CLASSROOM COURSE – $175

8 sessions, 2 hours each | 7:00pm-9:00pm
Prerequisite: None | Students: 14
Minimum Age: 18

This eight-week Improv 101 course is the perfect fit for everyone! We teach you all the basics of improv. Basically, you are going to laugh for two hours each week and play like a kid! You will learn how to create comedy scenes off the top of your head, with no preparation or planning, inspired by students’ true stories. You will learn basic improv skills, like accepting and building on other student ideas, establishing and playing the pattern of the scene, and heightening your pattern from grounded to crazy town. You want to just have fun? You want to perform someday? This class is for everyone! Okay, let’s do this. Register. Stop messing around. Annnd, go!

CLASSROOM COURSE – $195

8 sessions, 2 hours each | 7:00pm-9:00pm
Prerequisite: Improv 101 | Students: 16

Improv 201 is all about scene work and giving you the confidence to stop thinking and let it rip! This class will focus on characters, improving your scene initiations, reacting in the moment, finding and playing fun simple patterns, and supporting your scene partner. Round two! Let’s make this happen. Register! Do it!

CLASSROOM COURSE – $195

8 sessions, 2 hours each | 7:00pm-9:00pm
Prerequisite: Improv 201 | Students: 16

Improv 301 will give you some new tools for your improv tool belt. You will learn all the skills needed to perform the Helix improv form. Helix is a long-form improv structure in three beats, featuring characters, physicality, and strongly improvised scene work. Helix provides structure, but also allows for open, creative play, so it is good for performers who are still developing skills and is accessible to audiences. Helix was created by Comedy Spot founder Brian Crall, and 15 years of student and performer feedback and experiences. Students who complete Improv 301 are eligible to audition for a Harold team and the opportunity to perform in our weekly show, Improv Wednesdays.

MONDAY, MAY 9, 2022
WORKSHOP FEE – $20

1 session, 2 hours | 7:00pm-9:00pm
Instructor: Brian Crall
Prerequisite: Improv 201 | Students: 16
Location: Comedy Spot Theater, 1050 20th St. #130, Sacramento 95811

Brian Crall, Founder and Creative Director of the Comedy Spot, recently created new improv games and exercises for our comedy school’s core curriculum, and to strengthen skills used in shows like YOU! The Musical and Anti-Cooperation League. Brian would like to share these new games and exercises with you. This one-session workshop will focus on a variety of improv skills and keep you laughing the entire time. 

IN PERSON or ONLINE – $175

4 sessions, 2 hours each | 7:00pm-9:00pm PST
Prerequisite: None | Students: 12 (6 in person, 6 online)
Minimum Age: 18

Sketch 101 will teach students the basics of writing sketch comedy scripts and developing characters, as seen in television shows like SNL, MadTV, and Key and Peele. Students will learn Comedy Spot sketch theory and several methods of generating ideas with a clear focus. The class is a mix of video lecture, group discussion, script reading, and feedback. At the completion of this class, students will have finished sketches and characters to use in future. The course is available for either in-person or online instruction, with both group types meeting at the same time.

CLASSROOM COURSE – $175

4 sessions, 2 hours each | 7:00pm-9:00pm
Prerequisite: None | Students: 8
Minimum Age: 18

Have you ever seen a comedian perform and thought, “I can do that!”? Have your friends ever told you that you were hilarious and you should try stand-up comedy? Or do you just love making people laugh and want to give stand-up comedy a try? Our Stand-Up 101 class and instructional environment encourages constructive feedback, sharing, time-tested lessons and tips, and you’ll have a lot of fun in the process. You will gain the skills you need to perform a five-minute comedy set at an actual open mic graduation show at the Comedy Spot, and learn how to continue performing at the various venues in the area once you’re done!

For more information on how to get started, read our article, “Become a Comedian: The First Seven Steps“.

STAGE PERFORMANCE COURSE – $150

4 sessions, 1.5 hours each | 7:30pm-9:00pm*
Prerequisite: Stand-Up 101 | Students: 5

You have at least five minutes of material and now you want to expand. Or maybe you have way more than five minutes, but you want some feedback and help tagging and punching up your jokes, and developing stage presence. In Stand-Up 201, our instructor watches students perform weekly at Comedy Spot’s Open Mic and then immediately provides feedback and discussion. This class is perfect for comedians who want to move to the next level.

Special notes for this class:

• Please make sure you have at least five minutes of material ready to perform on the first day of class.
• This class meets at the following locations:
  Class #1: Comedy Spot Training Center (915 T Street) for introductions and stage preparations
  Classes #2-4: Comedy Spot theater (1050 20th Street), where students will perform each class meeting, during our Open Mic show.
• Please check in with your instructor upon arrival at the theater on nights #2-4.
• *End time for this class is tentative, depending on duration of feedback, but no later than 9:30pm.

CLASSROOM COURSE – $175

6 sessions, 2 hours each  |  7:00pm-9:00pm
Prerequisite: Familiarity with comedy films
Students: 6  |  Minimum Age: 18

Video 101: Comedy Filmmaking Basics will give the beginning filmmaker a strong foundation in visual comedy techniques and film comedy theory, so they can start making better, funnier videos right away. Through a combination of lecture and hands-on you'll learn the basics of shot composition, camera movement, lighting, pre-production, directing, and editing, all through the lens of comedy. By the end of the class, you'll have completed a group project to show the world!