This year we have guests from across the country joining in person to perform and teach improv, stand-up, and writing workshops! Each of the workshops are $50 and run from 2-2.5 hours. Other than our digital workshop on Sunday, November 7th, all classes will be held in-person at the Alchemy training center (400 Birnie Street Greenville, SC).
As a special offer, you can use the promo code “threefer” to get 10% off if you register for 3 or more workshops! Here is the full list of workshops and instructors, click each title to register.
Saturday, November 6th, 2021
10:00am IMPROV WORKSHOP with Marlene Thompson: “Say Yes to Character”
Creating a character onstage is one of the key building blocks of improv, and it’s just as important to make sure that you stay in character no matter what happens. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to make choices to support your character while also saying yes to your scene partner.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, Marlene Thompson is an improviser, a stand up and actor residing in Asheville, NC. She moved to the mountains in 2015 from Chicago, where she studied improv and sketch at the Second City Conservatory and iO Chicago. She’s a founding member of and performer with several local improv troupes and taught with Asheville Improv Collective. She also produces the YouTube political comedy show, From the Ashes with Marlene Thompson. You can catch her all around Asheville doing stand-up and make-um-ups.
12:30pm IMPROV WORKSHOP with Harison Brookie: “Teen Improv Bootcamp” – SOLD OUT
There’s a special kind of chaotic magic that happens when teenagers do improv comedy. In this workshop Harrison Brookie will take that lightning and try to help performers bottle it into a laser beam. The group will learn specific techniques to help notice, heighten, and join amazing scenes.
In 2004, Harrison Brookie began performing short-form, long-form, and sketch comedy with Clemson University’s Mock Turtle Soup. After performing and teaching for years at the DSI Comedy Theater in Chapel Hill, NC he came back to the upstate to start the Alchemy Comedy Theater. He is now the Executive Director of the theater which just celebrated it’s 10 year of live shows and classes. As a veteran high school educator and the creator of Alchemy’s comedy curriculum he loves teaching improv almost as much as he loves doing it.
3:00pm STAND-UP WORKSHOP with Andrew Cornelius: “Mining Improv for Stand Up Gold”
In this workshop, stand up comedian (Ice House, Cool Beans Comedy) and improviser (The Magnet, PIT, ComedySportz and others) Andrew Cornelius will get you up to the mic to improvise, monologue, and polish towards a stand up bit. Using improvisation principles, Andrew will help you brainstorm on your feet in the first round, and then suggest stand up comedy structural elements (clarifying the set-up, trimming away unnecessary detail, personalization, opportunities for callbacks, etc.) to polish trash-into-treasure for the second round. This workshop works great for improvisers who want to try out stand-up with an experienced guide or stand-up comics who want help steering improvised material into their set. No prior experience is necessary.
Andrew Cornelius is a stand-up comedian, improviser, and emerging writer. He was the host of Intrigue.TV’s “Just Eat It!,” a restaurant review show that is now available on YouTube. Andrew also played “Preston” in the indie comedy feature, “Captain Hagen’s Bed & Breakfast” streaming on Amazon. Sometimes children recognize him as “Coach Scalp” from Nick Jr.’s “Platy & Jackie’s Mixed Up Challenges.”
Andrew started his comedy career in Chicago with improvisation classes at Second City, iO, and the Annoyance Theater. He took his skills to New York City where he was on house teams for the Magnet, the P.I.T. (People’s Improv Theater), ComedySportz and others. Andrew has performed stand up comedy at notable venues like the Ice House (Pasadena) and the Ventura Comedy Club. He has hosted numerous shows including sets at the Finger Lakes Comedy Festival (Ithaca), and featured at the Burbank Comedy Festival, Omaha Comedy Festival, Tim Northern Comedy Festival (Louisville), New South Comedy Festival (Greenville), Western Oregon Comedy Competition (Portland), and the Big Little Festival (San Antonio).
Sunday, November 7th
5:00pm EST Digital IMPROV WORKSHOP with Stephanie Rae: “Build Your Own Midform”
Mid-form needs you! In the space between short-form and long-form, mid-form improv is the perfect place for creating mini-narratives. We’ll discuss the essentials of plot structure and techniques for editing and transitions. Then, after identifying the types of narratives you each enjoy, you and your partner(s) will create a unique format for a ten-minute, improvised show. You might stick to the rules of ‘classic improv,’ or you might use props, costumes, and music. The possibilities are endless!
Students will learn the basic elements of popular long and short form pieces, creative scene editing, and how to build a midform from scratch.
Stephanie Rae has been studying traditional and musical improv for eleven years. She’s directed a Boyz II Men themed show for UCB’s Del Close Marathon, guest played with everyone from ComedySportz to the Groundlings, and taught classes and workshops for improvisers from Louisiana to Liverpool. These days, she directs the Black Improv Alliance (performing with International Players Club, Fake Eggs, & Wakanda vs. Everybody), raps about gratitude as an ambassador for Freestyle Love Supreme Academy, and makes scenes on stages across the U.S. & all over Obama’s internet. She also has a law degree from Georgetown – but mostly uses it to winarguments online.
