Developing a Comedic Idea

In this two-day workshop, students will use improv tools, writing exercises, and class discussion to develop their original comedic film or TV (including web series) story idea and form a road map to executing it. Students are welcome to arrive with an idea for a story at any stage in the process or no idea at all (we’ll discover one).

By using improv in our exploration of the ideas as well as integrating core improv concepts (follow the fun, justify, and play characters with a point of view) into the writing process, we find an organic yet structured approach to creating unique stories. Each participant will leave the workshop with a document that, at the very least, lays out the core concept of the story (a two to three-sentence logline), a description of the main characters, the first five beats of the story, and a rough guide of where it goes. (Note: the emphasis in this class is on developing stories, not sketches).