WORKSHOPS

Musical Improv for Everyone! with Chris Grace

This workshop will serve as a fun, fear-free exploration of improvising through song and dance. Musical structure and approaches will be introduced for total beginners and improvisers with experience in musical shows will get a chance to refine or improve their skills. Improv and/or musical theater experience is welcome, but the only thing required is enthusiasm! Piano accompaniment by Yuki Desouza.

CHRIS GRACE is a comedian and actor you may know from Superstore, This Is Us, PEN15, Broad City, and more. Grace performed his one-man show Chris Grace: As Scarlett Johannson to effusive reviews and sold out crowds at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He's bringing his new show, Sardines, to headline Austin Sketch Fest on Memorial Day Weekend.

Collaborating in the writers room with joan & raft

This workshop will cover best practices and exercises for collaborative writing, whether you’re a sketch duo, trio, team, or trying to break into a writer’s room for TV and film. With their experience leading sketch writing meetings, directing sketches, as well as their collective time spent writing for television, Joan and Raft will walk you through how to pitch, how to collaborate, and how to cook up magic in a writers room setting. Bring some of your sketches for feedback or develop new ideas together in real time!

JOAN & RAFT is a comedy duo featuring LA's two hottest trans best friends Joan Haley Ford and Raft. You may have enjoyed their writing on shows on Netflix, HBO Max, Cartoon Network, and Comedy Central. They're a consistent Austin Sketch Fest producer and fan favorite!

Characters! With Woody Fu

Characters, baby! Spending a lot of time onstage playing yourself? Feeling stiff and uninspired? This workshop is designed to give you tools for fast, energetic play. We will explore the power of making big character choices right away through genre, high fidelity matching, and point of view. A surefire way to inject more fun into your scenes!

WOODY FU (he/him) is a creator based in Los Angeles. Before appearing on many of your favorite TV shows, Woody trained in New York where he performed on UCB’s Maude Night and Betty Nights. He was also in Baby Wants Candy (Edinburgh Fringe), Boom Chicago (Amsterdam), and Just For Laughs: New Faces: Characters.