7 pm

Local Guest Celebrity Workshop Participants:

Chue Xiong - EC School Board
Inga Witscher - Around the Farm Table (WI Public TV)
Courtney Everett - TV-13
Tim Tewalt - EC City Council
Benny Haas - The Plus

Memorial (EC)

XX (EC)

The Pickup Artists (MSP)

9 pm

Bearded Men (MSP)

Glassworks (EC)

From Justin To Kelly (NY)

A FREE workshop showcase from 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. will be performed in Forage. The showcase will feature students who from classes taught throughout the day at all our ECIF workshops locations. After the showcase people are encouraged to head to The Plus, 203 S. Barstow.

Taught by Mack Hastings and Elliot Heinz of Glassworks and Improv Grounds Training Center. In this beginners workshop we’ll introduce you to the art of long form improvisation. You will learn to honor the moment, the truth, and work to build real relationships with the people you share space with. No prior experience necessary, teens and adults welcome. $20 fee at the door.

Instructors Mack and Elliot will perform with Glassworks on Saturday night at The Plus, 203. S. Barstow St. as part of Eau Claire Improv Festival. Glassworks focuses on relationships, honesty, and the present moment. With over six years of rehearsals, shows, and twelve hour van rides any of their six national tours, the trio shares an infectious synergy. Mack and Elliot founded Improv Grounds and teach long form improv classes throughout the year in Forage.

A staple of Bearded Men shows are their improvised feats. Learn the tools necessary to paint fully realized worlds, throw an improvised punch (safely), use slow motion to engage the audience and so much more. When executed purposefully and correctly, these change a good show into a great one. $20 fee at the door.

Ever thought about taking an improv class but didn’t want to commit to multiple weeks? This class will give a glimpse into improv studies to adults who have never taken a course. The workshop will be fun, supportive, and will leave you with listening and communication skills that transfer to every-day life. Local improvisers and teachers Amber Dernbach and Josh Ingersoll have been teaching and performing together as a team for fifteen years. Throughout ECIF you can see them play together at The Plus, 203 S. Barstow in Improv Lab and Shambles.

Both workshops at the YMCA are FREE; ECIF strives to make improv accessible no matter age or socio-economic status. These two courses fulfill our mission of accessible outreach and education. Interested in helping to sponsor a local school workshop or performance? We are a non-profit and can provide a tax id for your charitable donation. Contact Amber Dernbach at amber.dernbach@gmail.com to donate.

This workshop is in the YMCA Training Center (across the street from the Main Y center on Graham Ave.).

The Invocation is a powerful way to open an improvised show. Brought to improv by Del Close as an exercise & performance tool to elevate simple suggestions and connect our personal experiences to grand themes & big ideas. This workshop will boost your listening, commitment, and playfulness to explore themes and ideas in an energetic and physical way that can enhance every aspect of your performances. The Invocation transforms thoughtful potential into explosive energy and you won’t leave this workshop unchanged. $20 fee at the door.

Jose Gonzalez helped co-found The Torch Theatre in 2007, where he teaches & performs, and has helped co-produce the Phoenix Improv Festival since 2002. In addition to teaching improv workshops for high school students both locally (Carl Hayden Community High School, Phoenix) and in Hermosillo, Mexico (Colegio Americano del Pacifico, September 2008), Jose has taught applied improv workshops focusing on creativity, communication, and collaboration for corporations, nonprofit organizations, university design courses, and events including American Express, the Foundation for Blind Children, Phoenix Design Week/Method & Madness Conference, and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University. Jose will perform on Friday night at The Plus, 203 S. Barstow St. with Mariachi Kittens.

This workshop is in the Eau Claire room in the basement of L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library.

Located at the Dance Studio, second floor of ECRAC
Enter through door to the right of the main entrance to the State Regional Arts Center Theatre (not office!).

What’s my character? What’s the game of this scene? Am I being funny enough? Am I doing this right? Relax! You’ve already got everything you need to orient yourself in your scenes — you just haven’t realized it yet. Good improv is the art of getting out of your own way: of overcoming your performative insecurities, curbing your ego, and allowing yourself to play the scene rather than letting the scene play you. In this workshop, we’ll teach you how to do just that, and will give you the techniques and confidence you need to get out of your head, abandon your go-to choices, and play to the top of your potential. We’ll show you how to discover pertinent information rather than invent it, how to use your location to advance and heighten your stakes and relationships, how to unclutter your scene work and perform with emotional precision, and how to work *with* your scene partner — rather than against him/her — to create novel, sustainable scenes and characters with minimal effort. Expect a lot of individual instruction and a lot of practical advice on how to incorporate all of these techniques into actual scenes. By the end of the workshop, you won’t be thinking “Why is improv so hard?” You’ll think “I never knew it could be so easy!” $20 fee at the door.

