Calendar | List
Classes and workshops 🍏
Classes and workshops 🍏
Inspired by what happens on stage here every night, we help students build the skills and stamina to create their own work, and to be self-empowered creators and performers. We offer training that supports a warm and inclusive environment of investigation, risk-taking, and collaboration. We host workshops that highlight physical-based performance, mining courageous comedy, radical presence, audience connection, devising, and ensemble work.
COME PLAY!
Elysian Class: Musical Improv — Making Up Songs (6-Week)
Ever see people make up songs live onstage and think, "That's truly fucking impossible"? Well, the premise of this class is that literally everyone has the ability to learn how, so buckle up, Diva....
Come conquer—and then fall in love with—the form of improvising that regular improvisers are scared to do. You'll learn how to: rhyme on the fly, sing ensemble number/trios/duets/solos, and wow Muggle audiences with the ultimate magic trick. No prior improv experience required.
Elysian Class: Playing Yourself (8-Week)
A new devising class at the Elysian focused on kickstarting the creation of a new show from your "auto-mythology." We'll generate new material from prompts that unpack your personal memories, stories, opinions, quirks, obsessions, and big ideas, maybe even unsent email drafts–in order to turn them into performance-worthy gems. Expand your experimental toolbox to find the most compelling ways to craft your ideas for an audience.
Elysian Class: Spymonkey - Introduction to funny (1-Day)
This one day workshop is an introduction to the key concepts at the heart of Spymonkey’s Theatre of the Funny. We believe that everyone can be funny in their own unique way, and that the best theatre is one that embraces this quality in its artists. With the emphasis on supporting a space that is accessible, supportive and safe for all to laugh, we will use our favourite games and exercises as practical illustrations, to create belly-laughter – improv exercises (the sometimes scary pleasure of saying ‘yes’ to the unknown), explore practical concepts such as ‘finding the game’, the importance of complicity, or fixed point, of playing together with our friends, and of sharing that particular quality of Funny that you and only you can be.
We have taught these workshops all over the world for 30 years and we are still amazed how much fun can be had by a brand new group of people, as long as they come ready to laugh and equipped with a sense of humour about themselves and others.
Elysian Class: Playing Yourself (8-Week)
A new devising class at the Elysian focused on kickstarting the creation of a new show from your "auto-mythology." We'll generate new material from prompts that unpack your personal memories, stories, opinions, quirks, obsessions, and big ideas, maybe even unsent email drafts–in order to turn them into performance-worthy gems. Expand your experimental toolbox to find the most compelling ways to craft your ideas for an audience.
Elysian Class: Pandemonium Weekend (2-Day)
Jump into your body. Open like a little flower. Rediscover your playful spirit, as well as the simple pleasure and ferocious generosity of performance.In this weekend workshop, we pursue the clown together in all of its messy and hilarious beauty. Take bold risks full of audacity; make a big noise; sing your little heart out! We'll welcome the newbies and provoke the old timers simultaneously, with exercises tailored to the folks in the room. Let’s find out what is funny about you!
Elysian Class: Chekhov in L.A. (2-Week)
A scene study class designed to immerse performers in the tragicomedic world of Anton Chekhov’s plays, empowering them with the acting tools necessary to bring the text to life with laughter, tears, and unabashed spontaneity.
Elysian Class: Organic Standup (8-week)
Do you want to discover what makes you uniquely funny?
Have you thought about stand-up but have no idea how to start?
Are you a performer who wants an unconventional approach to stand-up?
Elysian Class: Improv Deconstructed (8-Week)
Feeling stuck in old improv patterns? Redefine what you've already learned in fun and guided chaos. Let’s bend traditional structures, break some rules, explore the possibilities of ensemble play, and reimagine what longform improv can be. you will discover experimental formats, learn to trust your instincts, make unexpected choices, and embrace the weird. This is your space to play with form, get messy, and think way outside the box.
*NO CLASS OCTOBER 14th*
Elysian Class: Clown Lit (2-Day)
A writing intensive for comedians who like to get physical.
Elysian Class: Directing Lab
For bold, curious, genre-defiant, and most of all, scrappy theater makers and comedians eager to sharpen their directorial skills. Be the prepared, warm, capable, fun, and highly imaginative collaborator everyone wants to work with. Whether you identify as a director, or want to view your own work through a director’s eye, this lab-style course from the Elysian offers practical tools and inspiring ideas for creating indie comedy and performance that doesn’t fit neatly into a box…mostly, because your props are too big.
