Shortform: (usually on Fridays)
fun and fast-paced improvised theatre, filled with scenes, songs, games, and lots of audience participation and suggestions.

Read more about Improv »
Longform: (usually on Saturdays)
full-length, narrative, genre-driven, completely improvised stories based on audience suggestions.

Read more about Improv »

Specialty

Specialty classes give you more opportunities to play and have fun while deepening your improv knowledge.

Classes range from one to four weeks and explore a variety of improv specialties: working with puppets, improvising song or freestyle rap, using your voice in a radio drama, honing in on the potential of a positive mindset and more! These classes are a great place for all improvisers to explore a distinct element of improv in more depth, working with coaches who are skilled in that particular area.

Upcoming Classes:

Puppetry for Improvised Storytelling with Brian Jones

Fridays, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM


October 1 - November 19, 2021 
Online

Schedule: 8 sessions + 1 student invite-only performance
Class dates: October 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, November 5, 12 & 19 
Class length: 2 hours (16 hours total)
Class size: 10 students maximum
Tuition: $299
Prerequisite: Foundation 1 or higher

 Learn to breathe life into your characters with a focus on emotional animation.  Each week will focus on a specific skill set that can be used in all narrative genre improvisations.  Class includes lessons on physicality and using the frame, emotional animation, ensemble storytelling and music.  Students are encouraged to have their own hand/rod puppet (Puppet with rods attached to each hand) but if not, a simple puppet with only the mouth will be enough to get a ton out of the class experience! Brian Michael Jones, (Brian Henson’s Puppet Up, The Muppets, Muppets Most Wanted, The Jim Henson Company) teaches puppetry for genre based narrative improv.  All puppetry skill levels welcome. 

What past Students have said:

"If you have ever considered taking a puppet class, this is it. I am learning skills I can apply to my acting, improvising and parenting. Brian Jones is an amazing teacher and every week I laugh until my cheeks hurt."

 

About Brian 

Brian Michael Jones is an actor in Los Angeles.  He has performed regularly with Impro Theatre, improvising countless full length plays over the last 15 years.  His most recent TV/Film work includes Penny Dreadful, American Housewife, Will and Grace, and the upcoming Netflix feature film Mank.  In addition to his TV/Film work, he improvises and puppeteers with Brian Henson's Puppet Up and with Disney's The Muppets.  As a teacher he has taught a variety of improv classes including, Character, Storytelling, Spacework, Genre, and Puppetry.  As a director he has coached and hosted shows for the Pepperdine Improv Troupe, Impro Theatre's Shakespeare Unscripted, Stephen King Improvised, and Rom Com Improvised, and Los Angeles TheatreSports.

 
Coach

Brian Jones

Stephen King Improvised with Brian Jones

Sundays, 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM


October 3 - November 28, 2021 
Online

Schedule: 8 sessions
Class dates: October 3, 10, 17, 24, November 7, 14, 21 & 28 **There will not be class on Sunday October 31st
Class length: 2 hours (16 hours total)
Class size: 10 students maximum
Tuition: $299
Prerequisite: BATS Foundation 4 or Long form experience. **This class requires head of school or coach approval. Please email bats@improv.org with a concise list of your improv experience to determine eligibility.

Students will dive into the twisted world of Stephen King's improvised town in Maine, where the nightmares rise and fall with the tide and our improvisers weave a tale of wonder, horror, and suspense based on the audience's suggestion. Class will cover skills in narration, reactions, emotions and building suspense.

 

About Brian 

Brian Michael Jones is an actor in Los Angeles.  He has performed regularly with Impro Theatre, improvising countless full length plays over the last 15 years.  His most recent TV/Film work includes Penny Dreadful, American Housewife, Will and Grace, and the upcoming Netflix feature film Mank.  In addition to his TV/Film work, he improvises and puppeteers with Brian Henson's Puppet Up and with Disney's The Muppets.  As a teacher he has taught a variety of improv classes including, Character, Storytelling, Spacework, Genre, and Puppetry.  As a director he has coached and hosted shows for the Pepperdine Improv Troupe, Impro Theatre's Shakespeare Unscripted, Stephen King Improvised, and Rom Com Improvised, and Los Angeles TheatreSports.

 
Coach

Brian Jones

In-Person: Improvised Star Trek with Ken Robertson

October 9 - October 30, 2021 
Bayfront Theater, San Francisco

Class Time/Dates: 11:00am - 2:00pm PSTSaturdays//October 9, 16, 23 & 30
Prerequisites: Longform or narrative improv experience
**This class requires Head of School Approval. Please email a concise list of your improv experience to bats@improv.org to determine eligibility
Class size: 10 students maximum
Class length: 3 hours per class (12 hours total)
Tuition: $299

The Universe is calling! Let the stars be your stage as you explore strange new improv worlds and boldly go on a Star Trek.  You'll (spontaneously) create the extraordinary crew of a starship and the alien characters they'll encounter. you'll use technology from hundreds of years in the future. You'll create new stories in this vibrant, technicolor sci-fi genre loved by millions. 

