Crawlspace TheatreProductions
Presents:
The 2nd AnnualKalamazoo Improv Festival, Complete Schedule of Shows and Workshops
Ph: 269.599.7390
Media Release
January 21, 22, & 23, 2009∙Kalamazoo, Michigan
Crawlspace Theatre Productions is once again bringing Kalamazoo the most exciting event since the 1980 tornado, hopefully with far less destruction. It's the 2nd Annual Kalamazoo Improv Festival. The festival will feature some of the finest talent in Chicago, the improv center of the universe. Teams from the legendary improv theater i.O. (formerly Improv Olympic) and elsewhere will be tearing up the stage with the newest and most innovative work in improv performance. Local improv favorites will also be featured in the festival. It's Kalamazoo and Chicago working together for a weekend of red hot comedy in the dead of winter. The festival runs from January 21 through 23 and will be held at the Epic Center Theater, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall. Performance Schedule:Thurs, Jan 218pmSketch review: First ever best of Crawlspace Eviction and Kind of Pretty Women sketch review. We’redoing all your favorites from the last 2 seasons. Don’t miss this, seriously.10pmShort Form Feature:Monkapult (Kalamazoo)Kind of Pretty Women (Kalamazoo)Crawlspace Eviction (Kalamazoo)Fri, Jan 228pmJust Panda (Kalamazoo)Kind of Pretty Women (Kalamazoo)Intervention (Grand Rapids)10pmt&a (Kalamazoo)Jessica (Chicago)Whiskey Rebellion (Chicago)12 midnightFREE Open Improv Jam
Sat, Jan 238pmCrawlspace Eviction (Kalamazoo)Late 90's (Chicago)Sweaty Red (Craig Uhlir and Brian Jack) (Chicago)10pmEleanor (Chicago)Goldstar (Chicago)The Album (Chicago)Tickets per show are $10 for general admission, $7 for students, with a free midnight show on Friday. Weekend passes will also be available for $25, $18 for students. For more information call 269-599-7390 or Description of Workshops at the 2010, Kalamazoo Improv Festival and Instructor Bios:Improv workshops will be offered on January 23 for anyone interested in learning valuable improv techniques from some of the finest teachers in the business.Better Initiations: Don't Panic...Just Look AroundInstructor: Joe AndersonTime: Saturday, January 23, 10am – 12:30pmFor many, the scariest and hardest part of improvising a scene is simply starting the scene in the first place. This workshop will focus on scene initiations and some techniques for making strong, clear choices.Location: Studio 246, 246 N. Kalamazoo Mall. Cost: $40Improv For The Self-Taught ImprovisorInstructor: Ben JohnsonTime: Saturday, January 23, 10am – 12:30pmLet's face it, improv is fun. As long as it's fun, who cares if you're doing it "right" or not? The answer: nobody. But there are some improv practices that can leave you feeling stifled after the initial rush wears off. Ben Johnson leads a workshop about the potential dangers and benefits of improvising without a ton of experience complete with specific exercises and recommendations that will help any actor, comedian, or improvisor on their journey.Location: Epic Center Theater, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall. Cost: $40Group Mind: Working Together As OneInstructor: Brian JackTime: Saturday, January 23, 1pm – 3:30pm4pm – 6:30pmGroup Mind: Making moves to make the entire team look like a bunch of geniuses. In this workshop led by Brian Jack, we will explore how to trust your gut, lead and be led, and when and how to make big bold group moves. Guaranteed to put a few more tools on your improv tool belt.Location: Epic Center Theater, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall. Cost: $40Scenework: Stay In The MomentInstructor: Craig UhlirTime: Saturday, January 23, 1pm – 3:30pm4pm – 6:30pmScenework: with an emphasis on making it easier to create and stay in the moments. A scene is made up of many moments. Learn to build a scene easier with your partner by working from moment to moment.Location: Studio 246, 246 N. Kalamazoo Mall. Cost: $40Instructor BiosJoe Anderson:WMU alum, Joe Anderson, has been performing comedy professionally longer than Friends was a hit show on NBC. Over the last four years he has performed in 35 states as one of the headlining comedians on the We Can Make You Laugh National Comedy Tour. He's won an MTV stand-up comedy competition, toured and performed for two years with Second City Theater and wrote and directed the improvised, award-winning feature film Living With The Fosters...which you've never heard of. As a freshman at WMU he founded the Shy, Quiet People improv group which continued to perform, in some incarnation, for almost a decade.
Ben Johnson:Ben Johnson has over ten years of improv experience, starting with his studies at EmersonCollege in Boston, and continuing on through the SecondCity, iO Theater, and Annoyance Productions training programs in Chicago. He has performed, written, and directed a whole bunch of comedy and improv in that time, including in such shows and ensembles as Whiskey Rebellion at iO, Short Shorts at the Annoyance Theater, The Hot Karl at ComedySportz, Rattlesnake High School (iO), ComedySportz Chicago, Second City BoatCo, Promise Keepers (iO), The Late Night Late Show (iO), American Dream (The Playground Theater), and plenty more. He is performing at the Kalamazoo Improv Festival at 10:00pm on Friday with Whiskey Rebellion.Brian Jack:Brian Jack got his start in comedy in 1998 when he won the nationwide “Funniest man on Campus” contest sponsored by Comedy Central. Brian honed his comedy skills at the Improv Olympic, Comedy Sportz, The Annoyance and The Second City training centers. Brian spent 2006 & 2007 living in Amsterdam working for the Dutch TV show “Comedy Central News”. In 2007 Brian joined the cast of The Second City National Touring Company. He continues to work as an understudy for The Second City Mainstage and ETC. Brian performs at iO Chicago with The Reckoning, Deep Schwa, Diplomat Hotel and Armando Diaz. He also performs with the musical improv group Baby Wants Candy at the Apollo Theater. Brian has been teaching, directing and coaching improv and sketch for the last 7 years and has taught workshops at the University of Notre Dame, UNC, WashU, Michigan as well as several improv festivals and theaters.Craig Uhlir:Craig Uhlir has been experiencing improvisation since the mid 1990's. After finishing training at Chicago's big three improv training centers, SecondCity, Improv Olympic, and the Annoyance, Craig began playing regularly with both Comedy Sportz Chicago and Improv Olympic. After touring with the Second City Touring Company for over two years, Craig performed in Las Vegas for SecondCity at the Flamingo for another few years. Since returning to Chicago, Craig has been fortunate enough to teach at Improv Olympic and at SecondCity regularly, or what Craig likes to call Craig-Uhlirly. He also Craiguhlirly performs weekly at Improv Olympic Chicago with the groups Deep Schwa , Middle Age Comeback and also the Deltones.
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