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Improv 101 — Improv Basics

Tuesdays 2:30-5:30pm starting Jul 14, 2009
Cost: $350

Students will learn the fundamentals of long-form improvisation. Core concepts covered include using character agreement to make your scenes succeed, developing character, character status, object and environment work, “playing at the top of your intelligence,” and heightening (finding ways to make your scenes get funnier from start to finish).

This course also introduces the specific vocabulary of the UCB Training Center.

This course meets for 8 sessions that are each 3 hours long. At the end of the course, students will take part in a class performance at the UCB Theatre. Graduation is also contingent upon students seeing at least two improvised shows at the UCB Theater before the end of the course.

Class Size: 16 Students

Ari Voukydis

voukydis, ari

Ari Voukydis has been performing improv, standup and sketch comedy in New York City since back when there were hookers in Times Square. He has been a member of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater since 1997 and has been teaching improv and sketch comedy there for nine years.

He is a founding member of the house team DeCoster, half of the comedy duo “Mark and Ari” and has produced, created and performed in countless shows including “Wicked F***in’ Queeyah,” an annual salute to his home town of Boston, MA.

Ari is a regular on all those VH-1 shows your niece watches, like The Best Week Ever and All Access, and has also appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Comedy Central’s The Upright Citizens Brigade.

He has written for GQ, Entertainment Weekly, SPY, Esquire, and many other magazines. Mark & Ari’s short, “Small World,” was directed by John Landis and featured on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

www.markandari.com

Student Feedback

"I thought Ari was an exceptional instructor- he was professional, organized and adept at teaching- while also enthusiastic, relaxed, and fun (a pretty difficult combination to pull off)."

"As a non-actor, I found this class to exceed my expectations. Ari Voukydis was a large part of that. Not only was he a great instructor but his passion for the exercises and the craft really inspired me."

"Ari! He is so energetic and full of passion for this artform. I couldn't help but be excited to go to class every week. He's an AMAZING teacher and I feel really lucky that I got to study with him."

"Ari was extremely intelligent, very quick, and frickin funny as hell. I actually hope that along the way, I'll have the opportunity to take another class with him."