Side coaching without stopping the scene
When to call out from the side, what to say and when to stay quiet.
Side Coach
A letter for people who teach improv
One improv exercise every Tuesday: how it went in class, what I said and how to run it yourself.
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Start here
New here? Start with these.
Status games, gently
High and low status for beginners, without anyone feeling small.
Walking home after a hard class
What I do when a class goes badly, and what I change the next week.
The circle at the start of every class
Names, one word each and a clap: the same five minutes every week.
Latest letters
One exercise every Tuesday, with how it went in class and how to run it yourself.
Online course
My course
Video course · 6 lessons
Teaching Improv to Beginners
Six lessons on running a beginner class, from the first circle to the first scene.
- The first ten minutes
- Warm-ups and why
- Teaching yes, and
- First scenes in pairs
- Giving notes
- A class from start to end
About
About me
I have taught improv in community halls and school gyms in Montreal for twelve years, mostly to beginners on weeknights. I came to it as a drama teacher who was tired of scripts, and I stayed because nothing else gets a room of strangers laughing together so fast.
The letter is what I wish I had when I started: one exercise a week, written down properly, with what to say and what goes wrong. The lesson plans in the shop are the ones I teach from, typed up from my index cards.