Have fun learning the art of comedy!

Building on the fundamentals of writing and performing stand-up comedy in STAND-UP 101, the new advanced level course STAND-UP 102 will provide students with even more tools and techniques of stand-up tailored for up-and-coming local comedians by industry professionals. This five week course will cover such topics including crowd work and interacting with audiences, adapting to different performance venues, writing topical humor, and stand-up character creation. Students will get to show off their new skills in a showcase performance for their friends and family.

Producing Comedy is a two-week introductory class designed for anyone curious about what goes into creating and running live comedy shows. Through a mix of theory, discussion, and hands-on practical skills, students will explore the fundamentals of producing stand-up, sketch, or improv comedy entertainment. This will include show development, logistical planning, communication and collaboration skills, and other best practices for creating a strong audience and performer experience. Whether you are interested in launching your own project in the future or simply want to better understand the behind-the-scenes work that makes live comedy happen, this class is a supportive entry point. This class is also an intended pathway toward future intermediate producer training at Arcade Academy.

This five-week intensive will teach students The Monoscene, a long form improv structure comprised of a single, continuous scene in one location. This challenging form requires commitment to character, elegant heightening, and creating multiple layers of game and pattern throughout the single scene, creating an improvised one-act play unlike any other!

This new five-week intensive will teach students True Hollywood Stories, a long form improv structure that transforms an audience interview into a sensationalized "rise and fall" story in the style of television classics like The E True Hollywood Story or VH1's Behind The Music. Starting from humble beginnings, followed by a meteoric rise to fame and a tragic and scandalous crash-and-burn, this fictionalized narrative is both a crowd-pleasing show structure and an exciting challenge for advanced improvisors.

This five-week intensive focuses on one of the fundamental pillars of comedy: character. Using improv, acting, and writing techniques, instructor Sara Kantner will help students develop engaging and unique comedic characters, and give them the tools to perform these roles confidently. In addition to practicing playing strong characters in improv scenes, students will explore using a character as a starting point for sketch or stand-up comedy.

Whether you're a beginner looking to explore improv comedy for the first time, an adventurer looking for new skills to acquire, or someone just looking to get out of their own head, this class is for you! In this six-week* class, you'll learn new skills through improvisational comedy games and exercises. Alongside your fellow classmates, you’ll focus on agreement and extension or “Yes, And”, as well as "group mind", and basic environment and object work, all while in a supportive and playful environment. IMPROV 101: Foundations culminates with a class show performed on the Arcade stage! Please note that because Session 5 is a five-week session and IMPROV 101 is a six-week course, during the final week students will have their regularly scheduled Wednesday 6:30pm class on October 14th and then return the next night to perform their class show on Thursday, October 15th at 8pm.

This new four-week course will explore comedy as political discourse and teach students effective tools for using comedy as a vehicle for advocacy and change. The course, designed by Andrew Lotz, will be lecture-based and feature practical application assignments and group discussions. If you like to laugh, tell stories, craft jokes, write sketches, create, improvise, or even simply enjoy analyzing the connection between what makes us laugh and what makes us believe, then this class is for you!

Whether you're a beginner looking to explore improv comedy for the first time, an adventurer looking for new skills to acquire, or someone just looking to get out of their own head, this class is for you! In this six-week* class you'll learn new skills through improvisational comedy games and exercises. Alongside your fellow classmates, you’ll focus on agreement and extension or “Yes, And”, as well as "group mind", and basic environment and object work, all while in a supportive and playful environment. IMPROV 101: Foundations for Women and Femmes culminates with a class show performed on the Arcade stage! This class is exclusively for women and femme-presenting persons. Students looking to take an IMPROV 101: Foundations class for anyone are welcome to register for our Session 5 Wednesday night IMPROV 101. Please note that because Session 5 is a five-week session and IMPROV 101 is a six-week course, during the final week students will have their regularly scheduled Saturday 10am class on October 17th and then return the next day to perform their class show on Sunday, October 18th at 2pm.