CLASSES

At the Vanguard Comedy School, we give you the tools you need to be the best performer you can be. Our programs are designed to take you from bright-eyed, bushy-tailed beginner, to a force to be reckoned with on stage. For experienced students, we also offer placement auditions to those who might benefit from starting in a more advanced class in the curriculum. Submission of a performance resume is required.

IMPROV

Vanguard’s program for improvisational comedy is a must for anyone who wants to:

  • Hone their comedy skills to a professional level
  • Be able to think on their feet
  • Improve public speaking abilities
  • Conquer stage fright
  • Better understand human relationships and improve social skills
  • Study acting and writing dialogue
  • Learn effective team work skills
  • Be a better listener
  • Just have fun!

Master Classes

Class Schedule

IMPROV 101: Basic Playing Techniques

This level introduces beginners to the art of improvisation. Students learn all the fundamental techniques used to improvise scenes, from the humblest improv jam to the hottest comedy clubs in North America.

Subjects in this level: 

  • Game of the scene
  • Playing characters
  • Point of view
  • Agreement
  • Relationships
  • Emotion
Class Schedule

IMPROV 201: Advanced Playing Techniques

Building on IMPROV 101, this level exposes students to techniques that will cast off the shackles of traditional scene work and let their improv explode. The world on stage becomes real, as well as the characters within it—should one choose to remain on the stage, that is.

Subjects in this level: 

  • Honest playing
  • Commitment to character
  • Physicality in character
  • Physical environment
  • Spatial relationships
Class Schedule

IMPROV 301: Playing in a Group

Now having a solid foundation in playing scenes, in this level students are oriented toward playing in an ensemble. The Group Mind drives a show, and the individual performer finds their own comedic voice by playing off the ideas of others.
  • Organic group improvisation
  • Group scenes
  • Making connections and callbacks
Class Schedule

SHORTFORM 101: Introduction to Shortform

This course is designed to familiarize the novice improviser with the games of shortform improvisation. Students will learn a variety of shortform games that can be played in performance, and learn about how they are constructed. Understanding the devices that drive all shortform games enables improvisers to perform well in any game, even ones that are new to them. At the end, students will invent shortform games of their own.
Class Schedule

SHORTFORM 201: Compete in the Thunderdome

This course sees students push shortform to its finest performance. The skills learned in the foundation series applied to shortform games culminate in Vanguard’s signature style of no holds barred shortform improvisation. Students are trained toward playing at a level seen in Vanguard’s competitive shortform showThunderdome.
Class Schedule

LONGFORM 101: Introduction to Longform

In this course, students learn the tenets of longform improvisation by studying the form that started it all—the Harold. Developed by Del Close, the father of modern improvisation, the Harold is the first form that asked improvisers to perform a cohesive 30 minute set from a single audience suggestion. Famous former Harold students include Tina Fey, Chris Farley, Amy Poehler, and Bill Murray. The Harold requires improvisers to work as a group, play scenes, carry ideas forward, make connections, build energy, break tension, and maybe, just maybe, come out if it having said something to our audience. Learning the structure of the Harold gives students all the skills they need to improvise a longform show of any form.
Class Schedule

LONGFORM 201: Enter The Vortex

This course sees students push longform to its finest performance. The structure of the Harold is lifted, and the skills gained throughout the four previous levels culminate in Vanguard’s signature style of longform improvisation. Students are trained toward playing at a level seen in Vanguard’s longform improv show The Vortex.
Class Schedule

Summer Improv Conservatory

This is Vanguard's inaugural summer improv conservatory, where students will spend 5 intensive weeks learning Vanguard Comedy Theatre's complete curriculum. Classes are 6 hours a day, 4 days a week.
Class Schedule