Prerequisite: must have completed at least a Beginners level improv course.

Do you consider yourself an improviser? Great! How about an actor? Not sure? Here’s the answer…Yes and! When we learn improv we’re taught the rules of “game”,  pattern recognition and heightening. But how about learning how to use Improv as a tool for approaching scene work, auditions and character study? How can improv make you a better actor? This workshop helps answer these questions and is designed to build confidence and skills so that whether you are performing in an improv show, classical theatre, in a TV show or a film, you have a reliable set of tools to keep you prepared for whatever role you take on next.

TARIK RASHAAN DAVIS has been acting, improvising, and writing for over 25 years. He strives to cross-pollinate performance styles and audiences in all his work. Tarik recently appeared on all episodes of the three seasons of The Amber Ruffin Show on Peacock TV. His past experience includes Boom Chicago in Amsterdam and The Second City in Chicago as well as appearances on Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Undoing (HBO), Last Week with John Oliver, in commercials and other television and web series. In 2021, Tarik was a core cast member in the Tony Award winning Freestyle Love Supreme on Broadway. He performed at The Brooklyn Museum in David Levine's Some of the People All of the Time, selected as the New York Times Best Art of 2018. Tarik was a member of The PIT’s longest running improv team, The Baldwins and performed with Baby Wants Candy at UCB Hells Kitchen. As a writer, Tarik makes films, web comics, sketches, and has published critical essays. Tarik’s latest short film, DOC: Race, Revolution, Relativity & The Confessions of a Time Traveling Terrorist (2023) is currently in the final stage of production and is premiering at ColdTowne Theater in August 2024.  In the height of the Covid-19 shutdown, Tarik created a horror play, set on Zoom, linking labor rights, capitalism and A.I. The Tank presented this project, Host Invite, on Halloween in 2020. Tarik also teaches improv and theater to people of all ages. He has a journalism degree from Rutgers University and lives in Brooklyn, NY.

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. 

Maybe you’ve seen a few improv shows and thought, “I could do that.” (And you’re right!) And sure, it looks like it might be fun. What if you could see for yourself with the least possible commitment? That's why ColdTowne is offering this one-off class all for the low, low price of FREE. Taught by members of the ColdTowne Conservatory faculty, this Free Intro to Improv is a heaping sample of what you’ll encounter in your typical Level One class.

That means a warmup, a lot of group games, and some discussion of the basic principles of improv. At ColdTowne we believe that best way to learn improv is to do improv, so we get you up and playing right from the start. Not only does this make for better improv . . . it’s more fun.

And fun is the operating principle here, people.

ASAF RONEN is the author of Directing Improv: Show the Way By Getting Out of the Way. He regularly performs, teaches and produces in Austin, was Education Director at The Institution Theater for eight years and is currently the Conservatory Director at ColdTowne Theater. He is also a Producer and Education Director of Austin’s annual Out of Bounds Comedy Festival. He has taught and performed improvisation in Canada, Great Britain, Norway and in twenty-eight of these United States with such groups as the B. Iden Payne Award winning Confidence Men (improvised plays in the style of David Mamet) and imp (mostly silent improv). He was also producer on TRUST US, THIS IS ALL MADE UP, a documentary on legendary improvisers TJ & Dave that premiered at Austin’s South by Southwest Festival in 2009 and helped develop the improvised film Days of Delusion with director Scott Myers. In 1999, Asaf founded the improv website, YESand.com of which he is Editor-in-Chief.

Maybe you’ve seen a few improv shows and thought, “I could do that.” (And you’re right!) And sure, it looks like it might be fun. What if you could see for yourself with the least possible commitment? That's why ColdTowne is offering this one-off class all for the low, low price of FREE. Taught by members of the ColdTowne Conservatory faculty, this Free Intro to Improv is a heaping sample of what you’ll encounter in your typical Level One class.

That means a warmup, a lot of group games, and some discussion of the basic principles of improv. At ColdTowne we believe that best way to learn improv is to do improv, so we get you up and playing right from the start. Not only does this make for better improv . . . it’s more fun.

And fun is the operating principle here, people.

