Joe Bill is widely regarded as one of the best teachers of Improvisation in America today. He is one of the founding members of Annoyance Theater Chicago, was the Director of Corporate Training at iO Chicago for 15 years, and a Teacher & Guest Artist in Residence at The Second City Conservatory & Training Center for another 15 years. Joe first practiced improvisation in 1977 and studied and worked with Del Close from 1985 through the mid 90’s.
We’re hosting Joe Bill This September for two one-off evening workshops on Wednesday and Thursday and a 10-hour weekend intensive
Sept 18 Wednesday Evening Workshop (2.5hrs)
The First 30 Seconds
with Joe Bill
In Improvisation scenes, the ending often lies in the beginning. I will show you how to begin your scenes with focus & playfulness and how to begin to bring your inner Engineer & Jazz Musician into Harmony through the way that you listen. We’ll focus on the first 30 seconds of a scene to discover your characters (How they do, What they do, is Who they are) evolving from the recognition of “How am I?”, “How are you?” & “How are WE?” I’ll help increase your awareness of the 2 types of dialogue, (Circumstantial & Interpersonal) to give you the best chance to play an honest grounded scene, rooted in depth and discovery AND how comedy & story come as a consequence of connection, rather than goals that you’re desperately chasing.
7-9:30pm on Wednesday, Sept 18, (pay what you can $45/55/75)
**OPEN CLASS** This workshop is open to all experience levels.
Sept 19 Thursday Evening Workshop (2.5hrs)
The Next 3 Minutes
with Joe Bill
In this workshop we’ll touch on techniques from The First 30 Seconds and then focus on forwarding into and through your scenes as a co-author/co-actor with your scene partner(s). We’ll build on the ideas of your character knowing HOW they are (disposition) being tied to knowing Who they are, and then Listening Strategically, Emotionally and Psychologically. I’ll show you Meisner (actors will recognize this, now you will too!) hacks to get to recognizing the Truth of the Moment, and I’ll teach you how “Listening is the Willingness to Change” is the key idea in forwarding your scenes through relationship and story as they evolve. I’ll give some general and specific individual feedback about things you can focus on in your improvisation, going forward.
7-9:30pm on Thursday Sept 19, (pay what you can $45/55/75)
**OPEN CLASS** This workshop is open to all experience levels.
Sept 21-22 Weekend Intensive (10 hrs total)
Scene Brain, Story Brain, Game Brain
Weekend Improv Intensive with Joe Bill
A weekend intensive with Joe Bill!
10am-12:30pm and 2-4:30pm on Saturday & Sunday, Sept 21-22 (pay what you can $175/250/350)
**Six months improv experience required (or Hideout graduates of Level 3)
More BIO:
Joe Bill is widely regarded as one of the best teachers of Scenic, Longform, Duo Improvisation, and Improvised Storytelling in North America today. He is one of the founding members of Annoyance Theater Chicago where, for 12 years, he performed in and/or directed more than 60 different shows. He is the creator and host of Story Chain, a virtual (and now sometimes live!), 90-minute, international story sharing event that he developed in 2020 during the Pandemic. He was the Director of Corporate Training at iO Chicago for 15 years and started training and performing there in 1985. He was a Guest Artist in Residence at The Second City Training Center & Conservatory where he taught intensives in Duo Improvisation and Improvisation for Actors for 10 years. Joe is ½ of the original improvised Monoscene (we used to call it “Real Time”), BASSPROV with Mark Sutton, and has been touring all over the world teaching, directing, and improvising with several other amazing Duo Partners like Patti Stiles (Our Play), Jill Bernard (SCRAM!), Stacey Hallal (Stacey & Joe, We Slept Together) Lee White (Paradigm), David Razowsky (Razowsky & Bill) and Heather Urquart (Blues Hammer), ALL in different, original formats and styles. Joe has taught and performed on every continent on earth, except for Antarctica which remains on his bucket list.