In-Person: Youth Summer Camp!

Class Time/Dates: 9:00am - 3:00pm PST Monday-Friday // July 17, 18, 19, 20, 21

Schedule: 5 sessions

Prerequisite: None! Open to all youth Kindergarten - 12th Grade!

Tuition: $620

Looking for a fun way to spend those last days of summer? How about improv?

BATS Improv is excited to announce the debut of our in-person youth improv summer camp! This summer we welcome students at all levels of experience for a week-long session, July 17-21, for youth from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Led by our experienced coaches, the BATS Youth Summer Camp is the perfect place for anyone who wants to play onstage, create stories, be a part of an ensemble, play together through music and games, learn improv skills, and did we mention play?!? Each day, students will learn in age-level groups focusing on collaboration, imagination, listening, and fun culminating in a performance at the end of the week.

To secure a spot, please register below. Space is limited. Questions or concerns? Email bats@improv.org.

Please note that all class sales are final. If a class is under-enrolled, we may have to cancel it, in which case you’ll receive reimbursement in full. Please understand that this is the only time reimbursement will be offered. If your child cannot attend a class after payment is made, you can apply their tuition fee towards any future class with no expiration date.

Online: Actor or Improviser? with Zoe Galvez

Class Date/Time: Tuesdays 7:00-9:00pm // August 1, 8, 15, 22, 29

Sessions: 5 plus performance showcases

Class size: 12 students maximum

Tuition: $324

Prerequisite: Foundation 3 or coach approval; working actors without improv experience welcome

Email bats@improv.org for the code and other eligibility questions.

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"The chills and thrills of The Actor's Nightmare come to life in this class designed to supercharge your performance skills in two vital areas...acting and improv.

Did you know the camera reads your thoughts? It's time to level up your acting. Learn techniques for on-camera acting which translates to more truthful scenes onstage. What about your improv?

Are you ready to jump into the ultimate justification game?

Half of the session will be spent learning on-camera acting techniques, character development, and script analysis. The other half focuses on amping up your improv by deepening your ""yes and"" skills and your ability to think on your feet.

This class ends with a fun show...based on the format The Actor's Nightmare developed by Zoe Galvez.

Have you ever had the dream where it’s the day of the exam and you forgot to study? For scripted actors, the equivalent is being in a play but no one has given them a script. In The Actor’s Nightmare, we recreate that moment. The actors have a prepared script and the improvisers (who have never seen the script) riff off their lines. You’ll try both roles in this class, and experience how an actor prepares and how an improviser can make their lines seem like a theatrical play. "

Improvising In The Style of Tennessee Williams Plays with Rebecca Stockley

Class Time/Dates: Tuesday-Wednesday 2:00pm-6:00pm PST // August 1-2

Schedule: 2 sessions

Class size: 12 students maximum

Tuition: $149

Prerequisite: Foundation 5 or equivalent experience. Email bats@improv.org for the code and other eligibility questions.

I love improvising in the style of various playwrights. One of my favorites is Tennessee Williams. In this workshop, participants will explore the playwrights work, practice embodying people in that world, and express your own experience through the filter of Tennessee Williams’ style. The process we use in this workshop can be adapted to explore multiple styles of plays, film, or television.

The Pulitzer Prize winning 20th Century Playwright, Tennessee Williams is best known for his plays set in the American south* in the 50s and 60s. This workshop will provide opportunities to explore the world, the characters, the secrets and the music of the language of Tennessee Williams Plays.

Workshop participants will use tropes of Williams’ plays to spontaneously create characters, scenes, and plays.

Pre-workshop exploration: Many of William’s plays were made into great films: Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and The Glass Menagerie all provide viewers with insight into the playwright’s voice and both the commonalities and differences in his work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Williams

*Our exploration of the style will not include the innate racism of the Jim Crow South - but will be set in a parallel universe where people of all nationalities and backgrounds can be equally neurotic and mysterious.

