Start or continue your improv journey with Big Couch!
Learn the fundamentals of improv for any endeavor through Big Couch improv classes in New Orleans. We think improv is an awesome foundation for connecting with others and the world. That’s why we want to share that with folks all over the New Orleans area.
And, every one of our courses includes an evening showcase to demonstrate your new improv skills!
Improv 101: Free Fundamentals
Just like a college course, Improv 101 provides the basic concepts of a subject so that you can build upon it. This 4-week session will allow you to enhance your listening ability, apply the concept of “yes, and,” gain confidence in communicating with others, and learn how to start, continue, and edit improv scenes. Did you notice how that list includes competencies beyond the stage? It’s true! Improv can be helpful in anything you do. So, whether you plan on performing or just want to laugh while you build a new skill, you’ll find the fun here. These improv classes in New Orleans consist of 4 FREE two-hour sessions. Registration keeps classes small enough for everyone to get the attention and opportunity they deserve.
Improv 201: Crafting Characters
Characters help filter ideas, emotions, and actions to move through a scene. This goes beyond looks or accents to motivation – wants, needs, and perspectives. Characters build a unique world through their eyes. This course will support you in utilizing traits, physicality, emotions, relationships, and specificity.
Improv 201 is open to anyone that has had at least one level of improv classes and consists of 8 two-hour sessions on the same day every week for 8 consecutive weeks.
Improv 301: Inside the Scene
If you’ve ever wondered how improvisers make their performances look like they are scripted, then you’ll want to take a deeper dive into scenework. From inside the scene, you can make choices that take you off in one direction or other choices to head off in another. This course will help you identify and play through the game of a scene, establish and follow patterns, understand scene types, and use devices. You’ll also elevate your ability to support your scene partners and scene premises and how to ask for and use audience suggestions. All of this will take your ability to co-create in the moment to the next level.
Improv 301 is open to anyone that has had at least two levels of improv classes and consists of 8 two-hour sessions on the same day every week for 8 consecutive weeks.
Improv 401: Forms Focus
How can you use your improv knowledge to embellish stories and explore themes in a full performance? Forms can help! Learning more about them allows you to employ structural guidelines to string scenes together in a longer show. This course will teach you the basics of three forms – Armando, Close Quarters, & Monoscene. You can use them to find your own improv style and structure. We’ll spend two weeks on each form, so you’ll be able to understand their unique characteristics. You’ll also develop your ability to support your scene partners and use devices to further scene premise, narrative, and game.
Improv 401 is open to anyone that has had at least three levels of improv classes and consists of 8 two-hour sessions on the same day every week for 8 consecutive weeks.
SCHOLARSHIPS
Scholarships are available to those who identify as Black/African American, Indigenous, Hispanic/Latinx, Asian American Pacific Islander, LGBTQIA+, and/or disabled, as well for those whom English is their second language. To inquire about scholarship opportunities, email us.
REFUND POLICY
Registrants may cancel up to 48 hours before the course starts for a full refund. If cancelling after the course starts, registrants will receive a 50% refund. Send refund requests via email. If Big Couch cancels a course, all participants will received a full refund.
TESTIMONIALS