Work on strengthening your stagecraft and effectively communicating your vision to others. Through hands-on exercises, ensemble experiments, and discussion, you’ll be thinking and communicating like a director for a range of theater forms, including solo performance, sketch comedy, clown, musical theater, and beyond. We’ll approach all through the lens of low-budget and DIY theater-making, helping you be confident to dream big on a small stage, and create work that is often low budget, but always highly entertaining.
Elysian Class: Clown Fundamentals (4-Week)
Study the fundamentals of modern clown with the artists that have made the Elysian “clowning’s North American nerve center.” Use your body, hone your presence onstage, connect vividly with your audience, and create performances that are radically playful, vulnerable, strange, mischievous, gloriously dumb and beautiful.
Language of Nonsense w/ Chad Damiani (2-Day)
A two-day intensive from the creator/director of STAND UP AND CLOWN, CLOWN ZOO and co-creator of RORY AND CHAD WIN COMEDY TONIGHT! Chad Damiani (aka "Clown Boss") offers this intro class for veterans and newcomers, looking to explore how clowns connect and play with audiences through joy and nonsense.
How can we get a roomful of strangers to not only go along with our joyfully dumb ideas, but also become our eager co-conspirators? A deep exploration of primal communication. It’s also a chance to be live directed by Chad in a class show!
The Pandemonium Workshop (6-day)
A weeklong immersion in Clown with internationally renowned director, teacher, clown and commedia master Christopher Bayes, the founder of The Pandemonium Studio in New York, current Head of Physical Acting at Yale School of Drama, and author of Discovering the Clown, or The Funny Book of Good Acting. Jump into your body...open like a little flower...rediscover your playful spirit and the simple pleasure and ferocious generosity of performance.
The Pandemonium Workshop (6-day)
A weeklong immersion in Clown with internationally renowned director, teacher, clown and commedia master Christopher Bayes, the founder of The Pandemonium Studio in New York, current Head of Physical Acting at Yale School of Drama, and author of Discovering the Clown, or The Funny Book of Good Acting. Jump into your body...open like a little flower...rediscover your playful spirit and the simple pleasure and ferocious generosity of performance.
Language of Nonsense w/ Chad Damiani (2-Day)
A two-day intensive from the creator/director of STAND UP AND CLOWN, CLOWN ZOO and co-creator of RORY AND CHAD WIN COMEDY TONIGHT! Chad Damiani (aka "Clown Boss") offers this intro class for veterans and newcomers, looking to explore how clowns connect and play with audiences through joy and nonsense.
How can we get a roomful of strangers to not only go along with our joyfully dumb ideas, but also become our eager co-conspirators? A deep exploration of primal communication. It’s also a chance to be live directed by Chad in a class show!
All The Hats (1-Day/Info Session)
You made a show! Now what? Learn how to find festivals and other places to perform, how to put together a tour, and, even better, how to come home with a return on your investments (ROI).
For the independent artist and producer who wears all the hats.
Language of Nonsense w/ Chad Damiani (2-Day)
A two-day intensive from the creator/director of STAND UP AND CLOWN, CLOWN ZOO and co-creator of RORY AND CHAD WIN COMEDY TONIGHT! Chad Damiani (aka "Clown Boss") offers this intro class for veterans and newcomers, looking to explore how clowns connect and play with audiences through joy and nonsense.
How can we get a roomful of strangers to not only go along with our joyfully dumb ideas, but also become our eager co-conspirators? A deep exploration of primal communication. It’s also a chance to be live directed by Chad in a class show!
Playing Yourself (8-Week)
Kickstart the creation of the show that only you could dream up. Generate new material from prompts that unpack your memories, your stories, your opinions, your quirks, your obsessions, and your big ideas, and maybe even your unsent email drafts–in order to turn them into performance-worthy gems. Find the incredible thing waiting to be discovered inside the personal collection of seemingly-random material and ephemera you already have.
Improv: Fast and Loose, Slow and Steady (8-Week)
An improv class for anyone who wants to learn to be more present, become a true active listener and be free on stage. And anyone who loves to have fun.
All The Hats (1-Day/Info Session)
You made a show! Now what? Learn how to find festivals and other places to perform, how to put together a tour, and, even better, how to come home with a return on your investments (ROI).
For the independent artist and producer who wears all the hats.
