Improv Storytelling Lab
w/Corey Rosen
Sunday Afternoon Workshop (2hrs)
In this high-energy two-hour workshop, we merge the spontaneity of improv with the craft of personal storytelling. Designed for improvisers and theater students, this lab helps performers turn lived experience into compelling stories and bring storytelling structure back into their scene work.
We’ll explore how the core tools of improv (listening, specificity, emotional commitment, and “yes-and”) become powerful engines for shaping true and made-up stories. Participants will generate new material, heighten stakes, find the turning point, and uncover the meaning beneath the moment. Through interactive exercises, partner work, and supportive feedback, you’ll learn how to:
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Discover strong story premises from everyday life
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Shape a clear beginning, middle, and end without losing spontaneity
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Use improv instincts to stay flexible and present while telling a story
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Heighten emotional beats and land a resonant ending
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Bring narrative clarity and personal specificity into scene work
Whether you’re looking to perform solo storytelling, strengthen monologues, audition with confidence, or deepen your long-form improv, this workshop bridges structure and play — so your stories feel both alive and well-told.
This class is intended for intermediate/advanced improvisers (18 & older) with some prior improv experience (Hideout Level 2 or above)
11am-1pm on Sunday, March 15 (pay what you can $34/$44/$55)
Corey Rosen is a longtime BATS Improv (San Francisco) performer and coach. He is the author of “Your Story, Well Told: Creative Strategies to Develop and Perform Stories that Wow an Audience,” a laugh-out-loud, funny, practical and inspiring manual to develop true stories from concept through presentation, and “A Story for Everything: Mastering Diverse Storytelling for Any Occasion,” a comprehensive guide to storytelling for professional, educational, and personal success. He has hosted 200+ live events for The Moth, The Moth StorySlam, and GrandSlams. Rosen has been featured on The Moth Radio Hour, and dozens of podcasts. He is an on-air personality for Alice Radio’s “The Sarah and Vinnie Show,” the #1-rated morning show in the San Francisco area. He was formerly head writer at Lucasfilm and EVP Creative Development at Tippett Studio. When not writing or performing, Corey works as a visual effects artist and executive producer. He is credited in movies including “Mission: Impossible,” several “Star Wars” films, and “Disney’s A Christmas Carol.” He has taught at NYU and Academy of Art University, written for Comedy Central and Jim Henson Productions and directed television commercials and Emmy award-winning short films.
Books
Corey’s two books on improvised storytelling will be available for purchase at the workshop. If you pre-order in advance, use promo code HIDEOUT to purchase for $15. Onsite, the price will be $20. Here is the site to pre-order with discount code HIDEOUT: https://www.