Improv Workshop from Brian James O’Connell

SCENE / STORY / SHOW

• Tues 6/25/24 – 6-8pm class

• Weds 6/26/24 – 6-8pm class

• Thurs 6/27/24 – 6-8pm class

• Friday 6/28/24 – 7pm Showcase Performance

No advance sign up. $100 cash or check at the first class.  15 students max.

SCENE / STORY / SHOW

Brian James O’Connell’s three-day workshop aims to help you not just on stage, but with any artistic endeavor you do.  Through his decades of award-winning stagecraft, filmmaking, and producing, he has created the curriculum ALL IMPROV—a way of looking at everything you create and unlocking its maximum potential.

You can take any or all of the classes—regardless, you will find value and learn invaluable skills and tools to help you in anything you create.

On each day of the workshop, the course will focus on a different aspect:

Tuesday, June 25th—DAY ONE: SCENE:

Brian James O’Connell teaches you Position Play— the concept of how to understand and execute the scene dynamics you need to find your “position” in the scene and then play it to the hilt.

This workshop is dedicated to giving the student “practical applications of improv” and providing replicable good habits/behavior on stage. The goal is to be able to take this workshop during the day and be able to execute the practice immediately on stage that night!

Wednesday, June 26th—DAY TWO: STORY:

There is no such thing as a bad idea. Every pitch has value. Most problems occur when the right idea is in the wrong venue.  In this workshop, BOC uses his 30 years of comedic filmmaking experience to punch up, polish and program your scripted & genre ideas.

Students bring in any project they’re working on at any stage of development and they learn how to distribute it to the right platform (stage vs. screen) and if it’s the right product (sketch / play / short film / pilot / podcast / feature / novel).

Understanding scripted material is paramount to understanding how improvisation plays in front of an audience, so give yourself the gift of knowing what you’re building before you pick up the tools; with them, your work in any discipline will look more polished, feel more confident, and land with your audience!

Thursday, June 27th—DAY THREE: SHOW

To apply the skills you’ve learned over the past two sessions, BOC teaches the long-form format The Deconstruction, the single most important long form ever created as it contains every single possible permutation of scene approach and thematic development.

An understanding of The Deconstruction is essential for the artistic, intellectual and technical development of an improviser, stage actor, playwright, sketch comedian, screenwriter & filmmaker.

Quite simply, an improviser’s understanding of the “work” will never be the same after being exposed to “Decon;” whether you perform short form improv, Shakespeare, or you’re a writer looking to improve your character and structure, learning these skills will radically improve your understanding of improvisation, your awareness of story and structure, and raise your level of play!

About the Instructor:

Brian James O’Connell is a working actor, writer, director, filmmaker and teacher in Los Angeles.  BOC (as his friends call him) travels the world over, sharing his decades of improvisational theatre expertise as part of his ALL IMPROV courses, his own independent, bespoke & curated student training.  He is well-respected as one of Los Angeles’ premier improvisers and, over the years, he has performed and taught in festivals & theatres in Los Angeles, Denver, Phoenix, Toronto, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Austin, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Portland, Cincinnati, Mexico City, Dublin, Warsaw, and Chapel Hill, NC.