Language of Nonsense w/ Chad Damiani (2-Day)
A two-day intensive from the creator/director of STAND UP AND CLOWN, CLOWN ZOO and co-creator of RORY AND CHAD WIN COMEDY TONIGHT! Chad Damiani (aka "Clown Boss") offers this intro class for veterans and newcomers, looking to explore how clowns connect and play with audiences through joy and nonsense.
How can we get a roomful of strangers to not only go along with our joyfully dumb ideas, but also become our eager co-conspirators? A deep exploration of primal communication. It’s also a chance to be live directed by Chad in a class show!
MOVEMENT FOR COMEDIANS, CLOWNS & IMPROVISERS (2-Day)
Critically acclaimed, award-winning Clown & Bouffon, Eric Davis leads you through a masterclass of movement to help you create dynamic comedy.
Rooted in Play, Lecoq Technique and Laban/ Bartenieff fundamentals, this class will
Get you laughing, sweating and give you greater awareness of your body as well as a theatrical language to articulate your comedy on stage.
BOUFFON 1 (4-Day)
A Satiric Ensemble of Mocking Madness and Mayhem!The World laughs at the Clown, but the Bouffons laugh at the World! Unleash your inner Bouffon in an explosion of fun and comedy gold.Imagine a wild-eyed pack of Players, ecstatic to mock anything and everything. Ridiculous, confronting and poetic, this Satyric chorus teeters on the seesaw of fun and uncomfortable truth. To begin this journey, we focus on the role of “The Player”.
Language of Nonsense w/ Chad Damiani (2-Day)
A two-day intensive from the creator/director of STAND UP AND CLOWN, CLOWN ZOO and co-creator of RORY AND CHAD WIN COMEDY TONIGHT! Chad Damiani (aka "Clown Boss") offers this intro class for veterans and newcomers, looking to explore how clowns connect and play with audiences through joy and nonsense.
How can we get a roomful of strangers to not only go along with our joyfully dumb ideas, but also become our eager co-conspirators? A deep exploration of primal communication. It’s also a chance to be live directed by Chad in a class show!
The Simple Clown (3 Days)
The simple clown is simply you without all the know-how and wherewithal, left only with hope and an unrelenting pursuit of play amidst the unknowns of the audience, and the world around you.
2025 Edinburgh Fringe Festival Info Session with John Norris
Curious about Fringe? Do you have a show and want to see if it’s a good idea to bring it over? Why does it seem like everyone is doing their shows in Scotland for a month? What’s the point? Is costs HOW MUCH?!
If you're thinking about bringing your work to Edinburgh in 2025 or 2026, NOW is the time to start planning and making some decisions.
John Norris (creator of Fringe hits Mr. Chonkers and Underground Monk Show and youngest child of three) leads an info session that will explain what Fringe is, what to expect, detailing the pros and cons, and some best practices on what makes someone have a successful Fringe experience. Followed by a Q+A
Entrances and Exits: Led by Corey Podell and John Norris (2-Day)
Frequent collaborators John Norris and Corey Podell will share tools and methods from their language of collaboration, helping you translate ideas and impulses into character and story, and direct and shape material. A clown/performance workshop with an emphasis on lots of stage time, exploring creation, presence, and connection.
Drama for Comedians
A dramatic scene study class focused on the craft of storytelling for funny people yearning to sink their teeth into a dramatic theater role.
Language of Nonsense w/ Chad Damiani (2-Day)
A two-day intensive from the creator/director of STAND UP AND CLOWN, CLOWN ZOO and co-creator of RORY AND CHAD WIN COMEDY TONIGHT! Chad Damiani (aka "Clown Boss") offers this intro class for veterans and newcomers, looking to explore how clowns connect and play with audiences through joy and nonsense.
How can we get a roomful of strangers to not only go along with our joyfully dumb ideas, but also become our eager co-conspirators? A deep exploration of primal communication. It’s also a chance to be live directed by Chad in a class show!
LAST CHANCE TO STUDY WITH THE CLOWN BOSS!
BOUFFON 1 (3-Day)
A Satiric Ensemble of Mocking Madness and Mayhem!The World laughs at the Clown, but the Bouffons laugh at the World! Unleash your inner Bouffon in an explosion of fun and comedy gold.Imagine a wild-eyed pack of Players, ecstatic to mock anything and everything. Ridiculous, confronting and poetic, this Satyric chorus teeters on the seesaw of fun and uncomfortable truth. To begin this journey, we focus on the role of “The Player”.