And you'll have more fun than any sentient being from a class-M planet can imagine.
 
Are you ready to fly through the galaxy faster than light, "beam down" to undiscovered planets, and take your sci-fi improv to new heights?  Sign up now, before this class warps out of orbit.
 
Coach

Ken Robertson

Social Media Skits with Larry Dorsey Jr. 

Sunday, 2:30 PM - 5:30 PM

October 24, 2021 
Online

Schedule: 1 session
Class dates: October 24
Class length: 3 hours total
Class size: 8 students maximum
Tuition: Early Bird: $43//Tuition: $54
Prerequisite: None! All Adults 18 and over are eligible ** Please have a cell phone available for use during class

Are you spending a bunch of time watching Tik Toks, Youtube, and other online videos? We think it's time that you start making your own! Learn how to edit, storyboard, and direct your own sketches with someone who has over 10 million combined views across platforms

 

About Larry

Larry Dorsey Jr. is a storyteller born & raised in San Francisco. He is known in the city for his adventurous lifestyle and as a radio personality for the premiere Hip Hop station in the Bay Area (106kmel #iHeartMedia).

Before being involved with BATS, he crafted his talents in various forms of performance arts. Music/Poetry (shout out to Youth Speaks) has been a part of his life since childhood. He is also a life long joke teller, first learning the craft of Stand-up while working security at The Punchline/Cobbs Comedy Clubs, finally hitting the stage after taking a workshop at the famous San Jose Improv.

He graduated from SF State University majoring in Creative Writing, Academy of Art University majoring in Motion Pictures & Television, and the Meisner Technique Studio acting program. He has also studied at different theaters around the Bay (i.e. the A.C.T.)- in classes ranging from clowning to public speaking.

His free time is dedicated to creating content for social media- follow him to learn more or to check out some of his art: (url) @larrydorseyjr

 
Coach

Larry Dorsey Jr.

Coffeehouse Improv with Brian Jones

Tuesday, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM


November 2 - December 21, 2021 
Online

Schedule: 8 sessions
Class dates: November 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, December 7, 14 & 21  
Class length: 2 hours (16 hours total)
Class size: 12 students maximum
Tuition: $299
Prerequisite: None! Open to all adults 18 and older.

Students will learn how to improvise poems, short stories, songs, stand up comedy, and monologues, all based audience's suggestions. The class ends with a one night only, friends and family performance.

 

About Brian 

Brian Michael Jones is an actor in Los Angeles.  He has performed regularly with Impro Theatre, improvising countless full length plays over the last 15 years.  His most recent TV/Film work includes Penny Dreadful, American Housewife, Will and Grace, and the upcoming Netflix feature film Mank.  In addition to his TV/Film work, he improvises and puppeteers with Brian Henson's Puppet Up and with Disney's The Muppets.  As a teacher he has taught a variety of improv classes including, Character, Storytelling, Spacework, Genre, and Puppetry.  As a director he has coached and hosted shows for the Pepperdine Improv Troupe, Impro Theatre's Shakespeare Unscripted, Stephen King Improvised, and Rom Com Improvised, and Los Angeles TheatreSports.

 
Coach

Brian Jones

In-Person: Family Drama Intensive
December 3 - 5

Fri - Sun, Dec. 3 - Dec. 5 
Bayfront Theater, San Francisco

Class Time/Dates: Fri. 6:00pm - 10pm PST; Sat. & Sun. 10:00am - 5:00pm PST//There will be a 1 hour break on Saturday and Sunday for lunch
Prerequisites: Performance Experience.
**This class requires Head of School Approval. Please email a concise list of your improv experience to bats@improv.org to determine eligibility
Class size: 10 students maximum
Class length: 4 - 6 hours per day (20 hours total instruction)
Tuition: $299

**Class will culminate in a friends and family performance in the BayFront Theatre**

As we return to the joy of improvising in person, why not take a deep dive into a format that’s about loved ones gathering together?
 
Family Drama is an improvised 3 Act Stage play set at a family gathering.  The format was created by Dave Dennison and first performed at BATS Improv in 2004 and has appeared regularly on the BATS schedule since then.
 
Family Drama challenges five improvisers to take a few suggestions from the audience and create a family of characters with rich histories individually and in relationship to one another.  It’s a great format for improvisers who aspire to slow down and be in the moment.  The action of the play unfolds in real time in one location in a naturalistic style. Family Drama pushes the players to find the specifics of their characters,  the details of their family, and the deeper emotional truths that connect them.
 
In this intensive, we will work on creating distinct characters and supporting the choices of our fellow players.  Defining and embodying relationships will be a key focus as well as listening: not just to take in and remember information, but to let the truth of what is said have an impact on the character.
 
Coach

Dave Dennison