Improvised Comedy
workshop
with Emma Hiwaizi
Saturday 9th June 2018
2pm-6pm
@ The Loft at Little Dippers
40-42 Upper Gardner Street, Brighton BN1 4AN
Make new friends and have fun whilst creating improvised
scenes and learning new games. Explore status, emotion,
accents, accepting, being honest and setting each other
up in a small, safe and supportive group.
Whether you are looking to be more creative, to enhance your performance skills, to step out of your comfort zone or simply to have more fun in your life – this course could be for you! Enhances listening skills and being in the moment. We are often called upon to improvise in real life – therefore the skills developed in improv are transferable and can enhance our creativity and problem solving skills in the face of unexpected or challenging situations in our daily lives.
This workshop is open to beginners and those with more experience!
Benefits include:
Enhances your sense of playfulness and creativity. Studies done with brown bears in Alaska indicated that the bears who spent most time playing lived longer! This confounded the researchers who expected foraging for food and sleeping to be more important. They concluded that when adults are at play we form new neural networks in the brain and that prepares us for problem solving / creativity when we encounter new or unexpected situations.
Boosts self-confidence. Can help with inter-personal skills in addition to presentation / performance skills. Practice being more spontaneous and going with the flow!
Being in the moment. There is so much research about the benefits of mindfulness – improv combines mindfulness and playfulness as one needs to be focussed on what the other person is saying and good listening requires being in the moment. Play is hugely beneficial for us for a number of reasons – not least the fact that when we are at play – we are in the moment…
Being authentic and honest. Good improv is not about trying to be funny. The comedy often emerges in the relationship between the characters on the stage – the different statuses and emotions for example. The more honest the reactions to the other – the more the audience can connect with what is happening and the funnier and more engaging the experience is for them.
Helps with relationships and self-esteem.
Trust is one of the key elements in improv. This takes a while to build up and create. Trust creates safety and allows us to step outside of our habitual comfort zones.
Make the Other Person Look Good. This is one of the aspects of improv that
Emma loves the most. Improv is not about witty monologue or grotesque characterisation – it is not about stealing the limelight and making it all about you… On the contrary it is about setting the other person up so they can look good! In improv this is achieved by accepting what has just been said – you do not make someone look good if you contradict or disagree with them (a bit like real life really). It is also about making generous offers that they can run with.
This half-day session
includes exercises, games and
include plenty of time to play.
'Emma created a warm, safe space where we could explore our ways of having fun and sillyness to the fullest, without any sense of being judged. Her way of running the sessions was gentle and yet the course felt well structured.' - Emi, Brighton
'I would recommend this course to anyone. It is lots of fun and certainly improves confidence, self esteem, and creativity. I received much more from the course than I thought I would. I really enjoyed meeting the participants and all the laughter we shared together.' - Lynda, Eastbourne
Emma
Hiwaizi is a laughter yoga leader and one of the co-founders of Brighton Laughter Club, which has been running weekly laughter sessions in the heart of Brighton since 2011. She also runs bespoke laughter and play sessions for schools, businesses, social enterprises and private clients.
Emma discovered improv completely by chance when she moved to Brighton 5 years ago. She was reading a book about Play when she came across the concept of the ‘state of playfulness encountered whilst doing improv’. Intrigued, she attended a class and has never looked back. She enjoys teaching just as much as she loves being on the stage.
Please note that we have limited the number of participants to a maximum of 12, to ensure a more intimate and personalised experience.
This event is part of a collection of events happening as part of the Creativity & Wellbeing week across Brighton and Hove. Please see www.artsunwritten.com for a full line-up #brightoncreativityandwellbeing
TICKETS:
£29* / £22 concessions
*£4 OFF with the
Hove StressBusters
Card
Saturday 9th June 2018,
2pm-6pm 
Cancellation Policy
Cancellations over 21 days before the start date:100% refund
Cancellations between 14 and 21 days before the start date:80% refund
Cancellations between 7 and 14 days before the start date: 50% refund
Cancellations less than 7 days before the start date: no refund
The session will take place at The Loft at Little Dippers, 40-42 Upper Gardner Street, Brighton BN1 4AN.
CONTACT US for more information