Kevin McDonald's Improv Workshop: "Squeezing Comedy from Improv"

Artesian



Kevin McDonald's Improv Workshop: Squeezing Comedy from Improv

Tickets

Squeezing Comedy from Improv

1:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Doors at 12:30 PM)
$150    More Info

Join Kevin McDonald (The Kids in the Hall) for a hands-on workshop that blends the spontaneity of improvisation with the craft of sketch writing. This interactive session is designed for a maximum of 16 students and will guide participants through the process of transforming improvised scenes into polished comedy sketches.

Event Details:
Kevin McDonald's "Squeezing Comedy from Improv" Workshop
Date: Saturday, October 5th, 2024
Time: 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Doors at 12:30 PM)
Registration: $150

The Artesian is wheelchair accessible, all-ages, and a proud supporter of positive spaces initiatives with a zero-tolerance policy towards hate, harassment, and/or discrimination. We reserve the right to remove any patron creating an unsafe environment. The accessible entrance is available via a lift, Please ask staff for help if necessary.

Workshop: "Squeezing Comedy from Improv"

The workshop will begin with an in-depth discussion on how to create compelling sketches through improv. Following this, four students at a time will be invited to improvise a scene. After each scene, we will collaborate as a group—primarily guided by myself—to analyze and discuss how to develop the comedy, enhance the characters, and structure a cohesive and entertaining sketch.

Students will then have the opportunity to re-perform the scene, this time as a refined sketch, incorporating the feedback and improvements discussed. By the end of the workshop, participants will work independently to turn their own improvised scenes into sketches, which they will perform and receive personalized feedback on.

Come join the fun!

About Kevin McDonald:

Comedian, actor, writer and director Kevin McDonald founded “The Kids in the Hall” with friend Dave Foley, after they met in Toronto at Second City, and the television series ran from 1988-1995. In the troupe's television series and stage shows, he portrays several popular recurring characters, such as the King of Empty Promises, Sir Simon Milligan, and Jerry Sizzler. McDonald went on to appear in a variety of films including Boy Meets Girl, Lilo & Stitch, “Lilo & Stitch: The Series”, and Epic Movie. 

On television, he has appeared on “The Martin Short Show,” “Ellen,” “That '70s Show,” “Seinfeld,” “Friends,” “NewsRadio,”  “MADtv,” “Arrested Development,” and “Corner Gas.” McDonald has also done voice work for various animated series, including Nickelodeon's “Invader Zim,” “The Angry Beavers,” “Catscratch,” and “Clerks: The Animated Series.” He also played an imaginary friend named Ivan in the episode ‘Sight For Sore Eyes’ on “Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends,” appeared in the music video for "Roses" by Outkast, and made an appearance in “Tim and Eric's Awesome Show.”

In 2006 McDonald hosted a CBC Television special, featuring several of Canada's best-known sketch comedy troupes. "Sketch with Kevin McDonald" won a Canadian Comedy Award (Best Taped Live Performance - The Minnesota Wrecking Crew). He was recently at the Just for Laughs Festival with the reunion of Kids in the Hall, and also with his show "Hammy and the Kids" with Craig Northey, based on his two dysfunctional families, his father ("Hammy") and the Kids in the Hall, as well as “Death Comes to Town” on CBC.

Along the way, Kevin was also in the movies, Sky High and Galaxy Quest. He did his podcast from 2016 to 2020. Just recently, he and the Kids in the Hall did another season of their sketch show for Amazon Prime.  He has also done a bunch of things that he forgets. And the world is better off for that.

 


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