These performing art classes are a great place to meet new people and learn new skills in an engaging and inviting atmosphere. Plus, given the number of schools in New York City that teach improv, you’ll be able to find a course with the right training level and atmosphere for you.
Improv is a fairly complex art form with a ton of different variations. Students may enroll in a course emphasizing short-form comedy improv, wherein performers attempt to tell jokes and make an audience laugh in disconnected scenes and games. Some classes may teach long-form improv, where students work through multiple scenes with the same characters and themes to tell complete stories over an evening of unscripted acting. Even musical improv classes teach students how to work with groups of performers to create whole musicals during a live performance. These courses are just a small sampling of the different kinds of improv exercises students can learn, and these classes are great places to meet like-minded performers with whom they can collaborate.
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Improvolution
Located out of Greenwich Village, Improvolution is a performance school that aims to make improv more accessible and less intimidating to the general public. Many people worry that they need to be naturally funny or gifted as actors to succeed at improv, and Improvolution aims to dispel these worries. The teachers at Improvolution are all experienced members of the theater troupe, and they aim to confer their own experience and wisdom upon their students. The goal is to help students understand how improv is a team sport and that the main goal of any scene is supporting the other performers and making the scene flow naturally. If you are a complete beginner, Improvolution offers an Intro to Improv course that will have you working through scenes in only a few hours.
The Brooklyn Comedy Collective
The Brooklyn Comedy Collective is relatively new on the NYC improv scene, having formed in 2018, but they are making a mark for themselves with high-quality improv education and offering an accessible performance space for up and coming artists. They offer drop–in improv classes that give students a great deal of flexibility in their training since they can come to whichever class dates fit their schedule. This also means that students will constantly be working on new exercises with different performers, which can greatly expand their chances to learn new skills and see new techniques in action. The Brooklyn Comedy Collective also regularly opens its theater space up to new troupes and acts, so once you are confident in your performance ability, you won’t have to look far to find an audience.
Caveat
If you are looking for a place to start to flex your improv skills, Caveat is a New York City theater that regularly hosts drop-in events for improv artists, comedians and musical improvisers. While they do offer training courses, their primary focus is on live shows that are themed around different traditional improv games, like an improvised TED talk or a long-form improv competition. These events allow students to experiment with their styles and crafts and provide them with an audience who can help judge their work. There are also audience tickets open to the public, meaning that aspiring improv artists can come in and enjoy a quality show, getting a better understanding of the contours of the NYC improv scene.
NEW YORK IMPROV THEATRE(8 Improv)
Founded in 2008 and located in Hell’s Kitchen, NEW YORK IMPROV THEATRE(8 Improv) is a theater troupe that has performed over,000 shows, including shows in Time Square and on national tours. They use their expertise and experience to provide students with detailed improv and comedy lessons that make the form more accessible. New students can enroll in one of their Introduction to Improv classes to learn foundational techniques and play beginner improv games. These workshops are very accessible to beginners, and the troupe often teaches classes as part of team-building workshops or other company activities, so you don’t need to be an aspiring comedian to get something from these classes. The theater also teaches specialized teen comedy workshops for high school students interested in the performing arts.
The Barrow Acting Group
The Barrow Acting Group is one of New York City’s most well-established off-Broadway acting troupes and training spaces. The Barrow Acting Group offers a wide range of immersive acting classes for aspiring professionals, including Improv courses for students of all experience and skill levels. These improv classes will help students become more comfortable with their creative voices, and they will get them working on both long and short-form scenes and games that help them develop their own stage personas. These classes can be taken as part of an improv education, or they can be used to supplement other acting classes, like the sketch comedy offerings or even the film and TV acting classes offered by The Barrow Acting Group.
Kissin Improv
Kissin Improv is an improv theater troupe located in the Upper West Side, and they have decades of experience, having performed more than,000 shows. Formed by Carl Kissin, who grew up in the Chicago improv scene, the school aims to provide students of all skill and experience levels with detailed improv training from experienced performers. Kissin Improv has introductory classes for beginners and live performance classes for students with experience and a desire for stage practice. Kissin Improv also regularly hosts online training sessions for students interested in learning improv but not ready to work at a live theater. These classes are a great way for students to get drop-in practice and training in an inviting, low-stress environment.
Comic Strip Live
Improv isn’t the only art form that requires you to think on your feet and create new material in real time. If you’ve taken a few improv classes or are looking for an alternative way to flex your creative muscles, consider enrolling in a stand-up comedy class at Comic Strip Live. Opening its doors in 1975, Comic Strip Live is the longest-running showcase comedy club in the world, and every night, they feature some of the best acts in the world. They also teach an unrivaled introduction to stand-up comedy class. This eight-week course will have students working with experienced stand-up comedians and instructors to work on honing a voice, writing material and building the confidence to perform their work. Then, at the end of the course, there will be a live public performance in which all of the students will perform a set on the Comic Strip live stage for a real audience.