Improvisation For Storytellers  (Full day or 3 hour workshop model available*)

This workshop is geared for Storytellers and Storylisteners. No previous experience in improvisation is necessary!

Applied Improvisation is a very powerful way to unlock and heighten creativity.  It can be used as a tool to improve many skills and occupations, including storytelling, creative writing, public performance, management, team-building, group interactions and social speaking to name just a few.  At the core of improvisation is the art of being present and in the moment.  The side effects of this may include increased energy and presence, sharper responses, quicker thought and the ability to think outside the box much easier!
I am very passionate about improvisation, and delighted when I get to discover successful marriages between art forms! I started a night in Galway called Moth and Butterfly where improvisation, true stories, and other stories mingle together and complement each other.  The results each night continue to surprise and inspire me, and I am very proud of this exciting project.  I would love to share some of the work I do, and the skills I have, to further people’s own passion, and help build on their own individual styles of telling a story! 

Areas covered in the workshop include: 

·      Character – tools to bring your characters to life even more in your stories

·      Spontaneity – tools to respond to your audience on the fly

·      Listening and observation – sharpen these skills and use them to create new stories.

·      Play – bringing the sense of play into your telling and upping your energy.

·      From Scratch – using a simple story ‘scaffold’ to create brand new stories instantly

·      What comes next – telling a single story as a group

·      Bring what you know – your story, life knowledge and personality are all you need

·      Truth is cool – open up, tell a truth and feel the tingle!

In the ‘Improvisation for Storytellers’ workshop, we will begin by warming up and actually playing as a group.  This allows people to be more relaxed and creative throughout the session. We will be looking at Storytelling, how it connects us as humans, through the lens of improvisation.  We will explore how to get the juices flowing in actually making a new story, and how to eliminate creative blocks.  We will look and simplicity in structure, as well as twists. We will play ‘games’ that exercise the spontaneity muscle, allowing us to ‘get out of our own way’ when creating a story. We will be moving around physically a lot, emphasizing telling (and listening!) with the whole body, and how this can improve our craft. We will use improvisation to explore stage presence and vocal projection, and play with size and volume as another tool in telling
We will look at some existing stories in our repertoire, and examine how we can deepen and strengthen any characters that emerge.  We will make new stories on the spot, and we will tell brand new stories as a group.  We will look at ways to include our audience even further in our storytelling, when required.  Most of all we will have an enormous amount of fun! (*full day workshop).

* I have also designed a 3 hour ‘Storytelling & Improvisation’ workshop that primarily focuses on the uses of storytelling skills in improv, but draws on many of the topics mentioned above (in a more condensed manner). In the shorter workshop the emphasis is on the Improvised Story skillset and highlights the ‘truth based’ monologue.