THE DETAILS
Costs are:
$60 per student for each 4-hour Master Class
$180 for FULL CLASS Pass - Gets you into any class. ($240 value)

=====> BUY A FULL CLASS PASS =====> <=====

In the event that a class sells out, as has already happened to a few of these, you'll be able to purchase an audit ticket that will allow you to sit and watch the class but not participate. You can buy a ticket for auditing a sold out class at the above "REGISTER" link.

- Particulars -
If you buy a FULL CLASS PASS, please email your class selections to Shana Merlin, our Education Director
She can be found at the link above or at education EAT outofboundsimprov DIRT com
There is a 16 student maximum in each class except Joe Bill's which is set at 24.
Workshops will be open to anyone, but it is recommended that students have some improv experience.
Registration will open soon and close at 11pm on Thursday, September 3.
On the day of the class, students can register in person with cash or check if the class limit has not been met.
Students can register using our online purchasing site just like show tickets.
A student's spot in a workshop is forfeited if they are more than 10 minutes late to class. Anyone on the waiting list will be able to take this spot. Additionally, any student who is a no-show will not be refunded their class fees.

Please send your questions and concerns to Shana Merlin, our Education Director.

- Scholarship -
There is 1 class and show scholarship available for this year's festival. The winner of said scholarship will get a full ride to all classes and an ALL SHOWS pass. Entries are due August 14, 2009.
Go HERE for more details about this great opportunity.

- CLASS DESCRIPTIONS -

Bill Arnett - Playing the Moment
Audiences can't see inside your head. There are no set pieces or costumes. The only thing they can experience is what they are shown, what they see in any given moment. In this workshop we will work on recognizing your own choices and your partners choices through the lens of an observer.

About Bill: Bill Arnett has been improvising and teaching at i.O. Chicago (formerly Improv Olympic) for the last nine years. He performs in the weekly Armando Diaz all-star show and as a sketch writer and performer with Maximum Party Zone, he has performed for an HBO showcase and optioned a screen play. As a teacher and director he has traveled around the country giving workshops for colleges, festivals and independent theaters. Bill writes a popular improv blog at www.iochicago.net

Charna Halpern says "Bill Arnett is one of the best teachers at iO. He is so brilliant at analyzing what is necessary for a scene to work and has a no holds barred approach in his teaching. Yet he is kind in his notes while always telling it like it is. He has found the right balance between critical and nurturing."

Jill Bernard - If it Makes You Happy
Too often improv feels like a chore, filled with right decisions and good and bad choices. In this session with Jill Bernard, participants will learn the joy and success that follows doing exactly what tickles them. Please wear closed toe shoes to this workshop.

About Jill: Jill Bernard has been performing with ComedySportz-Twin Cities since 1993, and is also a founding member of HUGE Theater. Her one-woman improv piece, Drum Machine, has been featured at the Chicago Improv Festival, the Toronto Improv Jamboree, the Miami Improv Festival, Philadelphia Improv Festival, and the ComedySportz National Tournament, among others. She has taught and performed improv in Norway, Canada, and over twenty-five of these United States, in cities that include Juneau, AK; Spokane and Seattle, WA; Washington DC; Bowling Green, KY; Phoenix, AZ; and also on an episode of MTV “Made.”

She is one-half of the duo SCRAM with Joe Bill of the Annoyance Theater. An Artistic Associate of the Chicago Improv Festival, she has studied at the Annoyance Theater, Improv Olympic, the Brave New Workshop and other organizations; and is the recipient of the 2005 Chicago Improv Festival Avery Schreiber Ambassador of Improv Award, and the 2007 Miami Improv Festival award for Best Solo Show. She was also the winner, in January 2000, of the Executive Vice President Award for outstanding contribution to Human Resources, the highest award in the American Express Human Resources function.

