Comedy Classes and Workshops

Workshop Description

“Truth in comedy” is more than just a saying - it’s a guide towards making choices that will engage your teammates and audiences on a deeper, more emotional and intimate level. This workshop will focus on grounding scenes in emotion and believable relationships, authentically existing in whatever world is being created, and utilizing our own experiences in scenes in ways that serve us and our teammates.

Topics covered in this workshop:

• Vulnerable performance
• Emotionally grounded scenes
• Choices rooted in reality and authenticity
• Exploring the urge to “be funny” vs. leaning into choices that can delightfully surprise us
• Creating safe performance spaces for more emotional improv work

This workshop is useful for any improvisers who are looking to explore more emotion/relationship driven improv. Participants will be guided on how to create safe spaces to explore more intimate/vulnerable aspects of our own lives in our improv, how to explore and build such scenes, and more!

Prerequisites

• Completion of three or more long-form improv classes from an organization’s core curriculum.

Instructor Bio

Macey Schiff has been performing improv since 2008, and teaching, coaching, and directing in the DC area for nearly 10 years. She currently performs with the Washington Improv Theater ensemble, Madeline, and is 1/4 of the 2023 Fighting Improv Smackdown Tournament winning team, Moonstruck 2. She has studied improvisational comedy at the The Magnet Theater in New York and at the Washington Improv Theater in Washington. Macey has led improv workshops for individuals and organizations in DC and beyond, including workshops at improv theaters in Brussels and Berlin. Above all else, she tries to build a space where people feel comfortable to experiment, ask questions, and grow. Macey encourages finding the “truth in comedy”, and play that includes elements grounded in reality and emotion, while also leaning into the chaos and following the fun that comes naturally comes from creating something out of nothing. She loves that improv can be a way to explore situations and ideas that we can’t always do “in real life”.

Workshop Details & Schedule

Location: DC Arts Center, 2438 18th St NW, Washington, DC 20009

Registration Fee: $60

Date and Time: Wednesday, October 11, 7pm-9:30pm

Class Policies

• Must be 18 years of age or older to enroll.
• All sales are final: classes are non-refundable. Classes are only refundable to students if there are not enough students for the workshop. Classes are nonrefundable under all other circumstances.
• Masks are optional but not required.
• See Rails Comedy's Student Handbook for full course policies.

Waitlist

• If this workshop is sold out, please sign up for the waitlist above to be considered in the event of a student cancellation or if an additional workshop is added.

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Ticketing Page Issues - Troubleshooting Steps

• If the ticketing page doesn't allow you to purchase tickets and appears sold out, it is possible that another customer has those tickets waiting in their cart and we've reached venue capacity. Please return in 15 minutes and those tickets may be available if the other customer did not purchase them.
• If the error code [Object object] appears and prevents you from checking out, this usually means that you are entering some wrong information, likely the address and/or zip code connected to the credit card you are trying to use. Please double check your payment information and try again.
• If you continue to run into issues, please contact walker@railscomedy.com.

To be announced.

Class Description

In this 4-week class, students will learn how to perform the Pretty Flower format. A Pretty Flower features a recurring base scene, or stem, which generates ideas for shorter scenes, or petals. Players initiate and perform each petal, then transition back to the base scene.

This class covers the following topics:

• Creating and sustaining a base scene
• Bringing a base scene to a satisfying conclusion
• Noticing ideas for petals
• Initiating and activating petals
• Having fun with transitions between stems and petals

This class is useful for anyone interested in learning or practicing the Pretty Flower. Additionally, the class base scene content develops skills useful for monoscenes, and its petal content develops skills useful for tagout-heavy formats.

Prerequisites

• Completion of two or more long-form improv classes from an organization’s core curriculum.

Instructor Bio

Martin Steger teaches with Rails Comedy and Washington Improv Theater. Game, premise generation, and improviser-to-improviser communication are the focuses of Martin’s teaching style. On the improv stage, Martin is half of the duo Unknown Number, is on the rock comedy team Heavy Rotation, and is a recurring cast member of the shows People of the District and Who Did It? An Improvised Murder Mystery. Martin is also a sketch writer and performer as well as the director of the award-winning scripted comedy Acuña Acuna. Martin’s festival history includes appearances at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the New York Musical Improv Festival, and the SteelStacks Improv Comedy Festival.

Class Details & Schedule

This is a 4-week class (2.5 hours per class) and includes a class showcase.

Location: DC Arts Center, 2438 18th St NW, Washington, DC 20009

• CLASS 1: Sunday, October 22, 5pm-7:30pm
• CLASS 2: Sunday, October 29, 5pm-7:30pm
• CLASS 3: Sunday, November 5, 5pm-7:30pm
• CLASS 4: Sunday, November 12, 5pm-7:30pm
• CLASS SHOWCASE: Tuesday, November 14, 7:00pm

Registration Fee: $175

Class Policies

• Must be 18 years of age or older to enroll.
• All sales are final: classes are non-refundable. Classes are only refundable to students if there are not enough students for the class. Classes are nonrefundable under all other circumstances.
• Students may miss a maximum of 1 class (1 absence) to participate in the class showcase.
• Masks are optional but not required.
• See Rails Comedy's Student Handbook for full course policies.

Waitlist

• If this class is sold out, please sign up for the waitlist above to be considered in the event of a student cancellation or if an additional class is added.

---

Ticketing Page Issues - Troubleshooting Steps

• If the ticketing page doesn't allow you to purchase tickets and appears sold out, it is possible that another customer has those tickets waiting in their cart and we've reached venue capacity. Please return in 15 minutes and those tickets may be available if the other customer did not purchase them.
• If the error code [Object object] appears and prevents you from checking out, this usually means that you are entering some wrong information, likely the address and/or zip code connected to the credit card you are trying to use. Please double check your payment information and try again.
• If you continue to run into issues, please contact walker@railscomedy.com.

To be announced.

To be announced.

To be announced.