In-Person: Mask with William Hall

Class Time/Dates: Thursday 9:00am-5:00pm PST // August 3

Schedule: 1 session

Class length: 8 hours

Class size: 16 students maximum

Tuition: $133

Prerequisite: None! Open to adults 18 and older

This one day intensive will explore the impact of masks on the wearer and the audience. A mask can set free a fully realized character. We'll use masks from William's extensive collection of Commedia Masks, Tragedy masks, paper mask and other fun masks.  Come to play. 

"I felt that the mask was ALLOWING me to be free.  The characters of the mask DO NOT EXIST UNTIL the second you wear the mask. then, puff, there they are: that is MAGIC!” -Past workshop participant 

“The naturalistic mask expresses essential human types, and the non-naturalistic mask embodies forces.  The moment the mask absolves you in that way, the fact that it gives you something to hide behind makes it unnecessary for you to hide.  That is the fundamental paradox that exists in all acting: that because you are in safety, you can go into danger.  It is very strange, but all theater is based on that.  Because there is a greater security, you can take greater risks; and because here it is not you, and therefore everything about you is hidden, you can let yourself appear.  And that is what the mask is doing: the thing you are most afraid of losing, you lose right away—your ordinary defenses, your ordinary expressions, your ordinary face that you hide behind; and now you hide a hundred percent because you know the person looking at you doesn’t think it is you, and on account of that you can come right out of your shell.  We are so imprisoned, also, in such a narrow repertory that even if part of us wanted to, we actually can’t open our eyes or furrow our brows or move our mouths and cheeks beyond certain limits.  And suddenly we are given the capacity to do it: we open our eyes wider and raise our eyebrows higher than we ever have before.”   -Peter Brook on “Masks and Images”

No prior mask or acting experience necessary. Wear clothing that will allow you to move comfortably.

Online: Sense Object Work with Stephen Kearin and Brian Jones: Using Mime & Spacework to Find Improv Inspiration

Class Time/Dates: 6:30pm-10:00pm // Thursday August 3rd

Schedule: 1

Class size: 14 students maximum

Prerequisite: Some improv experience encouraged. Email bats@improv.org to determine eligibility.

Tuition: $60

Stephen Kearin (BATS, Impro Theatre) and Brian Jones (Jim Henson Co, Impro Theatre Alum) invite you to the workshop where we'll deep dive into physicality, mime, and spacework to bring your environments to the forefront of your improv play. Learn how your character can come alive with an awareness of objects around you. You'll explore using the five senses in your play and how you can rely on physicality as a tool for narrative and connecting with your partner on stage.

In-Person: Presence and Play: Getting Out of Your Head and Into Your Body with Zoe Galvez and Stephanie Dennison

Class Time/Dates: August 4, 5, 6 // Friday 6:00-10:00pm, Saturday/Sunday 10:00am-5:00pm

Schedule: 3 sessions

Class size: 16 students maximum

Prerequisite: None.

Tuition: $324

Coaches: Zoe Galvez, Stephanie Dennison

Are you a "talking head" on stage? Do you ever find yourself onstage, not knowing what to do with your body or what should come next? Are you afraid of being onstage alone, unsure about owning the stage with your own presence?

Get out of your head and into your body in this training designed to amplify your stage presence and narrative skills. Build your confidence while you train in physicality. Our bodies hold wisdom, but do you have full access to this part of your brain?

In this class...

...you will move, access emotion and work physically with an ensemble

...you will learn to fill the theatre with your energy especially if you've been Zooming the last few years!

...you will work with professional coaches, Zoe Galvez and Stephanie Dennison, who will guide you through a physical journey that will elevate your play.

Come play and embody your presence on stage. No one will call you a talking head anymore!

