For 35 years, ImprovBoston has been New England’s leading theater and school dedicated to the art of comedy in all its forms. Voted “Best of Boston” by The Phoenix, The Improper Bostonian, and The Weekly Dig, ImprovBoston performers, teachers and students have included film stars, Emmy Award-winning comedians, and acclaimed producers, directors, musicians and writers. ImprovBoston alumni are featured on The Daily Show, America’s Got Talent, Funniest Wins, Real Time with Bill Maher, Last Comic Standing and John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight, to name a few. In 2014, the Independent Reviewers of New England honored ImprovBoston with an award recognizing its longstanding contributions to the Boston theater community. As a nonprofit arts organization, ImprovBoston serves the community through laughter with youth outreach programs, workshops for businesses, scholarships, a national touring company and, of course, performances at its theater complex in Central Square, Cambridge. 

Sarasota Improv Festival favorite, ImprovBoston, is staying in Sarasota for one week longer to perform shows and offer workshops.  

Workshop Classes:

AllForm: Beyond Structure
Monday 7-9pm
Instructor: Deana Criess

Description of workshop: Explore ImprovBoston's signature AllForm approach to improvisation. Follow the Fun to discover how every moment, beat, line and movement in a show can be deconstructed, leading you to the next scene. Find form where there was no form. We'll explore the tools that enable performers to create a unique improvised running order with every show. In this "everything is on the table" style, Harold beats, shortform lay-ons, narrative edits, game moves, audience interaction, heightened physicality, genre play, callbacks and pretty much everything else you can imagine, converge to answer 3 fundamental questions: 1) What does the show want? 2) What's come before? 3) What's fun? Let’s learn to move beyond chasing the laugh and learn to discover the joy in every moment of our show. Join us and discover the exhilaration of laying down tracks in front of a moving train.
Monday, July, 17 at 7:00pm

Sing it!: Better Improv Through Music
Tuesday, July, 18 at 7:00pm
Instructor : Mike Descoteaux

Description of workshop: Sing it! introduces students to the fundamentals of how to improvise songs that sound as if they had been written. Explore rhyming (and effective alternatives to rhyming), common song structures that lend themselves to improvising, creating memorable hooks, and how to convincingly get into songs from an improvised scene. Discover the many connections between traditional improv and "singprov," allowing students to heighten emotion, strengthen relationships, and access new characters instantaneously. By the end of the day, students will be singing off the cuff with confidence and joy. Take this workshop and unlock a new, deeply rewarding approach to improvisation.
No previous singing experience required.
Tuesday, July, 18 at 7:00pm

Advanced Music Improv: Game of the Song
Wednesday, July, 19 at 7:00pm
Instructor: Mike Descoteaux

Description of workshop: Discover the simple joy and comedic power of ImprovBoston-style game-driven songs. Using two fundamental structures, participants will explore the ridiculous fun that comes through effortlessly heightening the lyrical, emotional, physical, situational and musical patterns that present themselves in the scene leading up to a song. We’ll play with the emotional and reactive scenic building blocks that lead to the best improvised songs. Experience how the success of the song is virtually guaranteed before the first note is even sung (the secret’s in the scene). With over 15 years of singprov directing, teaching and music direction across the country, Mike is thrilled to share his passion for mind-melting musical improv. 
Wednesday, July, 19 at 7:00pm

Whole Body Improv
Thursday, July, 20 at 7:00pm.
Instructor: Sara Burns and Matt Fear

Description of workshop: The best improv lives in the body, not the brain. Liberate your improv from the confines of the mind and explore everything a scene can be when you invite your whole body to the party. This 2 hours is designed to unlock next level improv as we explore what the body can bring to your work. We will explore stage crashes, physicality, lead and support moves that live in the body. Perhaps most importantly we will learn to shut off the clever and bring our full potential to our work. Be dressed to move, be ready to sweat and be ready to have the most fun you've ever had doing improv.
Thursday, July, 20 at 7:00pm