Detour: Improv Theater Festival

Recommended Experience: Intermediate Improvisation and Theatrical

Chicago is famous for grounded, honest, relationship-based improvisation scene work that produces deep laughs and deep sighs as the audience is moved to both. This style of work requires acting, listening, openness, patience, and responding through a shared process of give and take. This workshop will feature a deep dive into this process of two-person scene work that will bring improvisers discovery upon discovery. As those shared discoveries pile up, the improvised scene becomes deep, rich, and funny. It's the Chicago way.

Topic Area: Emotionally Grounded Scenework

Please arrive at least 5 minutes early and check in with the NPP representative in front of the workshop location. If you can't make it, please cancel your reservation to allow others to register due to limited space. Thank you!

Recommended Experience: Basic improvisational and musical theater skills

Are you intrigued by musical improv and want to build confidence, sharpen your skills, and get some experience in a playful and inviting environment? This three-hour workshop explores techniques to help you bravely start your improvised songs as a grounded and well-executed launch often makes all the difference between sinking and soaring in the moments that follow. No prior improv singing experience
needed, but a willingness to sing publicly will help! Train with David Charles (www.improvdr.com), the creator of long-form projects such as FourPlay: The Improvised Musical, (Your) Opera in a Trunk, and An Improv Revue, and Ryan Goodwin, one of Sak Comedy Lab's regular musical geniuses behind the keys.

Topic Area: Musical Improvisation

Please arrive at least 5 minutes early and check in with the NPP representative in front of the workshop location. If you can't make it, please cancel your reservation to allow others to register due to limited space. Thank you!

Recommended Experience: Basic improvisational familiarity

Unleash your inner poet!
Explore the intersection of improvisation and poetry in this interactive workshop. Learn to build poems on the fly, speak mindfully, and add lyricality to your writing and performance. Participants will learn to tap into their unique voice and craft evocative language that vividly communicates both by their choice and delivery. They will discover how to build cohesive poems on the fly, incorporating prompts and unleashing your own creative sparks. Finally, they'll gain the confidence to deliver your improvised poems with power and presence, adding a captivating layer of lyricism to your performance. This workshop is for aspiring writers, seasoned improvisers, and anyone curious about poetry.

Topic area: Short Form Improvisation and Poetry

Please arrive at least 5 minutes early and check in with the NPP representative in front of the workshop location. If you can't make it, please cancel your reservation to allow others to register due to limited space. Thank you!

Recommended Experience: Intermediate Improv Experience

This workshop will explore connecting to characters through their voice. Dive deep into character creation through diction, tone, and pace. Dive into the art of vocal character construction, where you'll explore the transformative impact of word choice, tone, and pace. Discover how each verbal choice reveals a character's personality, emotions, and state of being. Learn to identify and respond to your scene partners' vocal choices, building dynamic relationships and authentic reactions. Through playful exercises and collaborative scene work, you'll unlock the joy of bringing characters to life through the magic of voice. Uncover the joy of bringing characters to life through vocal expression, leaving you confident and ready to improvise with conviction.

Topic area: Character

Please arrive at least 5 minutes early and check in with the NPP representative in front of the workshop location. If you can't make it, please cancel your reservation to allow others to register due to limited space. Thank you!

Recommended Experience: Advanced improvisation

If you take care of the "now" in any improv scene, the future always shows up as a great scene. If you don't take care of the "now" the future never shows up and the scene spins into quicksand. This workshop, taught by award-winning international improv theatre artist and storyteller, Jonathan Pitts uses a deeply intuitive scenic process learned from the late Martin de Maat, one that focuses on listening and responding and learning how to take care of the "now" by becoming fully invested in it. Rather than distracting themselves by trying to invent the future, taking care of the now enables performers to discover a richer future by better building connections with their scene partners. Learn to let go of worries about where the scene is going and instead learn to understand where the scene is right now.

Topic Area: Long-Form Improvisation

Please arrive at least 5 minutes early and check in with the NPP representative in front of the workshop location. If you can't make it, please cancel your reservation to allow others to register due to limited space. Thank you!

Recommended Experience: Basic improvisational familiarity

The Short-Form Scenework and Playfulness Booster Pack
Whether you are a devotee of theatre games and short-form competitions, or a novice in this fast-paced world of scenic construction, this workshop will supercharge your creativity, resilience, and spontaneity. Unlock the gifts that lie at the core of the short-form canon, experience the rewards of deliberately and concisely "getting to the point" of your characters and stories, and (re)discover that these scenic strategies provide vivid opportunities for your explorations on the long-form, sketch, and scripted stage as well. Play with David Charles (www.improvdr.com) who has over 30 years of experience as a professional short-form improviser with companies such as Dunedin Impro, Chicago ComedySportz, Walt Disney World's Comedy Warehouse, and Orlando's premier improv venue, Sak Comedy Lab, alongside fellow esteemed professional improviser, performer, and musician, Ryan Goodwin.

Topic Area: Short Form Improvisation

Please arrive at least 5 minutes early and check in with the NPP representative in front of the workshop location. If you can't make it, please cancel your reservation to allow others to register due to limited space. Thank you!

Recommended Experience: None

Wish you were more comfortable speaking in public? Trying to develop leadership skills? Interested in being more present and mindful in your life? Professionals ranging from scientists to business managers are using improv workshops to develop key skills. This workshop will use improvisation techniques and games to help participants improve their listening, empathy, and honest reaction. If you don’t think of yourself as a performer and don’t intend to ever step on stage there’s something in this discipline which can help you. Come, play, and learn to say yes!

Topic Area: General

Please arrive at least 5 minutes early and check in with the NPP representative in front of the workshop location. If you can't make it, please cancel your reservation to allow others to register due to limited space. Thank you!

Recommended Experience: Intermediate improv experience

Through playful exercises and engaging exploration, you'll discover how to use your body and the space around you to create dynamic scenes and connect with your fellow improvisers on a deeper level. Sharpen your physical awareness and hone your observation skills to respond to and build upon your scene partners' choices. Develop a consciousness of the stage picture, understanding how your positioning and movement contribute to the overall visual storytelling. Learn to utilize the environment itself as a source of inspiration, drawing upon objects and the space to inform your character development and scene direction. By the end of this workshop, you will be equipped to use your body and the environment as dynamic tools in your improv performances.

Topic Area: Environmental Engagement and Character Physicality

Please arrive at least 5 minutes early and check in with the NPP representative in front of the workshop location. If you can't make it, please cancel your reservation to allow others to register due to limited space. Thank you!

Come see the closing night Detour performance! The performance will be filled with both short-form and long-form; most importantly, the show features the Detour workshop participants leveraging newly-gained skills learned in the earlier professional improv workshops! Afterwards, there will be an improv Jam (9pm - 10pm) for anyone who wants to try their hand at performing a scene or two!

No ticketing for the show; just bring yourself and get ready for a show you've never seen before (and will never see again)!

Come kick-off Detour with a fun opening social! Meet other people, improvisers, and invited troupes! Light food/refreshments will be served (first come first serve).

Come see award-winning improvisers from across the U.S. perform in a fun improv performance for everyone! The performers are also the instructors for the Saturday improv workshops; by coming, you'll also get a sneak peak of the forms they'll be teaching. No ticketing for the show; just bring yourself and get ready for a show you've never seen before (and will never see again)!