Joe Bill Teaches in Phoenix - All 4 Workshops - Nov 23rd & 24th

Monster Improv presents 4 Improv Workshops from Joe Bill (Saturday, November 23rd, and Sunday, November 24th)!

*** PLEASE NOTE: this page is for registering for all 4 of Joe Bill’s workshops on Saturday, November 23rd, and Sunday, November 24th. Each single workshop is $60; register for all 4 and get a discount of $40 off — that’s $200 instead of $240! ***

ATTENTION, IMPROV LOVERS: Joe Bill from Chicago is a total genius when it comes to improv and he’s simply one of the best teachers of the art form in the whole entire world. What’s more, he’s swinging through Phoenix on Saturday, November 22nd, and Sunday, November 23rd!

Over this weekend, Joe is teaching four workshops (two on Saturday and two on Sunday):

- The First 30 Seconds (Saturday, Nov 23rd, 11am-1:30pm)

- The Next 3 Minutes (Saturday, Nov 23rd, 2:30pm-5pm)

- Game Brain, Scene Brain (Sunday, Nov 24th, 11am-1:30pm)

- Comedy from Connection (Sunday, Nov 24th, 2:30pm-5pm)

Recommended prerequisite for these workshops is Level 1 at one of the valley’s local improv theaters or its equivalent. No matter what your level of improv experience, these workshops will challenge you in the best way.

Each class is capped at 14 students to facilitate plenty of reps and time to absorb what Joe is laying down.

Each workshop is $60. Register for all four workshops and get $40 off — that’s $200 for four world-class improv workshops with a one of the recognized masters of the art.

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Workshop Info

Saturday, November 23rd

11am-1:30pm

The First 30 Seconds

In Improvisation scenes, the ending often lies in the beginning. I will show you how to begin your scenes with focus & playfulness and how to begin to bring your inner Engineer & Jazz Musician into Harmony through the way that you listen. We’ll focus on the first 30 seconds of a scene to discover your characters (How you do, What you do, is Who you are) evolving from the recognition of “How am I?”, “How are you?” & “How are WE?” I’ll help increase your awareness of the 2 types of dialogue, (Circumstantial & Interpersonal) to give you the best chance to play an honest grounded scene, rooted in depth and discovery AND how comedy & story happen as a consequence of connection, rather than goals that you’re desperately chasing.

Saturday, November 23rd

2:30pm-5pm

The Next 3 Minutes

In this workshop we’ll touch on techniques from The First 30 Seconds and then focus on forwarding into and through your scenes as a co-author/co-actor with your scene partner(s). We’ll build on the ideas of your character knowing HOW they are (disposition) being tied to knowing Who they are, and then Listening Strategically, Emotionally and Psychologically. I’ll show you Meisner (actors will recognize this, now you will too!) hacks to get to recognizing the Truth of the Moment, and I’ll teach you how “Listening is the Willingness to Change” is the key idea in forwarding your scenes through relationship and story as they evolve. I’ll give some general and specific individual feedback about things you can focus on in your improvisation, going forward.

Sunday, November 24th

11am-1:30pm

Game Brain, Scene Brain

This workshop will help improvisers, that are early in their studies of Improvisation, to understand the differences in how their brains work when they are playing improv games vs when they are improvising scenes. We’ll cover how the harmony of the Engineer and Jazz Musician in your head can be vital in playing Scene, Longform, Narrative and “Game of The Scene”. There are psychological differences that happen when we play for comedy as the goal vs. when we play for comedy as a consequence of emotional and psychological connection. I’ve studied psychology and behavioral neuroscience for more than 30 years and I aim to help anyone who is in the first 10 years their improvisation journey to understand immediately what is going on in an improv show/scene/game, in ANY context, by the time they leave this workshop. I will help you gain confidence and feel more connected so you can just PLAY!

Sunday, November 24th

2:30pm-5pm

Comedy from Connection

This workshop is basically focused on acting in improvisational scenes. We’ll explore comedy not as the goal of interactions but as a consequence of your connection to yourself, your character, your partner and the scene as it unfolds. I’ll put you in repetitions with partners so the you can feel how listening through an emotion (or disposition or psychological state), with a willingness to change, can lead to “honest interactions”. You will feel connected, be believable and able to evoke a variety of emotions from yourselves and your audience. This workshop will be equally useful for actors and improvisers alike and will include some general and a little bit of individual feedback.

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Teacher Bio

Joe Bill is widely regarded as one of the best teachers of Scenic and Comedic Improvisation in North America today. His goal in Improvising and teaching is to foster deeper connections between people and characters, on stage and off. By improvising together we can make the world smaller and explore the interconnectedness, truth and humor that already exists amongst all of us.

Joe had been a performer, teacher and Director of Corporate Training at iO Chicago for more than 30 years, before the closing in 2020. He is one of the co-founders of Annoyance Theater and was an Artistic Associate for The Chicago Improv Festival for the 20 years that it existed. He has been an Internationally Touring Teacher, Performer and director for more than 25 years and acts as an Artistic Adviser for a number of Improvisation and Comedy Theaters and Festivals all over the world. He has taught at pretty much every major Improv Festival in the U.S. & Canada in the last 30 years.

Joe and a number of very talented friends, under the Artistic Direction of Mick Napier, co-founded The Annoyance Theater in Chicago in 1990. As a unique approach to Improvised Scene and Character began to be articulated by a number of teachers at Annoyance, including Mick Napier, Mark Sutton, Joe, David Razowsky, Susan Messing, Bob Fisher, Jodi Lennon, Rich & Rebecca Sohn (and more!) that focused on Improvisers "Taking care of themselves, in order to take care of others in a scene,” Joe became increasingly interested in Psychology and Neuroscience and melded these into a brand of teaching that was unique in the world but now has been shared in the U.S. and abroad for more than 30 years.

Joe and Mark Sutton developed BASSPROV (https://www.facebook.com/BASSPROV), the first touring Real Time (Monoscene) Improvised Duo in the U.S., in 2000. In touring and continuing to play together, they developed Power Improv as an approach to improvisation that combines playing from a place of strength, honesty, empathy and mischief to Character, Scene and Format.

Joe also tours with Impro legend Patti Stiles and their show Our Play. It is a joyful, harmonious improvised mash up of the seemingly conflicting approaches of Keith Johnstone, Del Close & Annoyance.

In addition to BASSPROV & Our Play, Joe tours internationally with Canadian legend, Lee White in their show, PARADIGM. It's been described as Death Metal on a Unicorn.

Joe tours with International Delight, Heather Urquart (Maydays, U.K./London-Brighton) in BLUES HAMMER, with musical genius & band leader Joe Samuel manning the keyboards in an Improvised Musical Duo show made up of scenes and songs rooted exclusively in The Blues.

He also tours with 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, and with Curious Comedy Theater (Portland, OR) Founder & Creative Powerhouse, Stacey Hallal, and their shows Stacey & Joe and We Slept Together.

Questions? Please email Jose Gonzalez, [email protected]

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