In-Person: Things We Learned from Keith: Impro Principles in Action with William Hall, Rebecca Stockley, Paul Killam, and Diane Rachel

Class Time/Dates: August 7, 8, 9, 10 // Monday 2:00-6:00pm, Tuesday/Wednesday 7:00-10:00pm, Thursday 2:00-4:00pm, 7:00-9:00pm

Schedule: 4 sessions

Class size: 14 students maximum

Prerequisite: None.

Tuition: $324

Coaches: William Hall, Diane Rachel, Rebecca Stockley, Paul Killam

4 Days of impro with a one evening Maestro* show on BATS Stage

Starting in the mid 80s, this group of improv coaches took every opportunity to explore improvisation with Keith Johnstone.** From improv games to life theories to practical production advice, Keith relentlessly studied, learned and shared with improvisers all over the world. We want to pass on the joy, inspiration, and insight we gathered over the years.

Keith's influence on the way we teach and perform is immeasurable and we would love to share that with you.

*Link to Maestro Description: https://impro.global/formats/maestro-impro

**Link to Keith Johnstone Obituary New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/14/theater/keith-johnstone-dead.html

In-Person: The Space In-Between: Improvising Nonlinear Long Form Stories with Dave Dennison

Class Time/Dates: August 11, 12 & 13 // Friday 6:00-10:00pm, Saturday and Sunday 10:00am - 5:00pm

Schedule: 3 sessions

Class size: 12 students maximum

Prerequisite: Improv performance experience.

Email bats@improv.org for the code and other eligibility questions.

Tuition: $324

Traditional improv stories are told sequentially (beginning/middle/end) and include every step that is relevant (the couple meets, they fall in love, they are separated, they come back together). We are trained as improvisers to do the next most obvious thing: If someone mentions the party coming up, the next scene will be at that party. In this 3 day intensive we will explore what happens if we instead jump time (backwards or forwards) or space (to characters that we have not met) with the understanding that wherever we go will be connected to the rest of the story. This type of storytelling invites the audience to make more connections, to construct the story themselves and experience the story at a deeper level. During the class we will focus on making specific character, relationship and location choices and inhabiting the realities we are creating.

The class ends with a showcase performance.

In-Person: Guilty Pleasures: Improvised Soap Opera with Derek Yee

Class Time/Dates: Monday-Wednesday 11:00am-2:00pm PST // August 14-16

Schedule: 3 sessions

Class size: 12 students maximum

Tuition: $171

Prerequisite: Foundation 3 or equivalent. Email bats@improv.org for the code and other eligibility questions.

Long lost twins? Business empires crushed? Love affairs revealed? It all happens in Guilty Pleasures: Improvised Soaps!

In this three day workshop you’ll learn our Guilty Pleasures format: three non-consecutive improvised soap opera episodes, each inspired by a suggestion from the audience. We’ll work on:

-The types of characters, relationships, and tropes in a typical American soap

-Playing with scene structure and creating separate narratives within an episode

-Using movement to enhance and punctuate dialog

In-Person: Musical Improv with Brian Lohmann and Joshua Raoul Brody

Class Time/Dates: Thursday-Sunday 10:00am - 5:00pm PST // August 17, 18, 19, 20

Schedule: 4 sessions

Class length: 7 hours

Class size: 16 students maximum

Prerequisite: None! Open to all adults 18 and over!

Tuition: $475

Children make up songs effortlessly. Why do adults panic and freeze in the face of this playful, natural human expression? This intensive will teach relaxation, listening, introduce several song structures and explore different types of songs that express a range of feelings, emotions and wants. Songs are monologues (or poems) with a melody. Coaching will be given to help you act your songs as well as sing your songs. This intensive is a supportive place to dive into the great joy of making up songs together. Brian Lohmann is part of the improv song duo “The Velours” and has been improvising songs with Joshua since the late 80s when they toured “Johnny Lonely’s Unhappy Hour,” in London and Northern Europe. This class is open to beginners and advanced students and the instructors will work with you at your level.