NOTE: This workshop will be held online via Zoom.
Friday, November 12th
4:00pm SKETCH WORKSHOP with Hannah Aslesen: “Organic Content Creation: How to make Authentic Characters Go Viral”
In this two hour course you will learn how to find authentic character voices and strategic timing to create lasting content for all media platforms. We will use improv exercises as well as YOUR personal stories to create lasting online personas and sketches!
Hannah Aslesen is an actor, writer, improviser and director located in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a seasoned performer that loves to write in the vain of dark comedy and drama. Some of her notable works include: Youth In A Casket and Family Dinner. When she isn’t writing she can be found doing improv comedy around Atlanta, co-starring in notable television shows such as Loki and Tyler Perry’s The Oval, as well as a multitude of commercial appearances. Next up she is working on two new features, hoping to debut them this fall. Hannah and her improv duo Co-workers were also named the New South Comedy Festival’s “Best of the Fest” in 2018!
Saturday, November 13th
10:00am IMPROV WORKSHOP with Bianchi & Byland: “It Takes Two”
It takes two to make a thing go right! It takes two to make it out of sight! This workshop, taught by two improv besties, is about bringing your improv duo to the next level through bold and diverse character work, listening and noticing each other’s subtleties, and creating a world based on relationships and trust. Have a duo partner then sign up together! Looking for a duo partner, then maybe you’ll find your improv other half!
Elizabeth Byland (better known as EB) holds a joint faculty appointment at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va as the Head of Improv with the School of the Arts and the Director of Applied Health Improv with the Center for Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Care. She serves on the Board of Directors with ComedySportz Richmond, performs as a company member with Coalition Theatre, founder of her own non-profit organization called Comedy Connects, and a co-founder of Queen City Comedy, as well as a professional film/television actor.
EB holds a BFA in Acting from Northern Kentucky University and an MFA in Performing Arts from the Savannah College of Art and Design, and professional improv training from iO Chicago (levels 1- 5B). Currently, she coaches three college improv teams from VCU and she performs on two duo teams: BABE and Bianchi and Byland.
Jenn Bianchi is an improvisor, educator, and actor based in the Chapel Hill, NC area. She performs weekly with ComedyWorx in addition to teaching classes and workshops online with The Peoples Improv Theater in New York City. She is on faculty and a performer with the Queen City Comedy Global Improv project working with students across the globe.
Jenn is an active member of the Southeastern improv scene for the last decade producing multiple festivals in Charlotte, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill as well as leading workshops at various improv festivals. She is a winner of the Global Improv Projects 3-on-3 tournament with her all-female team Burnett Brigade as well as the ComedySportz Richmond 2021 Spring Rumble Winner with duo partner Elizabeth Byland on the team Bianchi&Byland.
12:30pm IMPROV WORKSHOP with Elizabeth Byland: “College Improv Bootcamp” – SOLD OUT
College is a great place to learn almost anything, including improv comedy. In this workshop EB will take her years of experience working with college improvisers to help them bring their scenework to the next level.
Elizabeth Byland (better known as EB) holds a joint faculty appointment at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va as the Head of Improv with the School of the Arts and the Director of Applied Health Improv with the Center for Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Care. She serves on the Board of Directors with ComedySportz Richmond, performs as a company member with Coalition Theatre, founder of her own non-profit organization called Comedy Connects, and a co-founder of Queen City Comedy, as well as a professional film/television actor.
EB holds a BFA in Acting from Northern Kentucky University and an MFA in Performing Arts from the Savannah College of Art and Design, and professional improv training from iO Chicago (levels 1- 5B). Currently, she coaches three college improv teams from VCU and she performs on two duo teams: BABE and Bianchi and Byland.
3:00pm IMPROV WORKSHOP with Jenn Bianchi: “Listen Like a Thief”
The best way to get out of your own way is to focus on your partner. “Listen like a thief” will help you believe in your partners deal harder than they can. When we listen with our whole bodies, not just ears, we will pick on subtle cues to find something wonderful right away and heighten on established patterns.
Jenn Bianchi is an improvisor, educator, and actor based in the Chapel Hill, NC area. She performs weekly with ComedyWorx in addition to teaching classes and workshops online with The Peoples Improv Theater in New York City. She is on faculty and a performer with the Queen City Comedy Global Improv project working with students across the globe.
Jenn is an active member of the Southeastern improv scene for the last decade producing multiple festivals in Charlotte, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill as well as leading workshops at various improv festivals. She is a winner of the Global Improv Projects 3-on-3 tournament with her all-female team Burnett Brigade as well as the ComedySportz Richmond 2021 Spring Rumble Winner with duo partner Elizabeth Byland on the team Bianchi&Byland.
New South Comedy Festival 