Level 3
Level 3 further explores short form with a focus on narrative techniques and expanding the skills you learned in level 2. You will learn to see a scene through to its full potential and dig deeper into the details that make a scene special.
Level 1
Level 1 is designed to teach the basics of improv theory in relation to short form improv and what we do at Dad’s Garage. It is the foundation for the entire class system. Ideas will be presented in this class that students will use as building blocks throughout their improv careers.
Level 2
Level 2 takes the skills you learned in level 1 and applies them to a broader understanding of narrative scene-based improvisation. In this class you will create characters and explore relationships, along with an understanding of the basic narrative structures that apply to improvised theatre.
Stand Up Comedy
Students will learn how to generate their own material that they will use to build their own jokes and act. By using the principles of improv students will also learn how to “yes, and” their own ideas, find the humor within themselves and their experiences and how to connect with an audience. In addition to the class students will meet for write groups to continue the work on the skills introduced in class.
Level 4
Our fourth level of improv training is designed to bring all of the work done in the previous levels together. This class emphasizes advanced games and narrative techniques. In addition, this level will further hone your performance skills on stage and wraps up with a showcase for a live audience.
Writing for Performance
Write Club Atlanta, the world's premiere high octane live reading series, is here to teach you all of the intricacies of writing for live performance!
Level 5
Our level 5 improv training is designed to bring all of the work done in the previous levels together and emphasizes long form improv and onstage performance skills. This course culminates in a live showcase.
Scott Dikkers Workshop
Comedy impresario Scott Dikkers has built several seven-figure comedy enterprises, including The Onion, his comic strip Jim’s Journal, and his online training center How to Write Funny. He also performs on the college and corporate circuit and as a voice actor for video games, movies, and cartoons, including SNL’s TV Funhouse. In this special, one-time-only, 3-hour workshop, you’ll get a chance to meet and work with Scott to learn his repeatable, real-world strategies for creating your own show-biz opportunities in the comedy industry.
Burlesque Performance Series at Dad’s Garage
This burlesque performance series is designed to give participants the knowledge, skills, & confidence to build a solo burlesque performance.
Writing for Performance
Write Club Atlanta, the world's premiere high octane live reading series, is here to teach you all of the intricacies of writing for live performance!
The Dad's Garage Valentine's Day Special Workshop - February 10th 4-6 PM
This Valentine's Day, give your partner/BFF/crush a gift that's better than chocolate, flowers, or those wallet-torching gemstones. Give them the gift of teamwork! This active & fun workshop uses improv exercises, games and the Yes, And principle to give you skills to connect, communicate and collaborate with your partner better than ever!
Freestyle Rap For Improvisers
Attendees will learn to access a larger array of rhymes, how to more effectively target those rhymes, stay in rhythm, & use their improved rap skills to enhance scenes and improv games. We'll work on the two primary approaches to freestyle rap and when to use each one. From rapping in gibberish, to breaking down "targeting rhyming", to telling a story in rap, to roasting a topic, this will be fun and challenging. The skills we work on translate to all musical improv, problem solving, public speaking, & comedy. Whether your background is improv, hip-hop, or cartography, this class is for you.
Rich Talarico Workshops
Rich Talarico is a Peabody® Award winner who boasts four Emmy® nominations, as well as four Writers Guild Award noms. Rich is a distinguished writer/producer known for his significant contributions to Key & Peele. Rich wrote K&P favorites Substitute Teacher, Racist Zombies, Karim and Jahar, Hatz, Teaching Center, Obama Greets, Black Ice and many more. Rich wrote and produced on some of the biggest comedy shows in late-night; MADtv, The Tonight Show w. Jay Leno, Saturday Night Live, and the critically acclaimed, Review. Rich is an alum of Chicago's Second City and has appeared in featured roles on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, MADtv, the feature film High Fidelity and A&W Root Beer's classic TV ad, "Mr. Dumass.” Talarico’s extensive experience in the comedy industry has made him a sought-after teacher, writer and consultant. — more at richtalarico.com
Kevin McDonald Workshops
Squeezing Comedy from Improv w/ Kevin McDonald - Saturday August 19th 12-4 PM
Kevin will get 4 students at a time to improvise a scene. When each scene is over, all the students and Kevin talk about how to make a scene from the improvised scene that was just done - how to build up the comedy, build on the characters and create a story for this new sketch, they're making. Then the students do the scene again, as a more prepared comedy sketch. At the end, we will do a big group improv(with everybody in the class), work on it and then make and an epic comedy sketch from it.
One Line Premise w/ Kevin McDonald - Sunday August 20 12-4 PM
Each student must bring in a one line premise for a comedy sketch like "What if a guy was $10 short of being a millionaire" and the group and Kevin break it down!
Workshops with Craig Cackowski
Craig Cackowski is an actor, improvisor and teacher based in Los Angeles.
He was involved with the iO and iO West (RIP) theaters from 1992-2018, and was the three-time winner of the Del Close Award as Teacher of the Year at iO West. He has played numerous improv festivals around the US with his long-running three-man troupe Dasariski (with Bob Dassie and Rich Talarico) and his duo Orange Tuxedo (with his wife Carla!). While in Chicago, he appeared in and co-wrote 5 revues for The Second City, and helped create such improv forms as JTS Brown and Close Quarters.
As an actor, he has been seen in recurring roles on such shows as Community, Veep, Drunk History, and Mindy Kaling’s Sex Lives Of College Girls (currently on HBOMax). He may be heard frequently on such podcasts as The Thrilling Adventure Hour, Kevin Pollak’s Alchemy This and his own podcast Craig’s List, in which he makes Carla watch his 100 favorite movies.
Improv For Actors
Focus primarily on listening and making offers to create simple platforms.
Define agreement in an improv context
Stanislavsky’s circles of focus as a listening exercise in scenework
Building basic platforms using the vocabulary of Given Circumstances
Three-line scenes
Improvised scene work (not games, just scenes)
This is a class designed to support actors and help them become more comfortable with doing improv!
Movement For Improv
An all levels class for actors and improvisers or anyone who wants to get out of their head and into their body. Maged is the Education Director at Dad’s Garage and Mallory is a choreographer and dancer! This class will focus on helping you find the way your body moves best so you can bring your best whole self to the stage next time you perform!
Movement For Improv
An all levels class for actors and improvisers or anyone who wants to get out of their head and into their body. Tim and Mallory's collaborative experience includes dance, movement, clowning, yoga and miming. This class will focus on helping you find the way your body moves best so you can bring your best whole self to the stage next time you perform!