Online: Fun with Puppets with Brian Jones

Class Time/Date: 6:00pm - 8:00pm PST// Thursday, August 17

Prerequisite: Some acting or improv experience preferred. Email bats@improv.org for the code and other eligibility questions.

Schedule: 1 session

Class length: 2 hours

Class size: 12 students maximum

Tuition: $35

Taught by Henson trained puppeteer, Brian Jones (The Muppets, Frank and Emmet), this workshop will be using puppets as our improv characters. Using puppets, spacework, and mime techniques, we'll learn how to isolate parts of your body that become the character. Short scenes and games using a variety of puppets, hand gestures and music.

In-Person: Improvised Kung Fu with Derek Yee

Class Time/Dates: Monday-Thursday 11:00am-2:00pm PST // August 21-24

Schedule: 4 sessions

Class size: 12 students maximum

Tuition: $228

Prerequisite: Longform experience and must be okay with lots of physicality.

Enter the mystical, made-up world of an ancient China where kung fu rules. Inspired by wuxia movies like “House of Flying Daggers” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” this class will bring to life a fully improvised kung fu movie.

This class will teach:

-The basics of improvised kung fu-inspired fighting (basic striking, blocking, and foot work; how to keep each other safe; and the rhythm of a fight) — you do not need to have prior martial arts experience!

-How fights are incorporated into the narrative and their function

-How to play the characters and narrative structure of the genre

Please be dressed to move (shorts, activewear, or sweatpants but not jeans)! While you’ll be going at your own pace, there will be a lot of movement in this class.

Online: Do the Wrong Thing (Dangerous Improv) with Brian Jones

Class Time/Date: 6:00pm - 8:00pm PST// Thursday, August 24

Prerequisite: Some acting or improv experience preferred. Email bats@improv.org for the code and other eligibility questions.

Schedule: 1 session

Class length: 2 hours

Class size: 12 students maximum

Tuition: $35

After we learn to be polite, gracious, generous improvisers, we can sometimes forget there is a right time and place to misbehave. Moments where saying NO and doing the wrong thing are actually the best YES AND you can do. Sometimes we need our scene partners to put up a fight as we tell stories of conflict and comedy. You'll learn how to communicate those wants and how to help tell stories where danger is needed. (Genres explored include Buddy Cop, Rom Com, Dickens and Noir).

In-Person: Characters with Regina Saisi

Class Time/Dates: August 25, 26, 27 // Friday 6:00-10:00pm, Saturday and Sunday 10:00am - 5:00pm

Schedule: 3 sessions

Class size: 12 students maximum

Prerequisite: None. Open to all adults 18+!

Tuition: $324

"One of my favorite things about improv is playing anyone, men, women, children, a cactus and getting lost in their world! In this class we’ll work on creating character. We’ll find their thoughts, needs and emotional base. We’ll learn how to play anybody and everybody needed in a scene or story. Using our imaginations and a variety of outside prompts, we’ll explore the world of people."

-Regina Saisi

In-Person: The First Three Scenes with Rez Graham

Class Time/Dates: 7:00pm-10:00pm PST // Monday-Wednesday, August 28, 29, 30

Schedule: 3 sessions

Class size: 12 students maximum

Tuition: $171

Prerequisite: Foundation 5 or equivalent. Email bats@improv.org to determine eligibility.

The first three scenes of a longform are the most important scenes in the show because they set up the foundation for everything to come. In this class, we'll explore how to create a strong foundation for a longform narrative by honing in on those scenes. By learning how to cultivate those early offers in the first three scenes, we can set up a rock-solid foundation for the rest of the show. This class will challenge you to explore and experiment with those initial scenes, helping you to break out of old habits and find new ways to push your creativity. Throughout the class, you'll learn techniques for developing characters and storylines that will keep your audience engaged and invested in the show. You'll also work on improving your listening and collaboration skills, so you can effectively build off of your fellow improvisers' ideas and create a cohesive narrative together.