Important News:This website is updated periodically as we get more information, so bookmark now, or check back often. Please feel free to contact us if you have questions or comments. See you in April! Welcome to the official site of the The 5th Annual Oberlin College Improv Conference (OCIC 05). We are very excited to be returning for another year of getting up, getting down, and of course, Hot Hot Improv! This year's conference, themed "Pushing the Boundaries", will take place April 15-17 in Oberlin, Ohio, featuring a cast of characters guaranteed to give your improv preconceptions a firm, loving kick in the teeth. Featuring performances and workshops with:Click here to reserve your tickets now!Workshops:The following Student workshops are offered on Friday, April 15, 4pm to 6pm. Contact ImprovisationIn this workshop we will introduce you to some basics of the internationally practiced dance form that is Contact Improv. We will learn to share weight, roll, follow momentum and use gravity. We will even learn to fly. Whether you love to dance or think you have never danced before, we encourage you to come and play with us! StorytellingCome explore the intersections of storytelling and improv. This workshop will focus on how to find good stories and improv within a narrative framework. It will be a little bit of presenting information, but mostly just sharing stories with each other. ClowningMr. Flop is My Best Friend – It’s true! Ever been on stage and royally screwed up or felt unsupported or nervous with fellow improvisers? Then come learn some basic techniques of clown and mime work. Certain principles of clowning can be very helpful in producing some solid scenes with a different kind of flavor. So, if you want to have some clown routines you can whip out of your back pocket, learn how to really rock it in a group dynamic or open those invisible door knobs/jump those invisible walls like a pro, step right this way! Musical ImprovThis workshop will cover various facets of musical improv: good rhyming, getting creative with lyrics, and learning how to get into and out of songs. Learn how to enhance and further a story through improvised song. Oh no! Your ex broke your heart by marrying a parrot? What should we do ... What else? Sing a song! Intro to ImprovAccording to many knowledgable people, improv comedy is one of the funnest things ever. Emile Bokaer agrees. This workshop is for anybody, and is especially designed for people who are "trying their hand" at improv, or for improvisers who want to brush up on fundamental skills and have a good time. Emphasis on energy, support, comfort, having a really good time in scenes as a basis for scene skills. The following Professional workshops are offered on Saturday, April 16. Available time slots: 11am to 1pm, 2pm to 4pm, 4pm to 6pm. He Plays/ She Plays - Mark Sutton and Stacey HallalThis workshop will focus on how scenes and characters develop from the male and female mindset and how gender combinations affect the playing of scenes with similar subject matter. Harold Inside the Matrix - Zach WardLoad the jump program. This workshop will break you free from the rules of Harold while maintaining the awesome structure of Harold. It will teach you to play without limitations and to understand that the moment you step onstage you are jacked in, and anything is possible, if you want it. Learn that improv rules exist but they are able and meant to be broken. You will simplify games within scenes, you will draw energy from blackout edits, exploding your second beats into structured roman numerals, learn how to make Harold work for you. Dodge bullets, escape thru a telephone, and practice Kung-Fu. Have more fun after you start to improvise Harold inside The Matrix. Kick That Funky Shhht - Rene DuquesnoyRene Duquesnoy will teach you the key elements of doing a Beatbox show. Freestyle rap, scratchbacks, and sampling are a few of the effects that you will learn while working on this fast paced and exciting form. Learn how to enhance a scene by adding quick hiphop tricks. Grandma and Farmer Ted getting into an argument in a scene? VAPAPO - Jill BernardJill Bernard offers a character toolkit to give participants the ability to create strong, compelling characters that they can hang onto through the whole scene. This session will focus on using Voice, Attitude or Posture, and Animal, Prop or Obsession to build instant characters. Participants will use these tools to fearlessly initiate scenes, create relationships and find agreement. Solo Improvisation - Andy EningerGoing solo to improve your group improv skills. Breaking Out of the Scene - Asaf RonenLearn to play with longform edits as inspired by film, to roll with whatever is going on in the scene and to add new twists onto the usual dynamics. Fun in Physicality - Karen WightThis class incorporates elements of clowning, mime, and environmental work and applies them to improv scene work. By freeing up the body, the student will discover new characters, different approaches to creating a relationship onstage, and tools to add variety to their scene work. OCIC 2005 - Schedule of Events:This schedule is in production and subject to change. Friday April 15thSaturday April 16thSunday April 17thTicket Info:Each Friday only package includes:Each all-access conference package includes:The weekend also includes:Ticket costs:$55 All-access conference weekend package$10 Friday only package special $15 One professional workshop $5 One student/faculty taught workshop $2 Each Big Show $3 OCIC Party Click here to reserve your tickets now!Professionals' Bios:Zach Ward has been performing, teaching, and directing improv comedy professionally for over 10 years. Founder and Executive Producer of the DSI