Online WGIS Class Reviews

I'm sure I've mentioned it, but I take a lot of classes online. I think now is the Golden Age of online improv classes. I can take classes with master-level teachers from the comfort of home. What a time to be alive!

A Note on Getting Comfortable with Online Improv

Zoomprov is different from live improv. It's like a veggie burger, by which I mean if you want to eat a beef burger and you're eating a veggie burger, you might be disappointed no matter how good that veggie burger is. My suggestion would be to embrace that it is a different experience and enjoy it for what it is. One of the things I love about online improv is that it isolates my brain from my body. I can limit the inputs to my brain, which helps me focus on the mental and emotional aspects of my performance. This doesn't mean not being in your body or not doing object work. I'd still suggest doing those things, but it does mean you're getting a specific kind of stripped-down rep.

That said, if you have the means, I'd strongly urge players to maintain a healthy mix of online and live improv, so you keep your physical and live-performance muscles toned as well.

Class Reviews

These are all classes I have taken. In many cases, more than once. As I take more WGIS classes, I'll update this list. I may also flesh these out with more thoughts over time.

Will Hines - Game Talk: Usually held over 4 weeks (but I have also seen one-offs). This is the gold standard game-based improv class. Will talks about the basics of game-based improv, but will also sometimes try things out he's thinking about. Usually, you'll do 3 scenes over the 2-hour class.

Jim Woods - Scene Work: Easy or Hard - This is a mid-level polish class to refine your improv. This class has the feel of an acting class, so the focus is less on reps and more on Jim digging deep into how to improvise your scenes by framing "did the choices we made in our scenes make these easier or harder?" Four-week course (2 hours/session). I am currently taking this whenever it's offered. It's that good.

Billy Merritt - 1000 Scenes/1000 Characters/100 Genres: A good way to get reps in the basics, a one-week 2-hour session. There's a feeling of "this class is whatever the hell Billy wanted to do this morning," and I mean that in the best way. This is the closest I'll ever come to being at UCB in the early 2000s. A real comedy nerd class. There was a time when Billy was the teacher/coach I had the most, but he's since been surpassed by my conservatory team coach.

Billy Merritt - Weird Harolds (I have also seen Weird Forms) - If reading the name "Billy Merritt" and the adjective "weird" doesn't make you email WGIS RIGHT NOW and DEMAND that they offer this class again, then let me just say that this is a master class on the form and forms taught by an actual master of improv forms. SIX-week course (2 hours/session)

Ryan Rosenberg - Big Time Yes! I love the framing that Ryan uses to build on the ideas of agreement and pattern in the example of the children's game Duck, Duck, Goose. Four-week course (2 hours/session)

Jake Regal - Someone Else. Currently in progress Four-week course (2 hours/session)