’s shared by all improvisers in this tradition. In addition to being a challenging and rewarding form in itself, The Harold is also a great teaching tool, and the skills learned in mastering it are applicable to almost every other form of improv. This level builds on and challenges all of the skills the students have learned up to this point. Students weave together multiple story lines and characters to create shows that are each a unique tapestry spun from what has come before. This class includes a student performance.

MIKE OOI is delighted to be part of the ColdTowne teaching team. A Texas native, Mike earned his BFA in Theatre just up the road at Southwestern University. Most of Mike’s professional career has been spent in Chicago, where Mike worked with several companies as an actor, director, playwright, and technician. Before leaving Chicago, Mike turned his attention to sketch, improv, and on-camera work, graduating from the Sketch Writing Program at The Second City. Since moving back to Texas, Mike continues to work professionally in theatre, improv, and on camera. Currently, Mike teaches younger students at ZACH, and performs with the ColdTowne house team, Dr. Jack. Mike’s credits include NBC’s Chicago Fire as well as several commercials, voice overs, and industrials. Mike is represented by Pastorini-Bosby.

Prerequisite: The ability to do a Harold on Week 1.

This workshop is for those with a basic grasp of Harold who want to take their knowledge to the next level. We will work on the identification and continuation of themes in our Harolds, creating organic openings based on our suggestions, new versions of Harold including the McMannus Harold and the Evente Harold and more. All this in addition to tightening up the skills we are already familiar with and working in service to the piece.

CHRIS MCKEEVER has been performing improv for 20 years and teaching for 15. Trained at the Upright Citizens Brigade theater, Chris has a strong affinity and understanding of game based scene work and Harold like play. He performs weekly on Mondays at Fallout Theater with Fuck This Week.