Joe Bill - The Improv Scene and Intensive Feedback Buffet
This workshop will focus on the keys to playing a great Improv Scene: Powerful Opening Moments, Proactive Listening & Reacting and Definitively Working The 3 Points of Character Focus to forward into the middle and through to the end of the Scene. Feedback will focus on identifying tendencies and habits that aid or block the keys to successful scenes, as well as opportunities for growth towards becoming a dynamic Improviser. Improvisers of all experience levels will find this workshop extremely useful, without feeling hindered by those with less experience or intimidated by those with more experience. I’ll show you the tools to employ to show up with confidence with ANYONE on stage in Scenic Improvisation or Scenic Game.

About Joe: Joe Bill is widely regarded as one of the best Teachers of Scenic and Comedic Improvisation in America today. He first encountered Improvisation in 1977, and by 1990 he was making his living as a nationally touring stand-up comedian, after having graduated from The Second City Training Center, performed professionally with 5 different Sketch Comedy and Improv groups, Co-founded The Annoyance Theater as well as studied with Del Close (at Improv Olympic), and Martin DeMaat, Michael Gellman, Bernie Sahlins and others . It was then that Joe’s passion for teaching Improvisation kicked into high gear and a unique approach to Improvised Scene and Character began to be articulated by a number of teachers at Chicago’s Annoyance Theater, led by the visionary Artistic Director of Annoyance, Mick Napier.

Since then Joe has evolved the Annoyance approach into POWER IMPROV, which he has been teaching all over the U.S., Canada and Europe, at Festivals, Theaters and Universities since 2000. Joe has performed, coached, directed and innovated Improv Structure with a vast number of successful groups including The Screw Puppies at Annoyance, Georgia Pacific at iO Chicago, with whom he developed The Bat, The Throwdown at Donny’s Skybox at Second City and The Playground and The Scramble which he has taught and directed in 9 cities in the U.S. using performers from a mix of Theaters and Groups in each city. Joe has taught and or performed at every major Improv Festival in The United States, and he also tours and performs with Minneapolis Improv Mastermind Jill Bernard in their 2 person show, SCRAM!, which features 3 different 2 person scenes that happen at the same time.

Joe currently teaches and does corporate training at iO Chicago, is an Artistic Associate for The Chicago Improv Festival, and acts as an Artistic Adviser for a number of Improvisation and Comedy Theaters all over the U.S. and Canada.

Please note the start time for this class which is 2pm whereas most start times are Noon.

Craig Cackowski - Sustaining a Scene
Sure, your scenework's pretty good. But can you do a 10-minute scene? A 20-minute scene? An hourlong scene? Craig Cackowski shares some of the techniques he's learned about long. slow, patient scenework from his years working with such groups as Dasariski and Quartet.

About Craig: Craig Cackowski has been improvising since 1989, and teaching it since 1995. He currently performs and teaches at the IO West and Second City LA theaters, where he may be seen in such shows as Armando, Cog, and Dasariski. His three-man group, Dasariski, known for their "slow-play" style of comedy, recently opened their first scripted show, Loose Fish, to universal acclaim. Film and television appearances include Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development, and Year Of The Dog.

Rebecca and Rich Sohn - 3-D Improv
What if your characters were more than just dialog generating talking heads?  What if the way the way they moved, interacted with objects and inhabited the space told us as much about who they were as the narrative they spewed?  Find out in this fast paced tune-up of your characters physical world.

About Rebecca and Rich: Rich and Rebecca Sohn have been ensemble members of The Annoyance since 1992. They’ve written, performed, improvised, understudied and directed over 50 shows there. Currently they improvise every Tuesday night in Bad Touch after teaching their respective classes.

Rebecca Sohn is thrilled to be returning to Austin. She’s an alum of the Second City ETC and the Touring Company. Currently she writes, performs and directs for Second City Communications. She has taught for Annoyance, Second City and many festivals around the country. Performing credits include The Screw Puppies, Co-Ed Prison Sluts (US), MadCap, Grabass: A Carnival of Dummy (Annoyance), Armando Diaz Theatrical Experience and Hootenanny (iO). Directing credits include, The Perfect Wave, Imaginary Friends, and Photobooth (Annoyance). As an actor she has performed with Steppenwolf, Remy Bumppo and others. She is 1/3rd of the improv group, Switchboard who performed and taught in Austin last year.