Theater and North Carolina's Dirty South Improv Festival, Zach has been employed as Assistant and Associate Producer for the Chicago Improv Festival, Director of Education for ComedySportz of Chicago, Artistic Director for ComedySportz of Chapel Hill. A director and mentor for both professional and college improvisers, a sales coach for Fortune 500 companies around the world, and a featured instructor at comedy festivals across North America, Zach also proudly serves on the Board of Directors for YESand.com and IMPLOSION - the college comedy resource.Rene Duquesnoy has been involved in DSI for a few years, where he co-created the critically acclaimed and high-fived show The Beatbox, and sits in the driver seat for all RoadTrip shows. He lives in Chicago, where he regularly performs at The Playground Theater with one of the elder member teams, Homey Loves Chachi. Rene works in Cleveland, and can be seen in Oliver Twisted at Hilarities Theater. His past improv credits include White Noise and the independent team Dually Noted, previously coached by SNL's John Lutz. Beyond the live make-em-ups, Rene has taught classes and workshops from Chicago to Chapel Hill, Cleveland to Atlanta, and all the world in between. He has performed in many festivals. Rene also skydives. Climb out and hang! Andy Eninger is an actor/writer/director living in Chicago and working every angle. He is the creator of "Sybil," an improvised performance piece. Notable performances include the Chicago Improv Festival, Single File – the Chicago Solo Performance Festival, and, most recently, the Toronto International Improv Festival. He has also been an ensemble member of GayCo Productions, Chicago's Gay & Lesbian Sketch comedy theater, since 1996, and has written for and performed in nearly all of their sketch comedy revues, including the After Dark Award-winning "Everyone's Coming Out, Rosie!", "The Miseducation of Dr. Laura" and most recently "GayCo Behind Bars." His performances with GayCo have included appearances in Miami, FL, Vermont, many venues in and around Chicago, and in extended runs in Amsterdam and Provincetown. Asaf Ronen has been involved in improv for 14 years, starting in college and working with NY Theatersports, NY ComedySportz and directing his own longform improv troupe, Hiatus, where he helped create original longform formats. Currently, he is directing the all-girl group goga and has produced critically acclaimed productions of The Mock, The Sickest F***ing Stories I Ever Heard and Death in the City at the NY Fringe Festival. Asaf has taught throughout NYC's public schools through LEAP and New Horizons and as part of Weist-Barron's ACTeen program and is a resident teacher at The Peoples Improv Theater. Asaf has also worked with Cirque du Soleil as a talent scout. In addition, he is Editor-in-Chief of YESand.com and is currently writing a book on directing improv. Karen Wight has studied improv with Jay Rhoderick of Centralia, The Upright Citizens Brigade, Los Angeles Theatresports, and co-founded the Los Angeles improv group The Greenstone Players. A founding and current member of the long-form improv group goga, Karen has performed recently at various comedy festivals including New Zealand Laugh Fest, Melbourne Int'l Comedy Fest, CIF, Orlando Foolfest, and Toronto Jamboree. Also a classically trained actress, Karen currently studies with Annie Occhiogrosso (co-founder of American Players Theatre) and Alice Spivak. Favorite roles include Olivia in Twelfth Night, Katherine in Henry V, Celia in As You Like It, Gladys in The Pajama Game, and Alaura/Carla in City of Angels. Jill Bernard has been performing with ComedySportz-Twin Cities since 1993, and is the director of their workshop program. Her one-woman improv piece, Drum Machine, has been featured at Red Curtain Cabaret, Improv-A-Go-Go, the Chicago Improv Festival, the Toronto Improv Jamboree, Philadelphia's Female Funny Fest, and the ComedySportz National Tournament. She recently appeared in Storybox and WNEP's Defending Your Life at the Chicago Improv Festival. She has taught improv all over the country, including Juneau, AK; Spokane, WA; Washington DC; Portland, OR; at the Dirty South Improv Festival, the Funny Woman Fest, and the Tiny Funny Woman Fest. Mark Sutton is a founding member of The Annoyance Theater and has been performing, teaching, writing, and directing comedy in Chicago for the past 15 years. Mark has appeared in several independent films including Fatty Drives the Bus, Waiting For The Man, Watch, and a starring role in the upcoming comedy, "Penniless: One Man's Crusade." He has appeared in over 65 shows at The Annoyance Theater including "Co-Ed Prison Sluts, Manson: The Musical," and, "The Real Live Brady Bunch." Mark is a member of the faculty at both The Annoyance and The Second City. He is a former director of The Second City National Touring Company, and directed the Canadian premiere of "Co-Ed Prison Sluts" for Second City Toronto. Stacey Hallal hails most recently from Portland, Oregon where she regularly performed improvised and sketch comedy with All Jane No Dick, Big Belly, and ComedySportz. In the past two years, Stacey has performed in over fourteen international comedy festivals across the U.S. and Canada, including the Chicago Improv Festival, the Toronto Improv Jamboree, and the UCB Del Close Marathon (NYC). Last fall, Stacey debuted her one-woman show, The Humperdink Family Reunion, which she performed at the Miami, Seattle, and Chicago Improv Festivals and in conjuction with Bassprov at the Chicago Cultural Center's Loop Theater. Stacey now lives in Chicago where she performs with Inside Vladimir and the sketch group Men of God. If you have any questions, or need more info, contact Erin Shiba. |