CLOWN RITUALS: THE PLAN & THE PLAY (4-Day)
Develop Clown Relationships and create pieces through mindfulness, looping and Ambushes- from Creator of Red Bastard and multiple Cirque du Soleil Shows.
Language of Nonsense w/ Chad Damiani (2-Day)
A two-day intensive from the creator/director of STAND UP AND CLOWN, CLOWN ZOO and co-creator of RORY AND CHAD WIN COMEDY TONIGHT! Chad Damiani (aka "Clown Boss") offers this intro class for veterans and newcomers, looking to explore how clowns connect and play with audiences through joy and nonsense.
How can we get a roomful of strangers to not only go along with our joyfully dumb ideas, but also become our eager co-conspirators? A deep exploration of primal communication. It’s also a chance to be live directed by Chad in a class show!
MOVEMENT FOR COMEDIANS, CLOWNS & IMPROVISERS (1-Day)
Critically acclaimed, award-winning Clown & Bouffon, Eric Davis leads you through a masterclass of movement to help you create dynamic comedy.
Rooted in Play, Lecoq Technique and Laban/ Bartenieff fundamentals, this class will
Get you laughing, sweating and give you greater awareness of your body as well as a theatrical language to articulate your comedy on stage.
Save The Show: Intro To Clown w/ Chad Damiani (2-Day)
A two-day intensive culminating in a class show, that explores the basic principles and psychology of clown work. Students will leave this class having learned how to be less verbal and more physical, to commit to their most joyful impulses, embrace failure and play with the audience, instead of for them.
For students at all levels – from experienced performers looking to sharpen their fundamentals, to newcomers interested in being more playful and free.
CLASS SHOW: Wednesday 8/21 at 7:30PM - Get tickets here!
Language of Nonsense w/ Chad Damiani (2-Day)
A new intensive from Chad Damiani — the creator/director of STAND UP AND CLOWN and CLOWN ZOO! Clowns do more than just connect with audiences. They invite them to become part of the show. But how can we get a roomful of strangers to not only go along with our joyfully dumb ideas, but also become our eager co-conspirators?
BOUFFON 1 (4-Week)
A Satiric Ensemble of mocking madness and mayhem! Students will learn the attitudes and drives of Bouffons- outsiders who love to mock anything and everything. Discover the indulgent pleasure of these anti-clowns through complicity and play and ecstatic mocking. Led by Eric Davis (Red Bastard).
Chekhov in L.A.: Two Week Masterclass with Anya Saffir
A scene study class designed to immerse performers in the tragicomedic world of Anton Chekhov's plays, breathing the text into wild life with laughter, tears, and unabashed spontaneity. A chance to study Chekhov's deeply moving and incredibly funny vision of the human comedy with master acting teacher Anya Saffir, who has taught Chekhov for twenty-five years in NYC and across the globe, and directed productions at the Moscow Art Theater, NYU/Tisch, Harvard/American Repertory Theater, the Atlantic Theater Company, and beyond.
Being Bad with piotr Sikora (2-Day)
We all want to fit to the standard of being "someone." Being Bad is a course in reverse - a course in which you discover who you are, not what you are supposed to be. The workshop aims to learn how to better make friends with our lack of being perfect, the part of us that is completely unfunny and funny, and learn to play with this imperfection, to use failure as a beautiful gift from the world. Be bad. Led by Polish clown Piotr Sikora, who is in L.A. for a limited time with his new show FURIOZO: Man Looking for Trouble
Language of Nonsense w/ Chad Damiani (2-Day)
A new intensive from Chad Damiani — the creator/director of STAND UP AND CLOWN and CLOWN ZOO! Clowns do more than just connect with audiences. They invite them to become part of the show. But how can we get a roomful of strangers to not only go along with our joyfully dumb ideas, but also become our eager co-conspirators?
Language of Nonsense w/ Chad Damiani (2-Day)
A new intensive from Chad Damiani — the creator/director of STAND UP AND CLOWN and CLOWN ZOO! Clowns do more than just connect with audiences. They invite them to become part of the show. But how can we get a roomful of strangers to not only go along with our joyfully dumb ideas, but also become our eager co-conspirators?
Language of Nonsense w/ Chad Damiani (2-Day)
A new intensive from Chad Damiani — the creator/director of STAND UP AND CLOWN and CLOWN ZOO! Clowns do more than just connect with audiences. They invite them to become part of the show. But how can we get a roomful of strangers to not only go along with our joyfully dumb ideas, but also become our eager co-conspirators?