Workshops are a great way to learn new techniques and different perspectives on improv! These virtual workshops allow us to bring you insightful sage improv wisdom from some of the wisest and sage-iest improvisers from around the world! Seats are limited, sign up now!

*** Workshop Update Please Read ***

Lydia will no longer be able to teach her workshop at PBIF this year, but she has already been invited back next year! Jeff Quintana has agreed to step in and teach a similar workshop covering the same topic. If you would like a refund of course please don’t hesitate to contact us here.

Jeff Quintana

How to Fix a Broken Scene

Saturday, September 26th 2 PM to 4 PM

This workshop will focus on making all the fun stuff happen now! It can be so frustrating feeling like we’re stuck in a talking-head scene-(Especially now when we’re on a digital stage and are literally a bunch of talking heads) or like we know what’s fun about the scene but are somehow just circling around it instead of really playing. This workshop will get us un-stuck. We’re gonna create vibrant, clear scenes where we get to have all the fun right now -no holding back, no saving things for the second beats, no more worrying about what to do next. Let’s joyfully make our moments come alive and create something special.

Bio
Jeff Quintana has been performing since 2003. He has trained and performed at some of the biggest comedy theaters including iO Chicago, The Magnet Theater, Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre NYC, The Peoples Improv Theater NYC, The Annoyance Theatre Chicago, Second City and more. Jeff has been an instructor for Annoyance Theatre, iO Theater, and the Playground Theatre in Chicago. He was the co founder, original Artistic Director, and created the original shows, programming, and curriculum for Villain Theater before moving on in 2017. He continues to work in Miami to create new and innovative theater through emotional vulnerability using his Chicago training with Speak Easy Theater Co. Follow Your Fear and grow.

Justin and Kelly

Love The One You’re With

Saturday, September 26th 10 AM to 12 PM

Conflict and emotional distance can work their way into one’s play over time until they become dominant choices. But what if instead of choosing conflict, we choose love instead? Making a conscious decision to appreciate and collaborate with your scene partner can take your scenework in unexpected and wonderful directions. In this workshop, we will introduce techniques for finding meaningful connections with your scene partner, and explore the virtues of playing from a standpoint of total agreement. When you choose to embrace your scene partners rather than resist them, the possibilities for your scenework are truly limitless.

Bio
As the duo From Justin to Kelly, they spend most of their time on tour, performing and teaching at theaters and festivals around the country; since 2014, they have performed and taught nearly 300 shows and workshops in 27 different states, the District of Columbia, Canada, and international waters. Their signature form is the Walter, a minimalistic monoscene that emphasizes silence, eye contact, and total commitment to the moment. Founders of Countdown Theater, a roaming pop-up comedy space. They also run the annual Countdown Improv Festival in Tampa, Florida.

Curtis Retherford

Workshop – Be a Fun Voice of Reason

Saturday, September 26th 4 PM to 6 PM

Many improv scenes have a “straight man,” someone to react to the weird person. This straight man, or, to use a far more inclusive term coined by Kevin Mullaney, the voice of reason, can sometimes become a boring, purely functional part of an improv scene. “Don’t do that!” “That’s weird!” This workshop will help you unlock the power of the voice of reason, using that role to help frame and clarify the fun part of the scene, set up your scene partner to keep making moves, and ultimately get the biggest laughs of the scene. (Because we’re all doing this to get the biggest laughs, right?) This workshop is for long-form improv students of all levels.

Bio
Curtis Retherford is a writer and improviser in Los Angeles who has been with the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre since 2006: at NYC until 2019, and now at UCBLA. He is currently on the UCB LA Harold Team GHOST and performs in his show Megaplex: The Improvised Movie. 

Drew Tarvin

Playing with Tension

Sunday, September 27th 4 PM to 6PM

What makes a scene compelling and sustainable? Can we learn to manage the tension between two characters, feel where it lives – how to heighten it or break it when we want to? In this workshop we will try to increase our sensitivity and awareness to the tension that exists in every scene – be it comedic or dramatic and learn tools to play with  this tension in order to take the scene in any direction we want to go. This workshop is recommended for experienced performers.

Bio

Kristen Schier is the Artistic Director of The Philly N Crowd, which performs weekly shows at The Actor’s Center. Before coming to PHIT she taught improv for Delaware Theater Company, Drexel University, and The Actor’s Center. Kristen has a B.F.A. in Theater Arts from the University of the Arts and has been working in Philly as a professional actor, improviser and teacher for several years. She has worked with Commonwealth Classic Theater Company, Shakespeare in Clark Park, and Ego Po. She has appeared in many productions including the originally created Art of War, which received a Barrymore Nomination for Outstanding Ensemble. Kristen has studied clowning intensively with Giovanni Fusetti and has studied improv at The Second City and at the Annoyance in Chicago and the Magnet Theater in NYC. She has taken workshops and classes with such improv notables as Michael Gelman, Jill Bernard, Armando Diaz, Asaf Ronen, Mick Napier, Susan Messing, Jonathan Pitts Joe Bill and Mark Sutton and members of the UCB Theater in New York City. When she is not on stage, Kristen is incredibly absent minded and susceptible to fraud.

Amey Goerlich

The Shape of Game with Amey Goerlich

Sunday, September 27th 2 PM to 4 PM

A brand new workshop by Amey Goerlich ‘The Shape of Game’.  If you have taken a workshop on game with Amey before then you are in luck this is a new approach to looking at game.  Amey will go through the 6 styles of game in a scene and group games.  Also dabbling into the 3 that are not used very often but still pop up from time to time.  Once you know the style of game in your scene you can proceed to play it in a way that serves the style and your show.  After 18 years of watching, doing and learning improvisation Amey has found a new approach in identifying game beyond looking for behavior and circumstances to guide you.  Navigating game in a scene can be tricky if we don’t factor in where we began and where we will end up.  Having a road map to your scenes game allows you to just drive without the stress.  For advanced improvisers or people who have taken level 3 improvisation or higher.  Take the guesswork out of what is this about and get back to having fun with what you have created

Bio
Amey is the only female in the 19 year-old UCB indie quartet known as KROMPF.  She teaches her KROMPF classes independently in NYC & in LA.  She has taught workshops at many improv festivals and theaters around the country, The Tampa Bay Improv Festival, The Torch Theatre, The Pocket Theatre, Omaha Improv festival, San Diego Improv Festival 2017, Improv Utopia East and West , Curious Comedy and more. Amey is also the training center director and co-creative director at The Chaos Bloom Theater in Denver.