ASAF RONEN is the author of Directing Improv: Show the Way By Getting Out of the Way. He regularly performs, teaches and produces in Austin, was Education Director at The Institution Theater for eight years and is currently the Conservatory Director at ColdTowne Theater. He is also a Producer and Education Director of Austin’s annual Out of Bounds Comedy Festival. He has taught and performed improvisation in Canada, Great Britain, Norway and in twenty-eight of these United States with such groups as the B. Iden Payne Award winning Confidence Men (improvised plays in the style of David Mamet) and imp (mostly silent improv). He was also producer on TRUST US, THIS IS ALL MADE UP, a documentary on legendary improvisers TJ & Dave that premiered at Austin’s South by Southwest Festival in 2009 and helped develop the improvised film Days of Delusion with director Scott Myers. In 1999, Asaf founded the improv website, YESand.com of which he is Editor-in-Chief.

No prerequisite, all experience levels welcome.

When you hear the terms Musical, Hip Hop, Freestyle and or Improvised Rapping, do you get excited? Nervous? Intimidated? If you do, don’t worry, so did I! But after freestyling at Boom Chicago in Amsterdam with Baby Wants Candy and on Broadway with Freestyle Love Supreme, I have some simple techniques that made the practice fun, easy and accessible to everyone. Join me to learn the very basics of Freestyle and Hip Hop and discover the joy of participating in a cypher at the end of the course!

TARIK RASHAAN DAVIS has been acting, improvising, and writing for over 25 years. He strives to cross-pollinate performance styles and audiences in all his work. Tarik recently appeared on all episodes of the three seasons of The Amber Ruffin Show on Peacock TV. His past experience includes Boom Chicago in Amsterdam and The Second City in Chicago as well as appearances on Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Undoing (HBO), Last Week with John Oliver, in commercials and other television and web series. In 2021, Tarik was a core cast member in the Tony Award winning Freestyle Love Supreme on Broadway. He performed at The Brooklyn Museum in David Levine's Some of the People All of the Time, selected as the New York Times Best Art of 2018. Tarik was a member of The PIT’s longest running improv team, The Baldwins and performed with Baby Wants Candy at UCB Hells Kitchen. As a writer, Tarik makes films, web comics, sketches, and has published critical essays. Tarik’s latest short film, DOC: Race, Revolution, Relativity & The Confessions of a Time Traveling Terrorist (2023) is currently in the final stage of production and is premiering at ColdTowne Theater in August 2024.  In the height of the Covid-19 shutdown, Tarik created a horror play, set on Zoom, linking labor rights, capitalism and A.I. The Tank presented this project, Host Invite, on Halloween in 2020. Tarik also teaches improv and theater to people of all ages. He has a journalism degree from Rutgers University and lives in Brooklyn, NY.

No lesson plans. Just a steady stream of scenework to help you pinpoint your individual tendencies. Find out what your strengths are and where you could explore further. Working in a non-stop series of improv reps, you'll learn what your patterns are and how to break them through personalized challenges. Great for intermediates who want to develop new skills and for professionals who want to keep fresh.

ASAF RONEN is the author of Directing Improv: Show the Way By Getting Out of the Way. He regularly performs, teaches and produces in Austin, was Education Director at The Institution Theater for eight years and is currently the Conservatory Director at ColdTowne Theater. He is also a Producer and Education Director of Austin’s annual Out of Bounds Comedy Festival. He has taught and performed improvisation in Canada, Great Britain, Norway and in twenty-eight of these United States with such groups as the B. Iden Payne Award winning Confidence Men (improvised plays in the style of David Mamet) and imp (mostly silent improv). He was also producer on TRUST US, THIS IS ALL MADE UP, a documentary on legendary improvisers TJ & Dave that premiered at Austin’s South by Southwest Festival in 2009 and helped develop the improvised film Days of Delusion with director Scott Myers. In 1999, Asaf founded the improv website, YESand.com of which he is Editor-in-Chief.

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!

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.”

GARRETT ROJAS is an actor, improviser, multi-hyphenate from Austin, TX. Named after Garrett Morris, he was probably destined to become an improviser at some point anyway. He was named Rookie of the Year at the 2023 ColdTony’s and has appeared in a number of main stage shows since then. He’s a working actor who’s committed to continuing his education, having taken acting, improv, and elective classes weekly since January 2021. As a teacher and someone who also has a passion for playing pretend, he aims to help you on your creative journey while maintaining an environment that fosters fun. You can catch him this fall at Coldtowne performing in shows such as The Monster, The Misterios, and The Showdowne (hosting).