Rich Sohn is excited to be making his second visit to Austin and hopefully not his last. He’s not trying to pander; he really likes it here. In Chicago he performs, teaches, directs and writes for Annoyance Productions; writes for Second City Communications and performs with iO (formerly ImprovOlympic). He can currently be seen improvising in the shows Bad Touch (Annoyance) and Willie Nelson Slept Here (iO) and performing in the show Death Roast (Annoyance). He is married to Rebecca Sohn and very happy about it.

Patti Stiles - Creative Impulse and Narrative Intuition
As improvisers we are storytellers. Our work is based on creating stories through spontaneous moments). Be it short form, long form, comedic, or dramatic the same narrative principals apply. Many improvisers learn a series of trained responses (say yes to everything) instead of developing their creative impulse and narrative intuition (what is the story, whose story is it, and craving the unknown). This master class focuses on developing creative impulse and narrative intuition while looking at some common narrative pitfalls such as why we seem to repeat the same stories and have a difficult time finding endings.

About Patti: Patti is an actor, improviser, director, instructor and playwright who has been working professionally in theatre since 1983. She served her theatre apprenticeship at the world renowned Loose Moose Theatre with Keith Johnstone. It is her knowledge, technique and application of her improvisational skills, which makes Patti a unique and dynamic instructor. Her interpretation and extension of Johnstone’s work and philosophy, combined with her wealth of experience on the world improv stage, has made her a “must have” teacher for performers and companies wishing to create spontaneous theatre with fine skill, strong narrative and style.

In demand worldwide as an improvisation performer and teacher, Patti has worked in Canada, the USA, England, Holland, Switzerland, Norway, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, France, New Zealand, Thailand and Australia for numerous improvisation companies as well as The Central School of Speech and Drama (UK), The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (UK), The Actors Centre (UK), Citadel Theatre (CA), Theatre Calgary (CA), and the National Theatre (AU) to name a few.

Patti is the Artistic Director of Impro Melbourne (AU) and past Artistic Director of Dream Kitchen Theatre (Toronto Ontario Canada), and Rapid Fire Theatre (Edmonton Alberta Canada).

Rich Talarico - Plotless Improv
Most improv teachers and classes put the focus on WHO WHAT AND WHERE. This work shop encourages students to forget the WHAT. WHAT is plot, and a performer can't easily play WHAT. You can say WHAT but you can't as easily play it. You can play WHO and you can play WHERE. See how by focusing on WHO and WHERE... WHAT miraculously shows up. Emphasizing object work and character development, this class is ideal for students looking for worry free improv. By making small moves and ignoring plot, improvisers find they have more options down the line.

About Rich: Rich Talarico is a seventeen year improv veteran having studied with Stephen Colbert, Charna Halpern and Del Close. Rich has appeared in the improv shows Trio, Dasariski, Strap Heads, Aramando Diaz & Close Quarters to name a few. Rich has written projects for Paramount, Comedy Central, TBS and HBO. He was a writer for Saturday Night Live and wrote, produced and sometimes appeared on Mad TV. Rich trained and performed at Second City Chicago and IO Chicago. You may have seen him in TV commercials, on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Early Edition, What About Joan, or the feature film High Fidelity. Currently, Rich performs every week at IO West with Dasariski.

Please note the location of Rich Talarico's workshop which is different than all of the others. Rich will be at the Salvage Vanguard Theatre and not our usual workshop spot which is The Hideout. Also, Please note the start time for this class which is 2pm whereas most start times are Noon.

The Way of Improv: : A Zen Approach to Improv
The basketball player, the jazz musician, and the theatrical improviser all must simply go with the flow of what is happening... And, ultimately everyone must bend for the common good. Learn to go with the flow. It's tools not rules in this workshop. Each improv situation is different...and a rule that works in one situation --does not work in another. Cut the rules loose and learn to go with the flow. Team work is everything here. As the Hopi saying goes: "One finger can't lift a pebble."