This class is for pairs of improvisers who are already performing as a duo, or would like to. (We’ll have a Duos Class in January for those looking to be matched up into Duos.)

Team-taught by two of Austin’s most prolific improvisers, you’ll learn how to build a two-person set that spotlights you both and explores beyond what you thought possible. Learn to develop rhythms, formats and techniques that you can apply for the entire lifespan of your partnership. By the end of this class, you should be so in sync with your partner that your scenes will flow like water.

6 WEEKS, October 7 - November 18 (no class on Nov 11th)
Showcase on Sunday, November 19 @ 6:30

NOTE: THE $225 COST OF THE CLASS IS PER PERSON.YOU WILL NEED TO REGISTER BOTH IMPROVISERS.

ESTEVAN J. (CHUY) ZARATE is an actor/director/coach from San Antonio TX that has been improvising for audiences for 33 years. He is a member of The Big Bash at The Hideout Theatre, The Known Wizards (Merlinworks faculty troupe), Stool Pigeon at ColdTowne and more duos than he can count. He teaches all styles and formats being that he has a very eclectic tool belt to reach into. If there is a scenario to be performed in, he has probably performed it. With specialties in improv singing and grounded/character-driven scenework, Chuy has coached hundreds of kids, teens, students and adults for years to multiple successes.

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.

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.

This class is for students who have previously taken Foolish Freedom- Intro to Clown (or have permission from the instructor).

SHOWCASE ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21

Come see what happens when you bring clown energy into improvised scenes. In this 2-day clown intensive we play with emotions, relationships, and status to begin to lay the groundwork toward creating your own material. Through partner and ensemble exercises we will discover what unlocks your mischievous pleasure, the joy of getting into trouble, and how playing with your friends can lead you into the silliest of situations.

CB GOODMAN is the Founding Director of Grackle Jack Productions based in Austin, Texas. Her work incorporates disparate source materials, clown, bouffon, drag, physical theatre, and puppetry and has been presented at venues in Austin, New Orleans, Charlotte, Atlanta, and New York City. Her current show, In The Beginning received Best Clown, Top Grossing, and the Jill Miersch Award at the 2023 Frigid New York Fringe. CB has trained with clown teachers Philippe Gaulier, Aitor Basauri, Mick Barnfather, and Shannan Calcutt as well as theatre companies Complicité, Atlantic Theatre Company, and SITI Company. She has been teaching clown infused classes since 2014, winning the Teaching Award at Southwestern University in 2020. She also directs and designs for local colleges and theatre companies.

Fundamentally standup comedy is a conversation. It's a connection between you and the audience. In this course, you'll get help plumbing your life and the world around you for humor and connect the fundamentals of standup with your unique voice and point of view. By the end of the course, you'll understand how to use standup comedy to have authentic conversations AND be funny!

ROCHELLE MCCONICO is the founder and CEO of MoonCricket Productions a live entertainment company specializing in interactive, multisensory comedic events. She is a visionary, writer, producer, and performer. In June 2020, Rochelle launched the Amuse-Bouche Comedy Festival to showcase the many great improvisers, comedy podcasters and stand-ups in New Orleans and performed as all three. In 2022, she followed up by co-founding, programming, performing and co-headlining the Lysistrata Comedy Festival, an all femme comedy festival, in New Orleans.

Additionally, Rochelle performs standup, improv, and sketch around the country both individually and with the groups: Black Improv Alliance’s Wakanda Vs. Everybody, Black As Phuck, Switchblade, Edge Control, and No Lye Comedy. 

Notably she has performed improv at the New York Comic Con (2022), Black and Funny Ocean City Festival (2022), and Baton Rouge Improv Festival (2022); sketch in the Dallas Comedy Festival (2018) and the Los Angeles Diversity in Comedy Showcase (2019), and stand-up in the the Black Girl Giggles Festival (2018) and Tower City Comedy Festival (2022). Rochelle also hosted during the Austin Sketchfest (2022) and will be appearing in the Moontower Comedy Festival in April 2023.

Rochelle also wrote, directed, and starred in three plays centering her alter ego character, billionaire media heiress Stangela Angela Hemsworth Kingsley Winthrop Farouk Adams III: I’m Only Here for the Snacks, and Stangela for President, and Stangela’s Swamp Thing. The first two plays were both featured at Infringe Fest in New Orleans (2018 & 2019). 

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.

The Harold

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.

WILL CLEVELAND brings 20 years of theatre experience into his class. He has served as Artistic Director of ColdTowne since 2016 and trained in improv and sketch writing at New York's Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. He wrote and produced works for UCBComedy.com as well as produced for Above Average, Funny or Die, Official Comedy and more. His show "One Hour Til Air" received the B. Iden Payne award for best Improv Cast in 2019.

Advanced Scene Work

Prerequisite: must have taken a Level 2 improv class at ColdTowne

Strong group work, or “group mind,” is the focus of Level 3, where students take a deeper look at their scenework and begin to create shows that are more than just a montage of disconnected scenes. While continuing to strengthen and build on the lessons of past levels, various storytelling techniques and other skills are introduced to help students go from improvising a single scene to creating an entire longform improv show. 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.