Justin Peters and Kelly Buttermore travel the country teaching improv workshops and classes that emphasize the merits of awareness, agreement, collaboration, and emotional vulnerability. Our goal is to free improvisers from the burden of invention by teaching them techniques to effortlessly generate memorable and sustainable viewpoints, characters, and scenes. Our workshops are designed for intermediate/advanced improvisers, but novices are welcome, too! From Justin to Kelly performs both Friday and Saturday night at The Plus, 203. S. Barstow St, as part of Eau Claire Improv Festival.

Unplug for an hour and engage in meaningful, fun play while you are guided through improvisation exercises that cause you to connect and create together. This class is accessible to school-aged children through teens and is meant to be taken by parents/ grandparents/ caregivers and their child together. There will be enough instructors to accommodate multiple age groups.

Instructors: Memorial High School Theatre teacher & Improv Coach, and ECIF Director Amber Dernbach, along with her Memorial High School Improvisation Students Joseph DelMastro, Nolan Myer, Thomas Raney, Kala Rehberger, Max Sperry, Grace Tate, and Alex Whitis. All instructors will be performing in various groups at The Plus, 203 S. Barstow St. on Friday and Saturday night of ECIF.

This workshop is in the YMCA Training Center (across the street from the Main Y center on Graham Ave.).

Pace and Space taught by Mack Hastings and Elliot Heinz of Glassworks and Improv Grounds Training Center: We'll focus on slowing things down and giving your characters the space to make organic and exciting discoveries. This workshop is all about freeing yourself from the stress of making the right moves in scenes and focusing on the natural connections that occur in your improvising. Perfect for intermediates looking to take the next step with their scene work! $20 fee at the door.

Great characters are where great stories begin. The Bearded Men will provide the tools to take your characters from the surface to the core. Learn to quickly dive in and commit to engaging characters that will guide you into richer scene work and fuller stories. We’ll examine how character needs, wants and beliefs can take a story one step further and draw the audience in. Because great stories aren’t all about saving the world, but about the characters that save it. $20 fee at the door.

Stop worrying about finding the game of the scene and start making choices, having fun, and letting the game emerge in simple, intuitive ways. Learn how to get into the GAME.PLAY.FLOW. FEEL THE GAME.BE THE GAME.SHE'S THE GAME.HE'S THE GAME.WE'S THE GAME! $20 fee at the door.

This workshop is located in the Eau Claire room in the basement of L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library.

Pace and Space taught by Mack Hastings and Elliot Heinz of Glassworks and Improv Grounds Training Center: We'll focus on slowing things down and giving your characters the space to make organic and exciting discoveries. This workshop is all about freeing yourself from the stress of making the right moves in scenes and focusing on the natural connections that occur in your improvising. Perfect for intermediates looking to take the next step with their scene work! $20 fee at the door.

7 pm

Memorial (EC)

Improv Lab (EC)

We have Cats (MSP)

From Justin to Kelly (NY)

9 pm

Mariachi Kittens (AZ)

Jorts! (MSP)

Shambles (EC)

Ferrari McSpeedy (MSP)

Conflict and emotional distance can work their way into one’s play over time until they become dominant choices. But what if instead of choosing conflict, we chose love instead? Making a conscious decision to appreciate and collaborate with your scene partner can take your scene work in unexpected and wonderful directions. In this workshop, we will introduce techniques for finding meaningful connections with your scene partner, and explore the virtues of playing from a standpoint of total agreement. When you choose to embrace your scene partners rather than resist them, the possibilities for your scene work are truly limitless. $20 fee at the door.

Justin Peters and Kelly Buttermore travel the country teaching improv workshops and classes that emphasize the merits of awareness, agreement, collaboration, and emotional vulnerability. Our goal is to free improvisers from the burden of invention by teaching them techniques to effortlessly generate memorable and sustainable viewpoints, characters, and scenes. Our workshops are designed for intermediate/advanced improvisers, but novices are welcome, too! From Justin to Kelly performs both Friday and Saturday night at The Plus, 203. S. Barstow St, as part of Eau Claire Improv Festival.

This workshop focuses on the idea that everything you need for a scene can be found in the first three lines. From relationships to emotions to games and everything in between, we'll help you tune in and commit to everything that happens at the start of a scene. $20 fee at the door.

Mike Fotis and Joe Bozic are the two members of Ferrari McSpeedy, an improv and sketch comedy duo based in Minneapolis, MN. Mike and Joe have been performing and teaching improvisation since 2001. They also ran the Brave New Workshop Student Union, one of the nation's largest school of long-form improvisation, for five years. Ferari McSpeedy plays Friday night at The Plus, 203. S. Barstow St. as part of Eau Claire Improv Festival